Here's a little-known football fact about former University of New Hampshire Wildcat and current St. Thomas Aquinas head coach Eric Cumba: The second-year grid boss in Dover — already with an undefeated championship season on his resume — had never celebrated a game-winning walk-off field goal at any level.

Until Friday night, that is.

Hayden Middleton boomed a 25-yard kick that completed an 18-point second-half comeback at Hanover, popped the host team’s playoff bubble, and sent the league-newcomer Saints to the Division IV semifinals with a season-saving 29-28 win.

“I’ve been around a ton of football the last 12 years of my life,” said Cumba, 26, whose 2011 Saints steamrolled Division V foes. “I have never won a game — especially of this magnitude with a ticket to the playoffs at stake — as time expired.”

Cumba experienced the blow of losing a state final on a last-second field goal. As a freshman at Don Bosco (N.J.) Prep, he watched a 47-yarder split the uprights. It was the difference in a 40-38 loss.

“The win (Friday) night ranks up there pretty high because of the way we won it,” Cumba said. “Last year was tremendous. But we didn’t have those kinds of (nailbiter) wins.”

STA (6-3) can thank senior running back Ryan Monette and freshman quarterback Trevor Martin. They were instrumental in the outcome.

Monette ran for 160 yards (two touchdowns) on 22 carries. He gained 140 yards after halftime. In-with-a-win Hanover (4-5) took a 28-10 lead into the break.

Martin led STA on the last-minute march to set up Middleton’s heroics. The 14-year-old QB twice converted fourth-and-9 passes to Monette.

“This team, I’ve seen them grow so much since Day 1. I’m extremely proud of who they’ve become in the last 10 weeks,” Cumba said. “The fact they’re in the playoffs is a credit to their growth as individuals and as football players.”

STA’s season continues. Powerhouse Plymouth — a 38-0 head-to-head winner in Week 8 — is next.

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THREE TEAMS locked up the top playoff seed for their respective divisions with wins Friday night. No. 1-ranked Exeter (8-1, 7-0 Div. I), No. 7-ranked Souhegan of Amherst (8-1, 7-0 Div. III) and Somersworth (7-1 Div. V) left nothing to chance, either.

The teams combined for a 32-point average margin of victory in Week 9.

Might Exeter rest key players in its regular-season finale at Manchester Memorial?

“You can really put yourself in peril and danger if you think ahead,” Exeter head coach Bill Ball said Saturday on WGIR-AM 610. “It sends a bad message to the kids.”

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FIRST PLACE in Division II will be determined on finale Friday. These are the scenarios that lift No. 3 Bedford (7-1, 6-1 Div. II) and No. 4 Winnacunnet of Hampton (7-1, 6-1 Div. II) to the top tourney seed:

Bedford must beat winless Merrimack — and hope No. 5 Bishop Guertin of Nashua knocks off the Warriors. The Bulldogs own the tiebreaker versus BG (27-13, Week 5).

Courtesy of their 13-6 Week 2 win at Bedford, the Warriors need no outside help. Beating BG does the job.

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THIS COLUMN marks my last for the Union Leader. It’s time to tackle a new professional challenge.

It has been my pleasure to cover NHIAA football, hockey and lacrosse for this newspaper. Many thanks to the many people who’ve wished me well.

What fills the final page of my notebook? The football coaches who called, e-mailed, texted and tweeted. They are:

Exeter’s Ball, Souhegan’s Mike Beliveau, Trinity of Manchester’s Steve Burns, Memorial’s Peter Colcord, STA’s Cumba, Bedford’s Kurt Hines, Manchester West’s Jim Lauzon, Keene’s John Luopa, Pinkerton of Derry’s Brian O’Reilly and Bryon Murphy, Manchester Central’s Ryan Ray, and Stevens of Claremont’s Paul Silva.

Former NHIAA coaches Jack Gati (Concord, Trinity, Salem) and Tony Johnson (Bishop Guertin of Nashua) must also be mentioned.

The NHIAA football community is a special place. Thanks for granting this writer access.