Bishop Guertin's Nate Bowen (10) will be on the Motta Field turf tonight at Stellos vs. Nashua North, but he won't have to worry about Jedwin Lluveres (0) who graduated last spring. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

It’s finally here – the high school football season, and there’s less familiar faces than a year ago, and and a few teams that struggled last year may be able to make progress. But there’s nothing like Opening Night/Opening Weekend, which always has a surprise or two. As we will do every week, here’s a capsule look at this weekend’s games:

TONIGHT

DIVISION I

BISHOP GUERTIN AT NASHUA NORTH

WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 p.m. at Stellos Stadium.

LAST YEAR: BG 51, North 27 (regular season); BG 32, North 7 (Division I prelims).

FYI: BG is one of the preseason favorites in Division I with third-year starting QB Nate Bowen and a bevy of

targets, and a sophomore Vinny Nalen anchoring a solid offensive line. North has a lot of young players, but a good QB in senior Brady O’Connor, who got stronger to be able to add the run to his solid passing.

THE PICK: BG 30, North 16. It’s an age thing, youth vs. experience.

NASHUA SOUTH AT BEDFORD

WHEN & WHERE: 7 p.m. at Bedford’s Bulldog Stadium.

LAST YEAR: Bedford 34, South 14 (regular season), Bedford 35, South 21 (Division I semis).

FYI: A lot missing from both teams in this one. South still has an excellent two way skill player in Justin Fish, but there are plenty of others who will chime in. Bedford has a lot of returnees, but just three returning starters on offense and four on defense. Brayden Calkins is a top lineman while it’s likely Brycen D’Urso will see touches in new coach Tom Babaian’s system. Babaian, of course, was the architect of the recent Pelham Dynasty.

THE PICK: South 21, Bedford 17. Panthers get a little revenge.

GOFFSTOWN AT MERRIMACK

WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 p.m at MHS Student Memorial Field.

LAST YEAR: Merrimack 42, Goffstown 14

FYI: The Grizzlies have a new coach in Kevin McGinty with a good number of starters back on both sides of the ball, led by running back/linebacker Nick Cote. The Tomahawk offense, though, should be firing on all cylinders with QB Maverick Torres back in the saddle for his second straight year.

THE PICK: Merrimack 28, Goffstown 21. Openers are hard to predict but Torres makes a diference.

ALVIRNE AT KEENE

WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 p.m. at Keene’s Alumni Field.

LAST YEAR: Did not play.

FYI: The Broncos were hit by graduation but they have a lot of players back who will now get important roles, and a key is a lot of linemen, led by Marcus and Anthony Bain, etc. Keene after a 2-8 year, has fewer starters back on offense than defense but they’ve always been physical. Watch for Blackbirds senior back Grifin Yardley among others.

THE PICK: Alvirne 21, Keene 20. We’ll go with the road upset in a tough place to play.

DIVIVISION II

SOUHEGAN AT BOW

WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m. at Bow High School.

LAST YEAR: Did not play.

FYI: A lot of new names will step into the spotlight for the Sabers, including possible QB Luke Fallon, but there are some linemen back. The Falcons have about a half dozen back on either side of the ball from a team that went 3-6 and missed the playoffs, led by QB Ryan Tassias.

THE PICK: Souhegan 27, Bow 13. Sabers should have enough speed to run by the Falcons

MERRIMACK VALLEY AT HOLLIS BROOKLINE

WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m. at HBHS Turf Field.

LAST YEAR: Did not play.

FYI: The Cavaliers are leaps and bounds ahead of where they were a year ago with QB Stevie Niebel likely taking the reins again after trial by fire last year. There’s numbers, etc., and this could be a much better year. MV won just one game last year, has a handful back on both sides of the ball.

THE PICK: HB 21, MV 14. Yes, you read correctly. New year, new results.

SATURDAY

DIVISION III

INTER-LAKES/MOULTONBOROUGH at CAMPBELL

WHEN/WHERE: 11 a.m.at CHS in Litchfield.

LAST YEAR: Campbell 38, ILM 21 (regular season); ILM 19, Campbell 16 (Division III quarterfinals).

FYI: With QB Mikey Grace graduated, the Cougars are going with a traditional fullback type offens and no QB. The guy ready to carry the ball will be Brody Pinciaro, a standout last year as a sophomore, now a junior. But there are a few key linemen back, which should help this plan.

THE PICK: Campbell 28, ILM 7. Hell hath no fury like a Campbell Cougar scorned.

DIVISION II

MILFORD AT PEMBROKE

WHEN/WHERE: 1 p.m. at Pembroke Academy.

LAST YEAR: Did not play.

FYI: The feeling in Milford is that the Spartans will be competitive after young players got their feet wet last year. Pembroke has some returnees from a winless team – one that got clobbered by Hollis Brookline at home — such as QB Nate Lawrence and running back Cole Demers. The Spartans have at least seven or eight back on each side of the ball, and the names of Gavin Tessier (RB) and Jace Wilhemi (RB/LB) are familiar.

THE PICK: Milford 30, Pembroke 13. Spartans start off in a great way.