Warriors Ready for Tonight's State Championship Battle

For the sixth time since they won their last championship in 2000, the Winnacunnet Warriors are set to play for Granite State gridiron glory.

WHS, which has fallen in the state title tilt each of its last four opportunities – 2003, '04, '09 and '10 – has a chance to redeem those setbacks when it takes the field at 1 p.m. Saturday at Winnacunnet High School.

While the Warriors opponent in each of the last five Division II championship contests has been either Exeter (who WHS defeated in 2000) or Bishop Guertin, it is upstart Bedford standing on the opposite side of this year's battlefield.

The Bulldogs, who fell to Portsmouth in last year's D-III finale, didn't skip a beat jumping to Division II this season. They took a bite out of all competition with the exception of the Warriors, who they fell to in a 13-6 defensive battle in the division opener on Sept. 7.

"They've been outstanding," said longtime Winnacunnet coach Ron Auffant of his team's championship foe. "I give them a lot of credit, to make the jump to Division II and get to this game ... Coach Hines has built a great program there. They battle, they've won from ahead and they've come from behind in several games. After we played them the first time I had a feeling we might play these guys again. They've just done a tremendous job to get here."

Auffant, who said he and several of his coaches and players are still stinging from a one-point championship loss to BG in 2010, noted that if the Warriors are to beat Bedford for a second time this year, they'll likely have to once again rely on their defensive prowess.

"I don't think a high scoring game would be good for us," he said. "We've been playing pretty good defense all year ... so we don't want a track meet. A low-scoring, ball-control game suits us better. Obviously teams tend to know each other better and make adjustments when they play a second time, so you never know. I'm hoping we don't see a lot of points scored, but we'll see what happens."

Regardless of type of game, Auffant said he expects the contest to be competitive.

"It's going to be fun. We have two good football teams playing each other and it likes like it's going to be a great game with great weather," said Auffant. "I'm excited as a coach and I'm excited for the players, but I'm excited for the fans as well."