Senior captain Jacob Dionne’s senior year hasn’t been exactly how he had planned.

He planned on playing every game as outside linebacker.

He planned on being part of the team that beat the Astros during Mack Plaque.

He didn’t plan on getting hurt the game before Mack Plaque.

As much as the other games have been important to Dionne, Mack Plaque was the one game during the season that he looked forward to the most. However, during the game before Mack Plaque against Nashua North, he broke the first metacarpal in his thumb of his right hand before halftime.

His plans to play in the Mack Plaque game did come through.

Dionne said he was “very depressed” when he realized he wouldn’t be able to play in the Mack Plaque game because football is something he is very passionate about.

“Missing Mack Plaque was depressing because it was maybe the last chance I had to play our school’s rival in my senior year,” Dionne said.

Dionne had gone to Mack Plaque games even before he was in high school, so he said it was difficult to not play in the Mack Plaque game his senior year—especially since the Lancers were going into this match-up 3-0.  

While Dionne could not be a leader on the field during the Mack Plaque game, he did everything he could to be a leader on the sideline.

“I yelled to players on the field and off to help them, and overall controlled the sideline,” Dionne said.

However, Dionne was back in action the following week in the game against Keene, where the Lancers crushed them 44-0.

A perfect welcome back for Dionne.

How did he feel after the game?

“It was a feeling of satisfaction and relief,” Dionne said.

Teammates like junior running back Mason Marquis have a lot of respect for Dionne and were glad to have him back after his injury.

“He is a good leader, studies film hard, knows all his stuff, and brings power and size to the team,” Marquis said. “He has good leadership, good enthusiasm, and is a good person all around.”

Head Coach Lauzon said Dionne’s leadership is so strong that it is like “having another coach” on the field and is “a comfort” to the players.

“He takes preparation very seriously,” Lauzon said.

That’s exactly what Dionne said his team has done this week: Prepare hard for the playoff game.

“We are going to win by having a better game plan and playing harder,” Dionne said. There’s not much else to it. We practiced hard all week, and will review today. We will play tomorrow ready to go.”