A way-too-early look at the 2021 football season

Before we look ahead to the next football season, let's take a look back to a year ago at this time.

From what I can remember, I had a bit of anxiety about putting this together, not just because predicting anything is a tough thing to do. There were rumors circulating about some big changes to the divisional structure of New Hampshire football, but nothing had been finalized yet.

It's tough enough trying to guess which teams are going to be good a year in advance, but not knowing which teams would be in which divisions makes it even tougher.

Looking back now, that was the least of our problems.

Never in a million years would I have guessed we'd be in the middle of a global pandemic that would have not only cancelled an entire sports season, but would have cut another in half.

At least with the 2021 season being the second in the NHIAA's two-year cycle, there likely won't be major changes to how the football divisions are set up. And if we're still dealing with Covid-19 at this time next year, well, I really don't want to think about that now.

So for this exercise, let's consider that things will have returned to somewhat normal by the start of next football season. With that in mind, here are some way-too-early predictions for the 2021 football season.

Division I

The biggest question mark - not pandemic related - for next year is here and it's kind of a big one because it will affect scheduling and the playoff brackets. What does the NHIAA football committee decide to do about the clusters?

The 2020 regular season was to be broken down into clusters of North-East and South-West. The playoffs ended up that way, but that doesn't necessarily mean the next rotation of North-West and South-East will be up in 2021.

The good news is that either cluster will put the two teams that should go into the year as co-favorites - Salem and Goffstown - on opposite sides of the bracket. But again, for this exercise, we're going to assume that the NHIAA moves ahead with North-West and South-East.

Despite some key losses to graduation for Goffstown, the Grizzlies had a lot of talent, size and experience in this year's junior class, and now those players have the chip on their shoulder of losing a championship game. Bedford and Manchester Memorial look like they will be left to compete for that second spot in the North Conference.

After winning the D1 title this year, Nashua North will take a step back in 2021, although maybe not as far as some might expect, given the talent that returns for the Titans. But the West Conference might be the most competitive next year, with Nashua South, Bishop Guertin and Merrimack all returning enough to win the conference.

Salem gets the edge in the South Conference right now, but while the Blue Devils have a lot coming back, that's partially because Pinkerton's 2020 season ended about a month early. The Astros also have a lot of key sophomores and juniors returning and will be right there with Salem. Londonderry and Windham shouldn't be too far behind both of those teams and will push for a third-playoff spot out of the conference.

The East Conference looks like it could be a three-team race between Exeter, Winnacunnet and Dover. All three have a good group set to return, but Winnacunnet, which hung with Goffstown in the semifinals, might be the best of the bunch.

Here's the way-too-early prediction of what the D1 postseason will look like in 2021.

North/West cluster: Goffstown, Nashua South, Bedford, Merrimack.

South/East cluster: Salem, Winnacunnet, Pinkerton, Exeter.

Division II

The 2020 season was to be the first that the division was broken up into East and West conferences, rather than North and South, and that should be the case again for next year.

While the last two division champions have come from the Southern part of what is now the West Conference, it looks like the strength of the that side of the division is shifting North. Bow has become a title contender every year since moving up to D2, Lebanon and Hillsboro-Deering/Hopkinton held their own moving back up this year and both have enough returning to improve next season.

Hanover and Milford also look like they'll have enough back to take a step forward in 2021, while Souhegan, this year's champion, will have some huge holes to fill after graduation. Hollis Brookline will also have some key spots to fill as the rest of the players who helped the Cavaliers win it all in 2019 graduate.

Plymouth will be seeking its sixth-straight championship appearance, and despite losing another solid senior class, the Bobcats will be the favorite in the East Conference. Two teams showed they might be able to challenge Plymouth if they continue to improve - Kennett and Timberlane both played the Bobcats tough and have a chance to take the next step.

St. Thomas should bounce back after an uncharacteristically rough year and Merrimack Valley and Pembroke took a step forward in 2020, which could build some momentum into next season.

Here's the way-too-early prediction of what the D2 postseason will look like in 2021.

Playoff teams: Plymouth, Bow, Kennett, Lebanon, Timberlane, Hillsboro-Deering/Hopkinton, Milford, Hanover.

Division III

Pelham certainly made its presence felt after moving down from D2, allowing just 10 points in six games against division opponents. The Pythons will take a hit to graduation, but there is plenty returning for Pelham to compete for back-to-back championships in D3.

Who will challenge for the other three playoff spots? Monadnock doesn't have the championship pedigree like Plymouth, but the Huskies have consistently been in the conversation since 2016 and there's no reason to expect that to change. Trinity will graduate more than a dozen players, but the Pioneers look like they'll return enough talent.

The final spot could go to Campbell, which took its lumps last year with a young roster but should improve with experience, or Stevens, which looks like it will return a big senior class.

Here's the way-too-early prediction of what the D3 postseason will look like in 2021.

Playoff teams: Pelham, Monadnock, Trinity, Stevens.

Division IV

Just like Pelham, Newport moved down a division and dominated the competition on the way to the division title. The Tigers will lose some key players to graduation, but should return a team that's able to compete for a playoff spot.

Somersworth, which also advanced to the championship game, should be a contender again next season, while Raymond and Fall Mountain appear to have the numbers returning to compete. Bishop Brady should improve in the second year under Tony Johnson.

Here's the way-too-early prediction of what the D4 postseason will look like in 2021.

Playoff teams: Somersworth, Newport, Bishop Brady, Raymond.

Only 36 weeks - hopefully - until the start of the 2021 preseason.