Nashua South's Justin Fish looks to turn the corner against Goffstown this past Friday night at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – The first three games of the season are history, and now the Nashua High School North and South football teams get to the meat and potatoes:

The Battle of the Bridge.

It’s Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Stellos Stadium, and both teams enter it with 2-1 records, although South’s is 1-1 in Division I. But it’s a different feeling for each; South is coming off Friday’s big 43-8 romp over Goffstown, and the Titans suffered their first loss at Merrimack, 14-10.

“We say it every year,” South coach Josh Porter, who has been part of the rivalry as an assistant the last few years but now gets the head coach taste. “Take your records into that game and throw it away. North-South it’s always some of the craziest moments, it’s always a lot of fun.”

“Cool with all the kids over (at North),” South junior Justin Fish said after a three TD night vs. Goffstown. “It’s going to be a really fun game with all the kids over there. We just have to lock it in.”

North next enters the toughest part of its schedule, starting the emotional game vs. the Panthers. Then it’s Bishop Guertin and Bedford for a tough menu in the next three weeks.

What will the Titans’ focus be over the next few weeks, beginning with preparations for Friday?

“Just the fundamentals of football: blocking, tackling, catching, ball security,” North coach Chad Zibolis said. “It’s the normal fundamentals of football that get you through games.”

And gets you through The Battle.

A WELL-DESERVED BYE WEEK Merrimack suffered a 48-20 loss to Bedford and an even more lopsided 48-8 defeat to Bishop Guertin last weekend, so their win over North was a huge boost.

“We’ve been dealing with a lot of adversity throughout our season just in terms of we don’t have the same number of kids we normally have, and our kids are really working hard,” Tomahawks coach Kip Jackson said. “In both games we had opportunities and obviously faced adversity, and I don’t think we did a great job with it, so I’m really happy to see the growth in this game in terms of being able to overcome some of that stuff.”

Merrimack has a bye next weekend, followed by three straight contests on the road starting with an Oct. 3 meeting at Goffstown.

MILFORD GETS A BIG WIN

Someone was going to be smiling after a couple of weeks of frustration to start the season after Friday’s Milford-Hollis Brookline game. Both teams were shut out in each of their first two games, and it was the Spartans smiling at the end of a 20-8 win keyed by Jace Wilhelmi’s three touchdown night.

“It was a really entertaining game for a general fan,” Spartans coach Max Morelli said. “Lots of big plays and back-and-forths. So it was incredibly enjoyable to coach in, and it was great to see the kids get the well-deserved win. Really proud of how hard they play every single week, and I feel like they have deserved to have the feeling of success.”

BIG ONE FOR BG

Stellos will be the site of another big game Saturday night when 3-0 Bishop Guertin (2-0 in Division I) hosts 2-1 Salem, the Blue Devils looking to bounce back from Friday’s loss to Pinkerton. The Cards are simply on a roll with a high powered offense quarterbacked by junior Nate Bowen, as they’ve scored 131 points in three games. Yikes.

OTHER GAMES

Saturday has two other games on the slate, both afternoon affairs. Alvirne (0-3) is at Concord at 1 p.m., the Tide trying to get over the shock of losing to Manchester Central this past weekend. And Hollis Brookline will host unbeaten Pelham, which has outscored opponents 143-15. Yikes.

The local 3-0 defending champions from a year ago, Campbell in Division III and Souhegan in Division II play Friday. The Cougars are at Somersworth while Souhegan has a big battle at Manchester West. Sabers coach Robin Bowkett said before the season he felt West was a Final Four team, and they Blue Knights are playing like it, having outscored opponents 127-13.

(Telegraph Correspondent Dan Attorri contributed to this report.)