The Souhegan football team celebrates its 49-7 Divison II quarterifinal win over Kennett on Saturday in Amherst. (Telegraph photo by Alan Greenwood. )

AMHERST – Anyone who correctly predicted exactly how Souhegan High School’s football playoff game Saturday needs to get some money down on this week’s NFL games.

For openers, Kennett had three kickoffs go out of bounds. Souhegan declined the penalties and fielded the fourth kick, with a return to the 31 yard-line.

“We were actually going to take the ball (at the 35) if they kicked it out of bounds again, Sabers coach Robin Bowkett said. “And, of course, they boomed it.”

Ultimately, it didn’t matter. Quarterback Romy Jain connected with wide receiver Madux McGrath, who bolted down the left sideline for 69 yards and a touchdown.

And that pretty much summarizes Souhegan’s day. A 49-7 win over Kennett carried the fourth-ranked Sabers into the Division II quarterfinals at top-ranked Gilford-Belmont, which shut down St. Thomas Aquinas of Dover on Saturday, 24-0.

And then there was Souhegan’s second offensive snap of the day. JJ Bright took that one 65 yards, with Joe Bernasconi tacking his second of seven point-afters for a 14-0 lead.

Kennett seemed poised to make it a contest with a 64-yard drive, capped by a 12-yard TD run by Sean Carrier with 4:11 left in the first quarter. But Bright, as regularly happens, weaved his way through the Eagle defense and broke loose on a 44-yard sprint a little more than one minute later, and Souhegan regained its 14-point advantage.

From there, it only grew.

“We’re super proud of JJ Bright, we think he’s one of the best in the state.,” Bowkett said. “He keeps believing in himself, the better he’s going to be. And our quarterback is a difference maker. We got play makers all over the place. … It’s like having a lot of toys and playing with all of them.”

By halftime the Sabers’ advantage ballooned to 35-7 on a 5-yard run by Bright and a 13-yard pass from Jain to McGrath,

Jain went in from 1 yard out and Carson Behn scampered 61 yards to cap a day that had some potential to go much differently when it began.

“Once we settled down, we were playing football they way we’re capable of,” Bowkett said.