Tarrier's Take...The new look Division 1 of NH High School Football
 

It should be an interesting year in the upper echelon of NH High School Football thanks to a 1 season realignment experiment that basically merged the former D1 and D2 into a 20 team league for 2013. Alvirne and Goffstown, who both played in D3 last season, were bumped up into the new look D1 based on enrollment and geographic location.

So now we have a 4 "conference" set-up featuring 5 teams each, mostly determined by where they are on the map. The top 2 teams in each of the 4 conferences will play in the 1st round of the playoffs for the right to advance to the division semi-finals. After that, the winning teams will be "reseeded" based on the NHIAA rating system to set up the football version of the Final Four.

Here's how I see things in each conference prior to the season opening kickoffs this weekend.

D1 North

I think this is going to be a very competitive group where you've got the 3 Manchester public schools(Central, West & Memorial), plus neighboring Bedford and Concord all battling it out for the 2 coveted playoff spots. Central, Concord and Bedford have to be considered the favorites, while Memorial should be able to compete.

I see West bringing up the rear as they renew rivalries with their former D1 one foes after dropping down to D2 in recent years. Key games to watch...Week 1 in Manchester as Central hosts Concord on Saturday night as part of Gill Stadium's 100th Anniversary Celebration. Another biggie is the regular season finale on Nov 1st as Bedford travels to the Queen City to take on the Little Green. Can the Bulldogs continue to impress in their 3rd straight season of moving up a division?

D1 South

By far the weakest of all the conferences in the division, despite the fact they have perhaps the best team in the state in Pinkerton. The Astros should roll right thru to the semi-finals led by senior RB Manny Latimore. Some other team in this group will also make the postseason, but the big question is who will it be? Maybe Salem will bounce back after a winless season last year in their 1st season

AG(after Gati). Londonderry also has a shot. The Lancers used to be a perennial contender in D1, but they've fallen on hard times in recent years. I think Merrimack and Goffstown will both have tough times adjusting to their new surroundings. Key games to watch...week 2 under the brand new "Friday Night Lights" in Derry as Pinkerton hosts Manchester Central. I'm glad Coach Brian O'Reilly finally gets to play some nighttime home games after all these years. You should also keep your eye on the Nov 1st game between Salem and Londonderry in Lancerville. It very well could come down to this final game to determine who gets the conferences 2nd playoff spot.

D1 East

2-time defending State Champs Exeter lost a lot off last year's team, but Bill Ball has a football factory at the stadium named after him so I have no doubt the Blue Hawks will be back in the hunt this season and should be considered a favorite along with Pinkerton to win it all(as usual).

Winnacunnet had a legitimate beef at the end of 2012 when they won the D2 Championship and were the ONLY team to beat mighty Exeter(albeit in a game that didn't count in the standings), but still were voted behind the Blue Hawks as the #1 team in NH in the final Union Leader/WGIR/WMUR Power Poll. The good news for the Warriors is now they have the chance to take care of business on their own with the new alignment. The other 3 teams in the conference are Timberlane, Spaulding and Dover making for a pretty strong league top to bottom. Key games to watch...of course it's Exeter/Winny on Saturday September 21st. Get there early if you want to find a seat! Then there's another big rivalry game as Spaudling plays at

Dover on November 1st. Who can forget that classic D2 semi-final playoff game 2 years ago that Dover won on a last second field goal by then sophomore(and now senior) Cam Rewucki?

D1 West

Quite possibly the most balanced of all the D1 fivesomes with the 3 Nashua schools(North, South and BG) along with Keene and Alvirne. OK, so maybe new coach Mark Phillips has some work to do before his Broncos can compete on a week to week basis in Division 1, but you gotta love how the other 4 teams in the conference will battle it out with each other.

Many people are putting Nashua South right up there with Pinkerton and Exeter because of senior QB Trevor Knight. Then you have former D2 powers BG and Keene, plus a Nashua North team that made back to back state Championship Game appearances prior to missing out on the playoffs last year.

Key games to watch...as a Nashua native, I've been waiting 10 years for the Purple Panthers/BG game that is scheduled for Stellos Stadium on October 18th. The cross-town rivals haven't played each other since 2003 when then Nashua High School took on the Cards in the annual Thanksgiving Day game. In the fall of 2004, "the split" created Nashua South and Nashua North who started their own holiday tradition leaving BG out in the cold right when they were starting to dominate under Tony Johnson. Speaking of ToJo, it's too bad he's not still around to take on his old BG assistant Phillips when Alvirne hosts BG on October 4th.