Campbell running back Scott Hershberger will be the focal point in Saturday's Division III championship game vs. Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough at Souhegan's Calvetti Field in Amherst. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

LITCHFIELD – They were perceived as the favorite to win the Division III championship from the start, and that has certainly been the season long goal.

Now it’s time for the Campbell High School football team to fulfill all that promise and those expectations.

One team stands in the No. 1, 10-0 Cougars’ way, No. 3 Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough, who at 9-1 suffered its only loss to Campbell, 34-12 back on Sept. 21.

The two teams are in a lot of ways polar opposites. Night and day. Sweet and Sour. Sunshine and rain. Heat and ice. The Cougars, behind the state’s all-time leading rusher in senior back Scott Hershberger, will pound you and run as much as they can; QB Mikey Grace will throw a few passes that can normally be counted on one hand, and even a player like Braydon White or Scott or Nick Hershberger will try the same.

The Lakers? They will challenge you mainly through the air, it seems, behind QB Alex Adorno and receivers led by Brogan Donnelly.

“Philosophically they want to spread the ball out, get it to some of their receivers in space, and they have some very good athletes,” Cougars coach Glen Costello said. “Defensively, O’Brian Murray (junior defensive lineman, he’s an absolute beast in terms of disrupting the line of scrimmage. His physicality, his speed, his agility makes him one of the best defensive tackles in the state. Their success starts with him. He’s been able to dominate opposing teams.”

An he gave Campbell trouble in their first meeting.

“We had issues with him in specific looks, which kind of caused us to shuffle our players around a little bit,” Costello said. “We had this funny feeling we’d be seeing him again.”

Also, the Cougars are wary of linebacker Garrett Hayward, who moves well laterally, and Donnelly at outside linebacker. “His physicality on defense causes a lot of problems for people.

“Their athleticism I think has separated them from a lot of the division. The rest of the division doesn’t necessarily have that luxury.” Which is why the Lakers gave up just 27 regular season points in the other games; their only other double-digit total allowed was vs. Stevens’ 13 quarterfinal points.

So how did the Cougars win by basically three touchdowns two months ago? Well, Scott Hershberger carried 26 times for 225 yards and four TDs. Their other score came on defense, a Brody Pinciaro 60-yard pick six.

“We did a couple of things,” Costello said. “We were able to win the line of scrimmage more than anything else. They did as good of a job as anyone else holding Scott in check…he had 26 carries that day vs. 18, his average. I think some of our younger kids were surprised at the speed and physicality of (Murray), so our young offensive line took a while to adjust to that. Once we figured it out, we were in pretty good shape.”

Campbell all-purpose player White and defensive end/tackle Bronson Leduc missed that first meeting, but they’re back and “both playing at a high level”, Costello said. “They should make a significant difference in this go-round.”

The line of scrimmage will dictate this one, it seems. Last year vs. Trinity in the finals, it was obvious early on the Cougars wouldn’t win that fight. They hope this year is much different. It seemed to be the first time, after a while.

Wind could also be a factor, not the turf, as both teams are fast and athletic enough to take advantage of the quick track.

Inter-Lakes won Division VI titles (no longer exists) in 2009 and as a co-op with Moultonborough in 2011. They’ve lost in the Division III finals in 2015 (to Newport) and 2016 (Stevens).

For Campbell, it would be the crowning achievement to wrap up the Hershberger Era, Scott being perhaps the best offensive player in school history and Nick the best defender. The Cougars this year have won their 10 games by an average of 24.7 points a game. Campbell owns Division III titles in 2014, 2017 and 2022, seeking championship No. 4 and the second in the last three years. It’s the program’s seventh title game appearance, and fourth under Costello.

“This,” Scott Hershberger said, “is the culmination of everything we’ve worked for our whole entire lives.”