'Friday Night Lights'.  That was the Somersworth Football season in 2004. How it all came about started in 2003.   The 2003 season looked promising.   There was a bunch of talent returning as Seniors and one Sophmore coming into his Junior year.   That Junior was Ryan Nichols.   He had been called up to varsity in his Sophmore year and had some genuine talent.   He was sure to play a big role in the 2003 season as well as the returning Seniors.   All that promise would never materialize.   Six of the returning Seniors and Ryan Nichols were not allowed to play football that year because of their grades.  Ryan was heartbroken. The football team that had high expextations in the off season turned into the worst nightmare Somersworth football has seen in over a decade.   At the end of the season they would end up with one win and eight losses.

The bright spot in this disaster was Ryan Nichols. Even though he did not get to play football he still managed to score that year by working hard at school just missing the Honor Roll each semester by one grade. If the world didn't end in the summer of 2004 Ryan Nichols would be coming back to play in the fall.As the 2004 season came around spirits were high as they always are in Somersworth because they love their football. With a population of just over 11,000 the town was a football town all the way. Two years prior they had lights put in; A big cost for a small school.

The Somersworth Hilltoppers were not ranked high for the season because of their poor showing last season and the fact that the returning Juniors who were starters last year would be the starters this year. What Somersworth needed was a catalyst, a go to guy, someone who could bring down the house and spark the team.  Nichols would return after a year off from football. The general consensus was, that even though he showed some talent in his Sophmore year the layoff hurt his development as a player.  If Ryan Nichols was hurt by the layoff it didn't show in 2004. Somersworth got their catalyst.