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Sanborn struggles with turnovers in opener

Saturday, September, 02 By David Willis
Staff writer

KINGSTON, N.H. — Sanborn knew it would need to play a spotless game to keep pace with New Hampshire power St. Thomas. Unfortunately for the Indians, their opener was plagued by a few crucial errors.

A blocked punt a three fumbles derailed Sanborn, which fell to St. Thomas 27-0 in its season debut on Saturday afternoon.

“That is a tough St. Thomas team and it isn’t a team you can make mistakes against,” said Sanborn coach John Welch. “We made some mistakes and they definitely capitalized on them. And they played very tough defense to keep us off the scoreboard.”
The major bright spot for the Indians was the play of senior fullback Chris Hannah. The bruising 5-foot-10, 210-pounder carried 22 times for 156 yards.
“I thought Chris ran so well,” said Welch. “He ran so hard and had a great game. He played tough the whole way.”
The Sanborn defense was hot out of the gates, forcing the Saints into 3-and-outs on their first three possessions.
But with the Indians pinned back at their own 10-yard line late in the first, St. Thomas broke through to block the Indian punt, and recovered it in the end zone to take a 6-0 lead.
Sanborn took back some momentum on the final play of the first, when Liam Brown jarred the ball loose and Brian McGough recovered the fumble. But the Indians couldn’t take advantage, and St. Thomas scored on two of its next three drives to lead 20-0 heading into halftime.
The Saints continued to build their lead, scoring on the first possession of the second half.  
An interception by Sanborn’s Ben Soares set Sanborn up with its best scoring opportunity of the day. But after advancing to the 34-yard line the Indians turned the ball over on downs.  
“I through our boys showed a lot of heart,” said Welch. “But we just made too many mistakes. You can’t do that against anyone. We have to play smarter football going forward.”