BEDFORD — Coming off his second knee surgery in as many years, Pelham High School junior Dom Herrling didn’t contribute as much as he would’ve liked to when he joined the Pythons midway through last year’s run to the Division III football championship.
Herrling left his mark with a healthy and productive 2022, and he made a game’s worth of big plays early in Saturday’s Division II championship game victory over Souhegan.
Herrling got things rolling for Pelham with an interception and a touchdown run in the first quarter, and added a touchdown catch early in the second to help start a 35-6 victory for three-time champion Pelham over Souhegan at Bedford High School.
“It’s so big to me. I’ve been working rehab all summer to get my knee better, strengthening it,” Herrling said. “I knew I was going to come in to this team with a big role this season, and I thought it was executed perfectly.”
Herrling made an immediate impact on the opening two series of the game, beginning with an interception of Souhegan quarterback Romy Jain on second-and-13 from Souhegan’s 28-yard line.
“I was dropping back in coverage and I read the QB’s eyes. He threw the ball, I went to the ball and got the interception,” Herrling said. “I jumped on it right away.”
After returning the ball to Souhegan’s 21, Herrling’s offensive prowess took over when he took a handoff and swept down the left sideline for a 20-yard touchdown run that gave Pelham a 7-0 lead with 8:55 left in the first quarter.
Herrling contributed to Pelham’s 352-yard rushing attack with 75 yards on 12 carries.
“On that touchdown run, my guys blocked perfectly, and I just got to the edge,” Herrling said.
Pelham grabbed a 14-0 lead with 4:28 left in the quarter on the first of three touchdown runs by Ethan Demmons.
The Pythons started a 13-play drive from their own 40 late in the first that stalled at Souhegan’s 22, setting up a fourth-and-10 for the Pythons. Pelham senior quarterback Jake Travis rolled out to his right and found a leaping Herrling for the touchdown catch to give Pelham a 21-0 lead with 9:31 left in the second quarter.
“The play was broken,” Herrling said. “I was inside and I broke outside and (Travis) found me and made a beautiful throw right over the defender. It felt great. It was fourth-and-10 and we had to make a play.”
“I knew I had to take a shot at least 10 yards, I saw no one open and I rolled to my right and Dom made a great decision to cut it back to the corner of the end zone,” Travis said. “I found him, threw it, and he just made a play on the ball.”
Herrling’s breakthrough season that was capped off Saturday was a huge reason why Travis can end his high school career with three straight championships.
“Dom played absolutely fantastic today,” Travis said. “He played amazing defense, amazing on offense. All around, he just had a great game.”
Pelham coach Tom Babaian said that the team tried to bring back Herrling slowly and that he finally looked at full strength midway through the season. Babaian wasn’t surprised he was at the center of Pelham’s early success on Saturday.
“Dom was tremendous today. He’s been great all season and he did it again,” Babaian said. “We brought him back slowly, and then he just came on like gangbusters at the end of the year.”
Herrling now shifts his focus to playing for the Pelham basketball team this winter, but he’s thankful for the journey he had this fall and is looking forward to the opportunity of four straight football championships.
“Even this year, I couldn’t participate in 7-on-7’, so I had to persevere and do my PT to get ready,” Herrling said. “It feels great every year. Now I want to get a championship my senior year. 4-Peat.”
