Telegraph file photo by TOM KING Bishop Guertin's Matt Santosuosso (13) chases after Nashua North's Curtis Harris-Lopez in the teams' regular season meeting earlier this month.

The high school football playoffs are upon us.

It’s been a regular season full of different roads, with many twists and turns, dead ends, cancellations, etc. No coach probably has a real barometer as to how good his team is, just how good it could be if given time.

But now there is no time, as the elimination games are here. Play-in games were last week for a few but now those survivors and everyone else gets in the act.

The best example of a team that is not like it was early in the season is probably Nashua High School South, which visits 2-1 Merrimack on Saturday. The Panthers started out 0-2, then after a win over Alvirne had a game with Merrimack cancelled due to COVID concerns. They then shocked the state with a rout of Bedford.

“We’ve been progressively getting better every week,” South coach Scott Knight said. “And, with that, are playing with a lot of confidence right now in all phases. I really like this team as they do all the little things we ask to get better and it’s starting to pay off.”

Nashua North (3-0) , of course, has everyone talking about them as the state’s best, or one of them. They begin the playoffs tonight at Stellos Stadium vs. local rival Bishop Guertin. But, as Titans head coach Dante Laurendi implied, three games does not a full impression of a team make.

“It’s a little too early to declare anybody the best team in the state,” Laurendi said. “It’s the year we’re in. The year of the unexpected. We’ll just go along as far as we can.”

In the other local team playoff games tonight, Alvirne is at Salem in Division I and Campbell visits Pelham in Division II. Besides South at Merrimack on Saturday, Milford visits Hollis Brookline at 2 p.m.

Also, a reminder, unbeaten Souhegan (5-0) has a bye after scheduled first round opponent Manchester West opted out. The Sabers will get the HB-Milford winner next weekend.

Here is a capsule look at the local matchups:

DIVISION I

NO. 4 BISHOP GUERTIN (1-3) at NO. 1 NASHUA NORTH (3-0)

WHEN: Tonight at 6:30.

WHERE: Stellos Stadium.

THIS SEASON: Nashua North 34, Bishop Guertin 6.

LAST WEEK: North 36, Londonderry 7; Bishop Guertin 28, Keene 7.

FYI: North has more diversity in its offense than never before, besides the talent of quarterback Curtis Harris-Lopez, who hd 198 rushing yards in the first meeting. It will be a big chore for the Cards’ defense to have to also defend against Jayden Espinal, who had a good game in the first meeting, as well as Brian Mwangi and Anthony Greene. Guertin got its offense untracked at Keene last Friday in a play-in game with QB Dylan Santosuosso leading the way, but can’t survive a first half like the first meeting. The Cards in that time got just 31 yards, unable to take advantage of two North turnovers.

NO. 4 ALVIRNE (0-4) at NO. 1 SALEM (3-1)

WHEN: Tonight at 7.

WHERE: Salem High School’s Grant Field.

THIS SEASON: Salem 46 Alvirne 12

LAST WEEK: Merrimack 51, Alvirne 7; Salem 26, Windham 14.

FYI: Alvirne coach Tarek Rothe left Grant Field in that season-opening loss feeling if a couple of plays had gone differently, Alvirne would have had a better chance. The Broncos had cut the Blue Devils’ lead to 18-12 after a 70-yard pass from Kyle Gora to Andrew Porter late in the first half. But the Blue Devils had a long ensuing kickoff return to the Bronco 29, leading to a score and a two-score lead at the half. “We had them,” Rothe said back then. Back Aidan McDonald will be a focus of the Alvirne defense, with 153 yards rushing last week.

NO. 3 NASHUA SOUTH (2-2) at NO. 2 MERRIMACK (2-1)

WHEN: Saturday, 6 p.m.

WHERE: Student Memorial Field at MHS.

THIS SEASON: Did not play, but last season South beat Merrimack 47-28.

LAST WEEK: Merrimack 51,Alvirne 7;Nashua South 41, Bedford 7.

FYI: We’d know more if these two teams were able to play two weeks ago but had their game cancelled due to virus concerns. We still really don’t know just how good either team is, just that South is getting better and Merrimack can hold its own. The Tomahawks got a great game out of back Jake Trahan last week with three TDs and a 99-yard run. South has made back-receiver Tyler Armeen more of an offensive threat after an injury to Josh Compoh, has also solidified its defense by moving Jason Compoh to defensive end. This is a great matchup.

DIVISION II

NO. 3 MILFORD (1-2) at NO. 2 HOLLIS BROOKLINE (2-2)

WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m.

WHERE: Hollis Brookline High School’s new turf field.

THIS SEASON: Milford 26, HB 24

LAST WEEK: Did not play.

FYI: Ironically, a rematch last week was cancelled due to virus concerns. Before then, the Cavaliers seem to be hitting their stride, and two weeks ago rediscovered their passing game with QB Drew Gryniewicz tossing four TD passes. The Spartans couldn’t contain HB back Marc-Andre Thermitus (a whopping 318 yards rushing) in the first meeting but also got great production from QB Charlie Urda and their rushing attack. Should be a great rematch. Also, the turf will make both teams a bit quicker.

DIVISION III

NO. 4 CAMPBELL (2-3) at NO. 1 PELHAM (5-0)

WHEN: Tonight at 6.

WHERE: Pelham High School.

THIS SEASON: Pelham 40, Campbell 0.

LAST WEEK: Trinity 36, Campbell 0; Pelham 25, Laconia 0.

FYI: The luck of the draw was no luck at all for the Cougars, as Pelham is looked at as the Division favorite. The Pythons will likely feed the ball to back Ethan Demmons, but they are loaded, having outscored the opposition 167-13 this season. QB Jake Travis engineered an offense that had three TDs in the first quarter in the earlier meeting.

The Cougars will likey try a good dose of back Hunter Caron, who had a good second half in last week’s Trinity game before things got out of hand. They’ll need to do a lot better than the 92 total yards they had in the first encounter, including just 39 yards rushing.

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