Nashua North's Luke Peters (6) heads upfield during last year's Battle of the Bridge against Nashua South at Stellos Stadium. The rematch is set for tonight at 6:30. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – The cleats are on the other feet.

That’s basically the way it shapes up for tonight’s much anticipated Battle of the Bridge football clash between Nashua High School North and South, set for 6:30 at Stellos Stadium.

Last year – the last couple of years, actually – the North Titans were the obvious favorite. South in 2023 went into the game winless, while the Titans were shaping into a playoff team.

This year, though, it’s North that goes in 0-3 in Division I, while South is 3-0 overall, 2-0 in the division.

“We’ve been on the other end of it,” South coach Scott Knight said. “We’ve been there, we’ve been on both sides. We won a state title in 2008 and it took a field goal on Thanksgiving to win it against a team that didn’t make the playoffs. It’s a rivalry game, the record goes out the window.

“The key for us is to stay focused on getting better. We’re 3-0, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re not taking anything for granted, and we’re not taking these guys lightly, either.

The emotions go a long way in this contest.

“The good thing about this game, with a rival, it’s always a ‘You never know what’s going to happen’ type of game,” North coach Chad Zibolis said. “An 0-3 team going in against a 3-0 team, you never know can happen.

“In years past, it was that way for us, and that game always becomes a close game, just from the energy from the stands and the energy on the field. You can never know what happens. If our kids can pull it together and figure it out, we’ll be OK.”

Last year, to Zibolis’ point, a winless Panther team jumped out to a 15-0 lead over heavily favored North, only to see the Titans score 28 unanswered points to a 28-15 win and capture the Ed Lecius Memorial Trophy. South does lead the overall series that began in 2004 by a 23-15 margin. That includes regular season, Thanksgiving Day/Eve and one playoff game.

South thus far is one of the better local stories of the young season, as the Panthers’ growing pains of a year ago have paid dividends with with wins this season.

“Last year, they had pretty much all sophomores last year playing, they took (their lumps) and now they’re all playing with a year under their belt, and are playing pretty well,” Zibolis said.

“Right now we need our older kids to step up so our young kids follow. We need that to happen.”

South will be wary of senior defensive end Darius Smith, secondary man Luke Peters, and linebacker Jack Krulowski .

Zibolis says his line have been playing well, but North is hurting in the perimeter game. “We need to block on the perimeter, and defensively we need to tackle on the perimeter,” he said. “If we can start doing that, we’ll be OK.”

The Titans added Krulowski, who had been playing tight end, to the offensive line that Zibolis feels is led by senior Yahill Laviena Gonzalez. It showed vast improvement last week at Keene from the first couple of games.

And South has been strong up front on both sides of the ball, especially vs. tight formations, a worry going in but not now. “We’re just thicker and bigger than I thought we’d be,” Knight said. “We’ve done a pretty good job at putting a dent in people on both sides of the ball up front.”

Now the Panthers will work on more of a spread North unit. Offensively, the Titans have just two touchdowns in three games, both scored last week, one on a busted play.

The Titans have three impact speedsters – junior Kobe Perry, who had a kickoff return for a TD last week; sophomore Dharus Sisay, who last week threw a TD pass off a busted play, and senior Luke Peters, who last year had a 101-yard interception return for a TD to get North going in this game.

Zibolis would love to go to a smashmouth game with the running of Smith, but right now what North does with senior QB John Canaway at the controls depends on the matchups.

As for the Panthers, defensively South is very difficult to throw on, and defensive ends Ray Karuru (junior) and senior Kevin Ndubuisi applying pressure. Players like Diego Cabrera, Josh Tripp, etc.in the secondary make opposing offensive coordinators lose sleep, but not their own coach.

“I like our defense against anybody,” Knight said. “Our defense makes me sleep like a baby.

“But even with those guys, they (North) can be dangerous.”

South offensively is developing. Senior all-purpose back Kyle Emmons is nearing full strength from an injury, and juniors Sam Levine and Colvin Levesque, plus Tripp and Cabrera, will all touch the ball.

“They seem very physical, they’re fast, and it seems the last couple of games they have a decent run game going,” Zibolis said. “They’re running the football really, really well. … That’s something we’re going to need to stop.”

That includes junior quarterback Cody Jackson who had basically the best game of his high school career in a non-league 36-13 win over Lowell (Mass.), combining for 224 rushing/throwing yards.

Nashua South’s Kyle Emmons looks for running room vs. Lowell in the third week of the season. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Nashua South’s Kyle Emmons looks for running room vs. Lowell in the third week of the season. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Knight says the Panthers are more or less on a “revenge tour”, as their three wins have all come against teams who beat them last year. They’d like to make that four but know it won’t be easy.

“They’re pretty hungry every week,” Knight said. “But North, you have to worry about a team whose back’s against the wall. They’re going to want to play their best game with a big crowd and all that. We’re going to have to go out there and play well if we’re going to have a chance.”

THE PICK: South 26, North 16. North keeps it close before Panthers pull away.

But as always, expect the unexpected.