Bedford at the top of the Union Leader/ESPN NH football power poll

Here is the Union Leader/ESPN New Hampshire football power poll for Week 1 of the 2016 season.

These are the top 10 high school football teams in New Hampshire, with record, first-place votes/points in parentheses, plus last week's ranking:

1. Bedford, 1-0 (6/69), 1st
2. Merrimack, 0-1 (59), T-2nd
3. Exeter, 1-0 (54), T-2nd
4. Pinkerton, 1-0 (46), 5th
5. Goffstown, 1-0 (1/40), 4th
6. Salem, 1-0 (35), 6th
7. Windham, 1-0 (27), 7th
8. Nashua North, 1-0 (16) NR
9. Timberlane, 1-0 (15), 10th
10. John Stark, 1-0 (10), NR

Also receiving votes: Bishop Guertin, 1-0 (6); Portsmouth, 1-0 (5); Manchester Central, 0-1 (2); St. Thomas, 1-0 (2); Milford, 1-0 (2).

Voters are:

• Roger Brown, Union Leader
• Alex Hall, Union Leader
• Chris Duffy, Union Leader
• Nick Anastos, ESPN New Hampshire
• Pete Tarrier, ESPN New Hampshire
• Dave Haley, New Hampshire Sports Page
• Joe Marchilena, NH-HighSchoolSports.com

And here is how I voted in the poll:

1. Bedford (1-0), beat Merrimack 24-20
2. Exeter (1-0), beat Dover 41-14
3. Merrimack (0-1), lost to Bedford 24-20
4. Nashua North (1-0), beat 42-20
5. Windham (1-0), beat Hollis Brookline 40-14
6. Pinkerton (1-0), beat Concord 19-7
7. Salem (1-0), beat Manchester Central 28-13
8. Goffstown (1-0), beat Londonderry 19-14
9. Timberlane (1-0), beat Manchester Memorial 48-20
10. John Stark (1-0), beat Souhegan 35-14

For the preseason poll, I also had Bedford in the top spot, and with the win over Merrimack, had no reason to drop the Bulldogs. Same with Exeter, which I also had at No. 2 in the preseason poll, and saw no reason to move it down.

With the way Friday's game finished up, I had to remind myself afterward that Merrimack actually lost, because that fourth-quarter comeback felt like a win for the Tomahawks. Based on what else happened in the North/South cluster, they can't afford too many setbacks, but they're one of the top teams in the state.

While North climbed into the top 10 for the first time this week, I had them in my preseason poll, although at No. 9. Maybe I put the Titans a little too high this week, but part of that was due to some underwhelming performances from the other teams in the top 10. Windham, who I had at No. 6 last week, falls into the same category.

I kept the next four teams mostly in the same order I had them in last week, just bumped down a few spots. And I've got John Stark coming in at No. 10, thanks to a convincing win over a good Souhegan team.