NHIAA DIVISION II PREVIEW

The League: Spaulding (1,768 enrollment), Keene (1,762), Dover (1,671), Exeter (1,654), Merrimack (1,593), Timberlane (1,590), Alvirne (1,518), Winnacunnet (1,324) and Bishop Guertin (885).

Defending Champion: Exeter beat BG, 14-13, in the Division II championship game.

Top Story Line: Will BG and Exeter meet in the Division II championship game for the fourth consecutive season? BG prevailed in 2005 and 2006, but Exeter won last season. On paper, those teams enter the season as the favorites again.

Player to Watch: Andrew Kukesh is in his second season as Exeter's starting quarterback. He completed 37 of 63 pass attempts for 615 yards and 10 touchdowns (one interception) last season. He also averaged 6.75 yards per rushing attempt on 56 carries. He is drawing interest from Ivy League schools.

Game to Watch: BG at Exeter (Nov. 7). Exeter has won three of the last four meetings between the schools. This year's game will be played on the regular season's final weekend and will likely determine the No. 1 seed for the playoffs. That means it will likely determine which team will be at home for the Division II championship game.

Noteworthy: If there's a sleeper team in Division II this season it could be Dover, which returns senior quarterback Matt Kimball and senior running back/defensive back Tyler Long. Kimball threw 13 TD passes last season. ... Goffstown, which nearly qualified for the playoffs as the No. 4 seed last season, has dropped to Division III. ... Merrimack's Joe Battista and Timberlane's Kevin Fitzgerald are the first-year coaches in the division. ... Sophomore Steve Cronan will take over for his brother, Ryan, as Winnacunnet's starting quarterback. Ryan is now playing at Marist College. ... Exeter's toughest tests may come in its non-league games. The Blue Hawks will open the season against Nashua South, the top seed for the 2007 Division I playoffs, and will also face Plymouth (Mass.) North. ... Winnacunnet's Brett Sanchez is among the top linebackers in the state. ... Tanner Luopa will be the starting quarterback for Keene. John Luopa, Tanner's father, is Keene's head coach. ... BG coach Tony Johnson will serve a one-game suspension when BG opens the season against Pinkerton Academy on Friday. Johnson was suspended for comments he made to the press following the loss to Exeter in last year's championship game. 

 -- Roger Brown