BOW – Nolan Filteau didn’t hesitate. He knew exactly what he liked about Friday night’s game.

“I loved the physicality of it,” Filteau said. “That was a very hard-fought game.”

No one was more physical or fought harder than the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Filteau. The Bow senior captain anchored both the offensive and defensive lines as the Falcons (2-0) rolled to a 41-0 home win against Hillsboro-Deering-Hopkinton (1-1).

“He’s the linchpin of the line, both sides,” Bow Coach Paul Cohen said.

Filteau had plenty of help, of course. His fellow offensive linemen – Jack Tellifson, Seamus O’Reilly, Chris Wheeler and Andrew Berube – set the table for a ground game that finished with 224 rushing yards. Junior Tanner Cammett led the way there with 12 carries for 129 yards and two touchdowns and senior captain Ben Kimball had eight carries for 46 yards and three touchdowns.

“It was just a team effort,” Cammett said. “The line blocked for about five yards and then our running backs pushed it into 10, 15 and 20, so it was just a big team effort.”

It was also a team effort for the Bow defense, which held the Redhawks to 107 total yards. Jack Wixson came up with two interceptions, Kimball had an interception and two pass breakups, Justin Porath had a sack and a tackle for a loss, Filteau had three tackles for a loss and Ben Gage had strip sack and recovered the ensuing fumble.

“We knew they had a high-powered offense and they could throw the ball, and they did that a lot, but we were able to pressure them enough to keep them out of the end zone,” Cohen said. “We were able to sub when kids started cramping, and the kids who came off the bench did a great job. It was a relatively consistent effort.”

The Falcons needed that effort against a game H-D-Hopkinton team. The Redhawks were coming off 35-30 comeback win against Manchester West in their season opener, and they showed up ready to play under the portable lights in Bow.

“They woke us up,” Filteau said. “It took us a while to get into our groove.”

A short field helped the Falcons ease into a groove in the middle of the first quarter. They started their third drive of the game on the Redhawks 32, and a 28-yard run from Wixson (five carries, 45 yards) on the first play chewed up most of those yards. That set the stage for a 1-yard scoring plunge from Kimball, giving Bow a 7-0 lead with 6:33 left in the first.

The Redhawks responded by pushing into Bow territory before Wixson ended the drive by picking off Caleb Yianakopolos (9-for-22 for 72 yards) at the Bow 36. Again H-D-Hopkinton pushed back, this time with Aidan Horne (the Redhawks clear leader on both sides of the ball) coming up with a tackle for a loss and Jordan Berrocales breaking up a third-down pass attempt.

“First quarter and a half it was a 7-0 game and the kids are playing football, and then we had a couple hiccups and things started falling apart,” H-D-Hopkinton Coach Jay Wood said. “There were some good highlights throughout the game, it’s just when things happen with us they tend to snowball.”

The Falcons started that snowball with a 66-yard drive that ended with a 6-yard touchdown run from Kimball and a two-point pass from Matt Harkins (4-for-10 for 59 yards) to Cammett for a 15-0 lead. The Redhawks added to the snowball on the ensuing kickoff when they failed to cover it, giving Bow the ball back on its own 15. Two plays later, Kimball scored his third touchdown of the half and the Falcons had a 22-0 lead they would take into halftime.

“We were feeling very good at the halftime,” Cammett said. “We felt like we were getting a hold of things and like they were on the edge of breaking, and then we just finished it.”

The finishing touches began with another Wixson pick that set up another short field and a one-play drive – a 29-yard sweep left from Cammett, who was sprung by a devastating block by Kimball. That touchdown gave Bow a 28-0 lead with 7:53 left in the third, and the Falcons pushed it to 34-0 four minutes later on a 3-yard scoring run from Cammett. The final points came at the end of the third when Jon Routhier hauled in a pretty 27-yard pass from Harkins.

It’s the second straight 41-0 win for the Falcons, last year’s Division II runner-up who look to be serious contenders again this fall.

“We’re blessed this year with a really solid work ethic,” Cohen said. “The kids have jelled as a team and it’s really showed two weeks in a row to start the regular season.”