North hosts Merrimack in crossover game

A late-season crossover game can do a few things for high school football teams.

It can give a team headed for the playoffs an extra week to work on things, or to rest players, without consequence. It can also give a non-playoff contender a week to build for next year.

Both Nashua North and Merrimack would be the later of those two.

The Titans (3-5) and the Tomahawks (2-6) enter Saturday night's game with no chance of making the postseason in their respective divisions. But what both teams are looking for is a springboard for the offseason and beyond.

"We’re trying to build some momentum," Merrimack coach Joe Battista said. "I talked to the seniors about this. They can be the catalyst to help springboard us to a great offseason. Hopefully have a good feeling going into the offseason and maybe people will be talking about us next year based on the end of this season."

North coach Jason Robie is presenting the game to his players as an opportunity, and it will be for all of them.

"We are going to bring out the entire freshmen team this week," he said. "Merrimack will probably travel really well. It’s Police Athletic League Night, so all the PAL kids will be there. The flag football team is going lead us on to the field. I want all our kids dressed, so there will be about a hundred Titans in uniform.

"We’re in Week 9 and it’s like we snapped our fingers and moved ahead. The opportunities are limited. It’s an opponent. You don’t always have those and I think a lot of the kids are starting to realize that. Win or lose, you have to make the most out of that opportunity."

Battista hasn't let his players forget that a season ago, they beat North.

"I’ve been talking this up all week," he said. "Two years in a row, they're in the final. It's a team we know well from doing camps with them. I can talk about the athletes they have, the size they have. It definitely can be a confidence builder."

Coming off a win over Manchester West last week, the Tomahawks are starting to see the things they've been working on come together.

"Our overall development, we’re seeing them get better," Battista said. "We’ve seen it in practice now carry over into a game, and hopefully, we can get it to carry over into another game."

Like Merrimack, North is playing a lot of younger players who have taken some lumps throughout the year, including last week's loss to Manchester Memorial.

"I think they probably feel like they need this win as much as we do," Robie said. "We’ve been preparing all week to try to win a football game."

The Titans and Tomahawks will kickoff at 7 p.m. Saturday at Stellos Stadium.