Souhegan High Defeats Nashua High South

(DURHAM, April 11, 2020) – Recent two-time Granite State Challenge champions, Nashua High South and the Souhegan High Sabers met in the second game of the Granite State Challenge quarterfinals

Playing for the Purple Panthers of Nashua South were Captain George Eid, Njeri Kiritu, Sri Korandla, Andrew Guo and alternate Shivani Shah. The team was coached by Greg Montine. Nashua High South enrolls over 1,790 students. 

The Souhegan High Sabers were represented by Captain Alec Reitter, Zach Cotter, Ari Garnick, Amanda Fulton and alternates Daniel Svendsen and Nick Giannakopoulos. The team was coached by Dave Jasinski, Sarah Kunyoysing, and Travis Nason. Souhegan High is located in Amherst and serves students in Amherst and Mont Vernon. It has an enrollment of around 830 students.

Souhegan defeated the Lancers of Londonderry High on their way to the quarterfinals. Nashua High South bested the Clippers of Portsmouth High to secure their spot.

Nashua South played a great first round, but Ari of Souhegan buzzed in for the Unitil Power Question with seconds left in the round pick up twenty points when he correctly identified 1984 as the last year the Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles and Souhegan trailed by only 10 points at the end of the round with a score of 90-80.

The game was tight in the second round, but in the end, Nashua South led by a score of 230-180. Much to the dismay of host Jon Cannon, neither team could identify Portsmouth, New Hampshire native Ronnie James Dio as Ozzy Osbourne's replacement as lead singer for Black Sabbath and the person credited with creating the horns hand gesture in heavy metal. At the end of the round, Nashua High South led by a score of 230-180.

The alternates joined their teammates for the 60-second round. Souhegan chose the category "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and answered nine out of ten questions with an answer that included the word rose, missing only on Pete Rose. Nashua High South chose the category "Top Ten Countdown" where the answers to all the clues were titles featuring the numbers one through ten, in that order. The team correctly identified seven out of ten clues, missing only on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and Nine to Five. At the end of the round, Nashua High South led by a score of 300-270.

The final round, where correct answers are worth 20 points, but an incorrect answer will cost a team 20 points, can make or break a team's lead. With a little over two minutes left in the game, Souhegan had a lead of 350-340. The lead went back and forth over the last minutes, but in the end, Souhegan came out on top and won the game by a final score of 430-380.

Souhegan now goes on to meet Merrimack High in the semifinals.

* Granite state Challenge games were prerecorded in January.

Granite State Challenge is funded by lead sponsor Unitil; with additional funding from NEA New Hampshire, Safety Insurance, New Hampshire Lottery, Heinemann Publishing, Cognia, HRCU, and Manchester Community College.

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.

You can follow your favorite team, test your own knowledge with GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE online quizzes, and more at the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE web page or try your hand at daily brainteasers on the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE Facebook page.

Pressroom Contact

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