Plymouth High Bobcats Top Exeter High Blue Hawks

Plymouth Regional High school is on its way to the semifinals of GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE. The team defeated Exeter High School and now goes on to face the winner of the final quarterfinal game between Nashua High South and Merrimack High airing Saturday, April 20 @ 6 pm on NHPBS.

Playing for the Exeter High Blue Hawks were captain senior Rhys Forster, junior Sophia Rubens, senior Jack Pindell, junior Noah Robinson and alternates Patrick Marcoux and Andrew McElroy. The team was coached by Aaron Blais.

The Bobcats of Plymouth Regional High were represented by captain junior Rhys Harris, junior Michael Cathy, junior Erek Bickford, and junior Rhianna Herlihy. The alternates are Ben Kresge and Mason Earick. The team was coached by Jay Fogarty and Troy Harris.

Plymouth came out of the gate strong and at the end of the first round, lead by a score of 130-80. In the second round Exeter found their footing and took the lead, ending the round with a score of 280-250.

The alternates joined their teams for the 60-second round. Plymouth chose the category "On Fire" and identified seven out of ten clues related to fire, missing on clue about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, Dante's Inferno, and Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire as an alternative name for the "Christmas Song." Exeter chose the category "Fly Me to the Moon" and correctly identified musical pieces with space or science fiction references, missing on "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "Science Fiction Double Feature" "Black Hole Sun" and "The Galaxy Song." At the end of the round, Exeter held a lead of 340-320.

In the final round, where correct answers are worth 20 points, but an incorrect answer will cost a team 20 points, the stakes are higher and leads can easily disappear. Both teams played strong, but Exeter lost some points with incorrect answers and Plymouth slowly built up a lead. With a minute left in the game Plymouth held a lead of 500-340 points and went on to win the game by a final score of 520-360.

GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE features New Hampshire's top high school academic quiz teams 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.

GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE is funded by lead sponsor Unitil; with additional funding from NEA New Hampshire, Heinemann Publishing, New Hampshire Lottery, D.F. Richard Energy, HRCU, Measured Progress, The NHHEAF Network Organizations, Safety Insurance and Super Sunday partner, Manchester Community College.

Pressroom Contact

Carla Gordon Russell
Director of Communications
crussell@nhpbs.org
(603) 868-4339