Five items on the New Hampshire football landscape:

1. Bishop Guertin

The Cardinals were ultra-impressive in their season-opening 48-21 victory against Salem on Saturday. The victory came as no surprise, but the margin of victory certainly did.

Not sure why there are those who continue to question BG's ability to compete in Division I, because, from a competitive standpoint, that's certainly where the Cardinals belong.

Had BG elected to move up from Division II to Division I in the offseason not only would we have a terrific Division I, but the move would have created a much more competitive Division II as well.

2. Plymouth State's victory

Two New Hampshire products, sophomore running back Ty Long and senior linebacker Brian Castellucci, were among the standouts in Plymouth State's 16-14 victory over Castleton State on Saturday.

Castellucci, who played at Pinkerton Academy, made a team-high 11 tackles. Long, who played for Dover, gained 107 yards on 17 carries. It was the fourth 100-yard rushing performance of his collegiate career.

3. Half the divisions, twice the fun

If the NHIAA ever decides to reduce the number of football divisions in the state from six to three (it would be a wise move for sure), here's how we could chop up Division I, which would have two leagues:

Division 1A: Keene, Concord, Merrimack, Manchester Central, Manchester Memorial, Manchester West, Bishop Guertin, Nashua South and Nashua North.

Division 1B: Alvirne, Londonderry, Pinkerton, Salem, Timberlane, Exeter, Winnacunnet, Dover and Spaulding.

Both leagues would be competitive and traditional rivalries like Londonderry/Pinkerton, Salem/Timberlane, Exeter/Winnacunnet and Dover/Spaulding would remain in place. The Manchester and Nashua schools would also get to play each other during the regular season.

An eight-team playoff anyone?

4. North/South

Got to see both Nashua public schools play last weekend, and both look like playoff teams. It's possible that Nashua North and Nashua South could meet in the Division I championship game this season, and then play each other on Thanksgiving five days later.

5. Scores, standings, etc.

Just a reminder that scores, schedules and standings for New Hampshire high school and prep school teams can be seen by clicking "High School Standings" in the menu near the top of the page.

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