Campbell's Jackson Kanaley reaches up to grab a 2-point conversion pass while Kingswood's Trey Peterson (11) can only watch during Campbell's 43-0 win Saturday in Litchfield. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Don’t look now, but when the Nashua High School South football team visits Merrimack on Friday night, the Panthers will be in the same position in Week 3 that they were a year ago:

Hoping to avoid going 0-3.

They weren’t able to do that a year ago, falling 28-26. They’ll try again at Student Memorial Field this time, and that includes putting Saturday’s somewhat surprising 44-13 loss to Windham at Stellos Stadium in the rear view mirror.

“We have to be become a different team on Monday, that’s all there is to it,” Knight said. “We can’t play like this. If we play like this, it’ll be tough to win games.

“We have to play better. We’re a senior laden team. We’ve got some young guys on the field, but they have to grow up quick, and we need our seniors to lead us.”

The Panthers have bounced back before.

“I just don’t like being 0-2,” Knight said. “I want to see progress next week. I want to see a better week of practice. That (game) should not happen.”

One of the things the Panthers likely will look for is defensive improvement. They’ve allowed 81 points in two games, and next up is a Merrimack team that scored 41 unanswered this past weekend vs. Alvirne.

There were a lot of things Knight wasn’t happy with on Saturday, including the morale.

“It wasn’t a typical Nashua team,” he said of his players. “We had some heads down, and some bad body language. That’s got to be addressed. Wasn’t real happy about that.”

NORTH CONTINUES TO BE PHYSICAL

Titans coach Chad Zibolis has said he wants his team to be physical, and you certainly saw that in Friday night’s 48-14 win over Manchester Central.

Titans coach Chad Zibolis used Jack Peters at safety in the first quarter – a couple of players were benched for the first 12 minutes for disciplinary reasons – and then moved him around the field the rest of the way.

“He flies around a smacks people,” Zibolis said. “Being physical like that eventually wears on a team.”

And part of that will come from the players up front, and Zibolis stresses it will take time.

“Up front we’re still young,” he said. “That’s our biggest thing. Until we catch on, getting our technique down up front, knowing the plays, that type of stuff, that’s when we can start to get a little more downhill instead of east-west. But (vs. Central) we moved people.”

Zibolis said he still is evaluating his team, because the matchups have been different.

“It’s hard to tell, always in the first couple of weeks,” he said. “You go from a Bedford who is real fast to a Central who likes the big guys up front, it’s a little slower. You just don’t know yet. … We’re getting a little more confidence offensively and our defense is still flying around being physcal.”

COUGARS KANALEY TOUGH TO DEFEND

Campbell looks to be a tough team to scout, because the first couple of weeks they have used players in different roles. For example, senior Jackson Kanaley plays quarterback during a series then on the same series sets up out wide.

“You don’t see his stats, but there’s a direct corrolation between Jackson Kanaley and the scoreboard,” Campbell coach Glenn Costello said. “Whether it’s blocking or him adjusting the play, getting a player in the right position, and defensively he can be all over the place.My hats off to him; we’ve been fortunate to have him the last couple of years.”

The Cougars don’t have the numbers in the younger grades for a JV team, and most of those players get their reps either in practice or in the second halves of blowouts like Saturday’s win over Kingswood.

“The kids have been working hard in practice,” Costello said. “We’ve been preaching to them that practice is your game.”

Speaking of games, it’s possible the next two may be a little more difficult than the first two for the 2-0 Cougars.

“The next two, one of them will probably be a playoff team, Stevens (this Friday) or Inter-Lakes, however it shakes out,” Costello said. “Obviously traveling up to Stevens (in Claremont) is a challenge by itself.”

JAGS OPEN SOME EYES

Had they been able to make a 2-point conversion in their opener, Windham might be 2-0. They could be a team that suddenly shows up on the rest of Division I’s radar.

“They’re just great kids,” Windham coach Jack Byrne said. “Last year we had so many letdowns, and they were ready to reload no matter what…

“Hey, I’m excited to get our guys in the conversation. We want to be a threat. We want to be a contender. Hopefully that’s going on soon, we’ll keep going from there.”

THIS WEEEND

In Division I locally, it’s South at Merrimack, North at Keene, Pinkerton at Alvirne (all Friday), and Bishop Guertin at Goffstown (2 p.m.Saturday). Division II, all the locals are home: Manchester West at high flying Souhegan (101 points in two games), Hanover at Milford, and Lebanon at Hollis Brookline. Campbell, as Costello said, heads to Stevens on Friday.