Souhegan High Meets Trinity High on the Next Granite State Challenge

Durham, NH (February 10, 2025) — The Sabers of Souhegan High face the Pioneers of Trinity School on GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE on Thursday, February 13, 2025, at 8:30 p.m. on New Hampshire PBS.

Playing for Souhegan High are captain and 12th grader Kasen Fox along with 12th graders Morgan Hallet and Caleb Brower and 10th grader Rhys Macdonald. Team alternates are 12th grader Emma Crisman and 10th grader Aaron Coleman. American studies teacher Nicholas Drinkwater coaches the team. Souhegan High enrolls around 750 students from Amherst and Mont Vernon.

Last year, Souhegan High fell to Trinity High in the second Granite State Challenge quarterfinal game. The team from Souhegan High has put a lot of prep work into this year’s Granite State Challenge game and is hoping to topple Trinity High. “We are very set on the same goals as a team,” said Souhegan High captain Kasen. “We lost to them last year, and we’re coming back for a dub.” A “dub” is slang for a double-u as in coming back for a win.

“I think that our strength is we're committed to practicing, and we've done some pretty good buzzer practice over the last two months since qualifying,” said Nicholas Drinkwater, coach for Souhegan High. “I think we have a pretty good spread of knowledge between social studies, pop culture, and English-related things. I think we got a pretty well-rounded team.”

Playing for Trinity High are captain and 12th grader Desmond Lee, 12th grader Tyler Welch and 11th graders Long Nguyen and Teagan Hillard along with team alternate 12th grader Madeleine Souza. The team is coached by social studies teacher Andrew Lavoie and math teacher Louis Sievers. Trinity High enrolls around 300 students from Manchester, Bedford, Goffstown, Hooksett and surrounding towns.

Trinity High, a parochial school in Manchester, made it to the championship game in 2001 and 2004. “We're looking for a good experience this year,” said coach Andrew Lavoie. “We are just kind of rebuilding after a few years.”

Trinity High captain and 12th grader Desmond expressed feeling a little nervous. “I've got some years of experience under me, and I'm excited to try my best,” said Lee. 12th grader Tyler chimed in, “I take more of the science, the empirical, the math questions. I'm a little nervous, but I’m excited and so hyped for this.”

Catch the next first-round game of GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE, airing on Thursday, February 20th at 8:30 p.m. on NHPBS where Gilford High meets Tilton School. You can also stream it on the PBS App, the NHPBS YouTube channel, or online at nhpbs.org/gsc.

About Host Jon Cannon: 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.

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