It was all about conditioning at the end of Bishop Guertin's first official football practice on Friday. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Summer’s over.

At least for local high school football players, but they don’t seem to be too upset about it.

“I was really hyped coming into it,” Bishop Guertin tight end Aaron Chmielecki said. “I thought the energy was great today. I thought we showed up. We had some slow areas, but I thought we did good on the energy. I like where we’re headed.

“I was super excited. I was ready for it.”

It was a long day for the Cardinals, who started in the morning with meetings, etc., then were out on the field from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Then some groups went back to the weight room.

“Definitely excited to get back into it,” Guertin’s Jonah Feliciano said. “Definitely excited for the first real day of practice.”

Nashua North filled the practice field with players. The Titans have their longer, more physical practice in the morning and a walk through or meetings later in the afternoon. It was the same over at Nashua South under new head coach Josh Porter. Porter was certainly into it as he took part in a ball security drill with his running backs.

All over the area, all over the state, optimism and excitement reigns. The first day of practice still has a big meaning despite the fact that there are weight room sessions and informal practices, plus 7 on 7 competitions over the first half of the summer.

There’s one big difference on Friday, North coach Chad Zibolis said.

“They’re here pretty much all summer,” Zibolis said. “We average probably 60 kids in the summer. The difference is now, they have to be here.”

And the anticipation is high.

“It’s funny, you wait all winter and summer, to be honest, to be here,” Zibolis said. “We’ve had probably one of our best off-seasons in the weight room. We kind of changed our program a little bit, worked with a point system that we’ve had.”

New Nashua South head coach Josh Porter works on a ball security drill during Friday’s first official practice. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

But it’s not the off-season any more.

“It’ time to go to work,” Zibolis said. “No more Mr. Nice Guy. You can get into your run game now, the 7 on 7’s are basically two-hand touch football. This is where it gets real now.”

And the players reveal how much work they’ve put in from the end of last season to now.

“The kids that have been working out all summer, you can tell,” Zibolis said. “The kids who have been working out all winter and summer you can really tell. Those kids start to come out to the front of the pack, and the other kids start to figure it out, ‘Geez, I need to work out now, and get this stuff done.'”

Again, it’s all about energy and optimism with the regular season openers for all just three weeks away.

“For sure, the energy was great today, I feel we’re headed in the right direction as a team,” Cardinal Alex Dolan said.

Zibolis just loves this day. The Titans got new practice shorts and tops, etc.and looked in unison.

“Just being with the kids, being all here, and looking like a team,” he said. “…Now we’ve got a chance to start to put it together, all the stuff we’ve been talking about as coaches, it comes together today.”

Last year the Titans won the added game the NHIAA created, beating Spaulding in that unscheduled finale.

“It was a great win for us,” Zibolis said. “And you’re kind of ‘OK, this is what we’re looking for for next year.”

‘Next year’ arrived on Friday.

Nashua North’s practice field was filled with ;players on Friday’s first official football practice for the 2025 season. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)