Nashua South's Kyle Emmons is in on the tackle of Bishop Guertin's Hudson Schmitt (5) during the teams' meeting to open the season back in September. They'll face off again Friday in the first round of the Division I playoffs. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

It’s finally here, the high school football post season, and one game clearly stands out above all the rest when it comes to the Division I first round matchups:

Nashua South vs. Bishop Guertin, Part 2.

The two teams played a classic in their season opener, with South winning 21-15 in overtime. The Panthers go in as the No. 6 seed at 6-2, while Bishop Guertin is No. 11 at 4-4, having lost its last two games. The rematch will be Friday night at 6:30 at Souhegan High School’s Calvetti Field in Amherst as Stellos Stadium is undergoing turf replacement, which did begin as expected on Monday.

The winner of Friday’s South-BG game will be at No. 3 Londonderry the following weekend. The Lancers get a first round bye along with top seed unbeaten Bedford (8-0) and No. 2 Exeter (8-0).

Four other local teams qualifed for the playoffs, and two of them, both in Division I, will be in action on Friday. No. 8 Alvirne will play its first home playoff football game in ages as the 6-3 Broncos will host No. 9 Concord (4-4) at 7 p.m. on Friday night in Hudson. Alvirne manhandled the Tide 30-14 back on Oct. 18, the first of three straight Tide losses to end the regular season. It’s the second straight playoff appearance for the Broncos in the second year of the Matt Lee coaching era. The winner has to travel to face No. 1 Bedford in the quarters the weekend of Nov. 15-16.

Welcome back to the playoffs, Merrimack. The Tomahawks beat BG 34-21 to sneak in at 3-5 as the 13th and final seed. That’s the good news. The tough news is they’ll be at No. 4 Pinkerton (6-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. The two teams did not play during the regular season. The winner faces the winner of No. 5 Salem vs. No. 12 Windham in the quarterfinals.

The other first round matchup is No. 7 Manchester Memorial hosting No. 10 Winnacunnet on Friday at 6:30 p.m., the winner to face Exeter the following weekend.

In Division II, No. 4 Souhegan (7-2) will host No. 5 John Stark (6-3) in the quarterfinals on Saturday at noon at SHS ‘ Calvetti Field. The Sabers beat the Generals up in Weare back on Sept. 20, 45-14. The winner will face the winner of the quarterfinal between No. 1 Plymouth (9-0) and No. 8 Merrimack Valley (4-5).

Finally, Campbell is the sixth area team in the postseason, and a title favorite in Division III as well. The No. 1, 8-0 Cougars will host No. 8 Somersworth (3-5), whom they beat 38-20, on Saturday at 11 a.m. Campbell lost to Trinity (now in Division II) in last year’s title game after beating the Pioneers to win the crown in 2022.

The winner faces the winner of No.5 Newport at No. 4 Gilford the following weekend in the semifinals. In the expanded Division III, this is the first year of an eight-team playoff format.

All games in the playoffs are at home of higher seed until the finals, where neutral sites will be used, those to be announced.

The Division II and III finals are on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 1 p.m.. The Division I finals will be on Saturday, Nov. 30.

ONE MORE REGULAR SEASON GAME FOR NORTH

The Titans, who traveled to the Buffalo, N.Y. area last weekend and fell to Canisius High School 48-7, has a chance to get a third win on the season. The NHIAA takes the eight teams not in the playoffs and seeds them to schedule one final regualr season game on Thursday. The Titans will head to Spaulding in a battle of 2-7 teams at 6 p.m.