Titans, Panthers jockeying for position in Division I playoffs

The Nashua High School North and South football teams already know they’ll be playing when the postseason starts on Nov. 13.

Everything else is up for grabs.

For South, it’s a little easier to figure out. The Panthers could finish as high as No. 2 in Division I, and if they don’t take care of business against Manchester Central, they could finish either third or as low as fourth.

For North, there’s an outside chance that, with some help from Manchester Memorial, the Titans could wind up with the No. 1 seed if they beat Exeter. Even if North wins, it still could be no better than third. But like South, a loss would mean North ends up fourth.

Of course both teams are focused solely on taking care of their own business.

“We can only focus on what we can control and right now that’s preparing for Exeter,” North coach Jason Robie said. “It certainly is quite a confusing puzzle. You see why they have all those tiebreaking procedures.”

Those tiebreakers could be big, especially for South (5-2 in Division I) if it does lose to Central (4-3) on Friday. But the Panthers aren’t worrying about that now.

“There’s a lot at stake for them and there’s a lot at stake for us,” South coach Scott Knight said. “We want home field. If we can take care of business … our kids are very motivated.”

Also in Division I, Pinkerton (6-1) plays Memorial (2-5) on Saturday in Derry. If the Astros win, they get the No. 1 seed. But a loss could still mean the top seed, unless North and Pinkerton tie for first.

With Salem (4-3) playing at Londonderry (3-4) – the Blue Devils would be the final playoff team with a win – and Central needing a win and help to get in, it seems likely that no matter what happens, North and South will met again in the playoffs.

Before that can happen, the Panthers would like to add another win to their resume and put an end to Central’s season. The Panthers and Little Green will meet at 7 p.m. Friday at Stellos Stadium.

“We have a pretty good rivalry with them and they’d be coming to play anyway,” Knight said. “We lost to them, that was kind of the turning point of our season last year. We were 3-0 and we lost to Central. We played very poorly and it turned their season around and it turned ours around in the other direction. We’re very aware of that and we remember that.”

Although their record doesn’t show it, the Panthers have had a bit of an up-and-down season. There were back-to-back losses to Pinkerton and Lowell, the second of which included a bad second half by South.

The Panthers almost blew a big lead to Memorial and Knight admits they didn’t show up to play the first half of a loss to Londonderry.

But that loss also proved their resiliency, coming back from a 41-13 deficit at halftime to force two overtimes. There was also a comeback win against Salem and two solid wins over North and Concord.

“It’s been an up-and-down thing, but our kids have managed to right the ship,” Knight said. “We’re shown some resiliency. As much as you think you’re kids are seasoned they keep learning lessons every week. That’s been real pleasing for me, that character, more than anything.”

As for North, Robie spent the week preparing his team to expect an opponent that’s better than its winless division record. Exeter (0-6) comes into the game having lost four games this season by a touchdown or less.

“You wouldn’t know their record if you watch their film,” Robie said. “They are well-coached, they are well-disciplined and that record is very misleading. Those kids never stop playing. Sometimes you say that to try and fire up your team, but this is a very good team. They fight to the end.”

But it’s not just the fight in the Blue Hawks that has Robie concerned; it’s the fact that Exeter runs an offense very similar to Salem. North lost to Salem earlier this season, allowing 67 points.

“Exeter runs an offense similar to Salem and we know how that went for us,” Robie said. “We seem to have trouble stopping those types of offenses.”

North and Exeter will kickoff at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Stellos Stadium.