Telegraph photo by TOM KING Nashua South's Jason Compoh bears down on Alvirne quarterback Kyle Gora during the Panthers's 47-0 win Friday night at Stellos Stadium.

NASHUA – They’ve been the signature players for their respective high school football programs at Nashua North and South.

Now they both know where they will be in the fall of 2021.

This week it was made official that Titans standout quarterback Curtis Harris-Lopez would be attending and play football at the College of Holy Cross next year as early December signings were made public. Harris-Lopez announced his intentions to accept HC’s offer last month.

But for his South rival Jason Compoh, that future was a question mark – until this week when Merrimack College announced on social media that Compoh will be attending the school and playing for the Warriors next fall.

“Physical specimen coming to a backfield near you,” a tweet from the Merrimack football program announced, with a picture of Compoh as a 6-3, 230 pound defensive end. The Warriors had a list of their early December signees on their twitter account.

Compoh, who has also been a bruising running back, is seen more as a defensive player and really came into his own when the Panthers moved him down to defensive end from linebacker this season. As South coach Scott Knight, who wanted to showcase Compoh’s defensive abilities for colleges, said, “He’s a beast.”

Or, as the Division I FCS Warriors said, “a physical specimen.”

“Jason is another local product who we have had our eyes (on) for a couple years now,” Merrimack coach Dan Curran said. “He’s a big strong kid with a great frame who was a dominant player during his high school career playing for Coach Knight at Nashua South.

“The staff feels like Jason has a tremendous ceiling once he is able to learn all the nuances of playing defensive line to go along with his impressive physical traits.”

Merrimack is slated to play a four game season in the Northeast Conference (NEC) in the spring of 2021, after the fall season was cancelled.

Ironically, Merrimack and Holy Cross were slated to face each other for the first time ever in the original season opener in North Andover back on Sept. 5 before the seasons for both were erased.

It’s likely the two local stars will square off in the coming seasons, however.There was speculation Merrimack would travel to Worcester to face the Crusaders in a coming year had that season opener last year been played.

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