Nashua South's Sam Levine is chased by Bishop Guertin's Sam Fayad (2) during the regular season clash beatween the two teams who meet again in tonight's Division I quarterfinals at Stellos Stadium.(Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – They’ve been eyeing each other since they met back on Oct. 10 in a game that was a tale of two completely different halves.

It may be the No. 5 Cardinals of Bishop Guertin who have been looking more forward to a rematch with the No. 4 Panthers of Nashua South in tonight’s 6:30 Division I quarterfinals at Stellos Stadium. That’s because the Cards blew a 24-8 halftime lead en route to a 28-24 South win. Both teams go into this all-city clash with 9-2 overall records, 8-2 in Division I.

BG got by North with an explosive second half after a 7-7 halftime game, winning 32-7. But once again, BG didn’t play a complete game.

“We have to do a better job of that because it’s going to be running clock at halftime if we do that against South,” Cards coach Anthony Nalen said.

“We’re dying to play them,” Guertin quarterback Nate Bowen said. “Hopefully we get our get-back and it’s going to be a good game.”

“We need to start fast, and play our best ball for 48 minutes,” South coach Josh Porter said. “BG we know is too good of a team to mess around with. It was tooth and nail two win that first one, so we hope to get off to a better start this time around.”

The two teams met a round earlier in the playoffs a year ago, and the Panthers blew the Cards away, 59-26.

The quarterbacks are great weapons to throw and run. South’s Cody Jackson has 1,951 yards and whopping 21 TDs passing – and just two interceptions in 171 attempts. He’s also rushed for 294 yards and six TDs, one of them the game-winner vs. Guertin with 1:33 left. Sam Levine is South’s leading rusher with 445 yards and nine touchdowns.

BG’s Bowen has thrown for 1,817 yards and 22 TDs but also 12 interceptions. He’s rushed for 294 yards and six scores. Logan Curran is BG’s leading rusher with 510 yards and eight TDs, and he is a breakaway threat.

The Cards can control the game with the run, but they love to throw, especially to Rocco Roy, who has 43 catches for 821 yards and 11 TDs.

The inconsistency has bothered Nalen.

“We had that against Salem, too, we had a bad first half against Salem,” Nalen said. “We’re not consistent enough. I think our youth shows, too.

“We’ve got pieces, for sure. We’re starting three freshmen on the field. Curran (back Logan) is a junior, Nate’s a junior.There’s a lot of guys who are getting going but we definitely have some guys we can lean on in the offensive and defensive side.”

The first game wasn’t clinched for South until senior Colvin Levesque picked off Bown in the corner of the end zone with just five seconds left. Guertin built up its big halftime edge with two late TD catches by Roy.

Fasten your seat belts, because this promises to be a classic rematch.

“We’ve grown a lot over the last four or five weeks since that first game,” Porter said. “I’m looking forward to seeing the boys put it on display for everybody. … Something I’ve learned about our guys the last couple of years, they really get up or these type of games.”