Plymouth Regional High School Defeats Bishop Guertin High School to Secure Place in Finals on GSC

THIS IS IT! PANTHERS VS. BOBCATS

Durham, NH (May 15, 2026) – Plymouth Regional High School managed to hold off their opponents Bishop Guertin High School in the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE semifinal game, securing their place in the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE Superchallenge final. Despite coming out to an early lead, Plymouth found themselves on the back foot  after an impressive late in the game charge from Bishop Guertin. Plymouth held on long enough to win 395 to 380.

The Plymouth Bobcats were captained by 11th-grader Abe Hankens. Team members included 11th-grader Yuriy Paul, 9th-grader Cam Cawley and 11th-grader Ezra Amsden. Alternates were 10th-graders Leif Eisenbarth and 9th-graders Aurora Ricker and Olivia Brayfield. The team was coached by Drafting teacher Jay Fogarty, and World Languages Teacher Troy Harris. Plymouth Regional High School enrolls about 640 students from Plymouth, Ashland, Holderness, Campton, Rumney, Wentworth, Ellsworth, Waterville Valley and Thornton.

Captain Mohid Khan, a 12th-grader, led the Bishop Guertin Cardinals. The Bishop Guertin team also featured 12th-graders Declan Pyles, Teddy Bond and Aidan Coffey. Team alternates were 10th-grader Grant Leonardi and 12th-grader Carter Rick. The Cardinals were coached by English teachers Kate Graham and Jeannette Riendeau. Bishop Guertin High School enrolls 800 students from Nashua, Merrimack, Bedford, Hudson, Hollis and Pelham.

Plymouth dominated the first round of the game from the opening question, allowing Bishop Guertin to buzz in before them only a handful of times. The first round ended with a commanding lead for Plymouth of 175 to 40.

In the second round, played in a three-strikes and you’re out format, the Bobcats stumbled getting only two questions correct out of a possible ten, although the Cardinals didn’t fare much better, getting four correct answers out of ten. In the rapid fire 60-second round, both team’s performance improved with Bishop Guertin answering six out of ten questions correctly and Plymouth answering eight of ten. By the end of the two rounds, the point spread stood as it had before at 275 to 140.

However, throughout the season, Bishop Guertin has shown itself to be a deeply competitive team. In Round 4, as point values doubled, the Cardinals were  not about to go without a fight. During the first half of the round, Bishop Guertin slowly but surely pulled ahead until they were briefly in the lead. As the correct answer bounced back and forth between teams in the game’s final questions, Plymouth just barely re-established their lead, claiming the victory with a score of 395 to 380.

“I thought maybe we were able to pull away with it,” said Bishop Guertin Captain Mohid Khan. “But there was that one question about Turkey, we were just a millisecond off.  I think if we got that right, we could have pulled away the victory.” Khan’s performance in Round 4 of the game was exceptionally strong. Of the 240 points gained by his team in the final round, 200 were won by Khan.

Bishop Guertin Coach Jeanette Riendeau was more than happy with her students’ performance. “I'm incredibly proud of my team. I think we came in 11th seed, so to come this far and to go against incredibly talented schools—they did a great job.” 

Plymouth Regional was open about the fact that their rivals’ late-in-the-game rally caught them off guard. “That was definitely our most stressful game yet,” Plymouth Regional Captain Abe Hankens admitted, “but we won in the end—a lot of good buzz-ins  from my teammates.”

Plymouth Coach Jay Fogarty concurred. “We talk about heart attack games—that was clearly a heart attack game. I don't like being in them, but I do love the feeling coming out of them.”

Relieved by the outcome of this game, Fogarty was looking forward to Plymouth’s upcoming final with Nashua South High School. “We're good friends with the team and the coaches. They are a really worthy opponent, so we're excited to be in the finals because that itself is an honor.”

Plymouth will go on to compete against Nashua South High School in the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE SUPERCHALLENGE on Thursday,May 21st at 8:30 p.m. on NHPBS. You can also stream it on the PBS App, the NHPBS YouTube channel, or online at nhpbs.org/gsc.

Hosted by Bow High School teacher and former GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE coach (Bedford High), contestant (Belmont High), and GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE crew member, Jon Cannon, GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE features some of New Hampshire's brightest high school students as they demonstrate remarkable teamwork, quick thinking, and smarts to beat the clock and buzz in first on this iconic New Hampshire game show. The game emphasizes quick recall of math, science, social studies, language arts and fine arts facts—along with questions about current events, entertainment, sports and New Hampshire.

Test your knowledge with GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE online quizzes, and more at the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE web page, or try your hand at daily brain teasers on the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE Facebook page.

GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE is funded by lead sponsor Unitil, with additional funding from Safety Insurance and NEA New Hampshire.

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TV Schedule

• bishop guertin VS plymouth regional
  Granite State Challenge
  Thursday, 5/21 at 3:30 P.M. on EXPLORE
  
  

• nashua south VS plymouth regional
  Granite State Challenge
  Thursday, 5/21 at 8:30 P.M. on NHPBS
  
  

• bishop guertin VS plymouth regional
  Granite State Challenge
  Friday, 5/22 at 4:30 A.M. on EXPLORE
  
  

• nashua south VS plymouth regional
  Granite State Challenge
  Sunday, 5/24 at 6:30 P.M. on NHPBS
  
  

Full Schedule