Every week after I cast my ballot for the Union Leader/ESPN New Hampshire Power Poll I will reveal my personal Top 10...and why I voted that way.

1. Bedford...the Bulldogs welcome in the team I have ranked 2nd on my ballot for a marquee matchup on Saturday afternoon at 5.  Bedford looked very impressive in a 47-0 shutout of Londonderry last weekend and they hope to exact some revenge on a Goffstown team that handed them their only 2 losses last year.
2. Goffstown...the Grizzlies are 4th in the Poll this week, but I have them in the #2 spot on my ballot ahead of Merrimack & Exeter because they're undefeated against a tougher schedule so far.  Goffstown already has wins over Londonderry & Pinkerton and they dominated Timberlane 35-14 on Saturday.  Even more impressive is the fact they won their last 2 games without their best player Andrew Duval who hopes to be back soon from a broken thumb suffered early in Week 1. 
3. Merrimack...the Tomahawks have found their offense and then some since a slow 1st half in the opening week loss at Bedford.  Merrimack put up 111 points in their last 2 games and they'll be in Concord this weekend for a 1pm kickoff against the 1-2 Tide.  The schedule gets tougher in the coming weeks with games against Salem, Londonderry, Pinkerton, Timberlane & Goffstown to close the season.
4. Exeter...speaking of the schedule getting tougher, that's what's on the horizon for the 3-0 Blue Hawks who have beaten up on Dover, Spaulding & Keene in the 1st 3 weeks by a combined score of 132-33.  That should change with the big rivalry game at Winnacunnet on Friday.  After that it's Portsmouth, Nashua North, Nashua South & BG for Bill Ball's team so we should have a better idea on just how good this version of Exeter really is. 
5. Salem...I might have the Blue Devils a little low at #5, but like some other teams, the early season schedule has been kind to Salem who has 3 wins against teams with a combined 3-6 record(Central, Concord & Pinkerton).  Interesting games loom on the horizon as Salem will take on rival Timberlane this weekend and then the Blue Devils will travel to Merrimack for a big one in 2 weeks.
6. Windham...the Jags "blacked out" cancer in their annual charitable fundraising event last week and pretty much blacked out D2 newbies Hillsboro-Deering/Hopkinton in a 58-7 game under the portable lights at Mount Jaguar on Friday night.  Coach Raycraft wasn't happy with his teams defense after week 1 when Hollis-Brookline lit them up through the air, but they've given up only 13 points combined in their last 2 games. 
7. Bishop Guertin...scoring points hasn't been a problem for the BG Cardinals this year.  Of course playing Spaulding helps as Sam Raitt and company put up a whopping 68 on the board last week against the Red Raiders and they now lead D1 in scoring with 141 points thru 3 weeks.
8. John Stark...I got my 1st look at the Generals in Lebanon on Friday night and let me tell you this...John Stark has a lot more than going for them besides Boston College bound quarterback Drew McQuarrie.  This is a well rounded team with athletes all over the field on both sides of the ball.  They should be 6-0 heading into a week 7 meeting with Plymouth in Weare.  That game will kick off a tough 3 game stretch to close the season that also features Bow & Hanover.
9. Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough...the Division 3 Lakers are in my Top 10 thanks to an impressive & surprising 48-0 beat down of defending D3 Champs Newport in Meredith on Saturday.  I think IL/MA was a little extra motivated against the team that beat them at UNH last November.   QB Ryan Kelly & RB Andrew Brothers are 2 players the rest of the state should be taking notice of.
10. Monadnock...oh yes I did...I have not 1, but 2 D3 teams in my Top 10 this week!  I'd much rather show some love to the smaller schools who don't get anywhere near the attention as the big boys.  I mean, all due respect to the likes of Pinkerton & Timberlane, but I'm not voting for under .500 D1 teams when small school teams like the Huskies are dominating their opponents by a 132-nothing count after 3 games.  Get ready for next Friday night September 30th when Monadnock hosts Inter-Lakes Moultonborough in the D3 game of the year. We'll have video coverage of that game on NH Sportspage.