Week 3 football schedule in D1 highlighted by Salem-Pinkerton meeting

The year was 2009 and the Salem High School football team was on top of the New Hampshire football world.

The Blue Devils had a pair of talented to running backs who helped lead the team to its most recent championship, besting Nashua North in the Division I title game.

That year was also the last time Salem got the best of Pinkerton Academy, beating the Astros in a semifinal game to reach the championship. Before last season, that was also the only time Pinkerton hasn’t a finalist since 2003.

Two years ago, the game came down to the final play, with Salem getting stopped inside the 1-yard line to fall 14-7, and last year, Pinkerton held off a second-half comeback by the Blue Devils to win.

Although it’s just the third week of the season, this game already could have playoff implications, especially for the Astros. A 1-2 start for Pinkerton wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it would be a good-sized hill to climb.

Here’s a look at that game and all the other games on the Division I schedule this weekend.

Salem (2-0) at Pinkerton (1-1)

• When: Friday, 7 p.m. in Derry.
• Last Week: Salem beat Concord, 25-7; Pinkerton lost to Goffstown 37-33.
• Last Meeting: Pinkerton won 34-20 on Sept. 19, 2015.
• Salem’s offense has been led by the backfield, with junior running back Josh Sibanda carrying the load early. The Blue Devils have also allowed the fewest points in the division this year (10.0 per game).
• Pinkerton was without starting quarterback Ryan Albrecht last week, and backup Aiden Goujon threw for 353 yards and four touchdowns against Goffstown.

Merrimack (1-1) at Manchester Central (1-1)

• When: Friday, 7 p.m. at Gill Stadium.
• Last Week: Merrimack beat Manchester Memorial 56-14; Manchester Central beat Londonderry 41-19.
• Last Meeting: Manchester Central won 56-35 on Oct. 4, 2013.
• Merrimack bounced back to beat Memorial behind a huge game from Justin Grassini, who threw five touchdown passes, and Tyler DeNeill, who had three touchdowns on offense and one on defense.
• Central also bounced back from an opening loss, capitalizing on several Londonderry turnovers to beat the Lancers. Jeremyiah Rivera had a big game,with 283 yards rushing and five touchdowns.

Winnacunnet (1-1) at Portsmouth (1-1)

• When: Friday, 7 p.m. in Portsmouth.
• Last Week: Winnacunnet beat Alvirne 34-8; Portsmouth lost to Dover 35-20.
• Last Meeting: Winnacunnet won 55-7 on Oct. 16, 2015.
• Winnacunnet picked up its first win last week despite being down a couple of starters. Billy Powers led the way with 215 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
• In the loss last week, Portsmouth quarterback Cody Graham had 102 yards rushing and two touchdowns while going 14 of 26 for 157 yards and two interceptions.

Nashua North (2-0) at Dover (1-1)

• When: Friday, 7 p.m. in Dover.
• Last Week: Nashua North beat Keene, 41-22; Dover beat Portsmouth 35-20.
• Last Meeting: Dover won 27-21 on Oct. 5, 2013.
• North outscored Keene 20-8 in the second half to pick up its second win of the season. Randell Jenkins and Tylor Chase each had rushing touchdowns in the win.
• Dover’s Carson Webb put his name on the map by throwing for 263 yards and four touchdowns in the win over Portsmouth.

Londonderry (0-2) at Bedford (2-0)

• When: Friday, 7 p.m. in Bedford.
• Last Week: Londonderry lost to Manchester Central 41-19; Bedford beat Timberlane 38-32.
• Last Meeting: Bedford won 19-0 on Sept. 20, 2013.
• For the second week in a row, turnovers hurt Londonderry, although quarterback Jake Stevens was 19 of 26 passing for 204 yards.
• Bedford needed a fourth-quarter comeback to beat Timberlane on the road. Connor Robert completed 13 of 22 passes for 203 yards and two scores, both to Shahrukh Hussain, who had four catches for 105 yards.

Nashua South (1-1) at Alvirne (0-2)

• When: Friday, 7 p.m. in Hudson.
• Last Week: Nashua South lost to Bishop Guertin, 41-28; Alvirne lost to Winnacunnet 34-8.
• Last Meeting: Nashua South won 53-22 on Oct. 9, 2015.
• South came back down to Earth a little in last week’s loss, after scoring 76 points in Week 1. The Panthers got a solid game from quarterback Sean Holland, as he led South in rushing and passing.
• Alvirne has been outscored 76-28 so far this season, and against Winnacunnet last week, the Broncos had only 86 yards of offense.

Bishop Guertin (2-0) at Spaulding (0-2)

• When: Friday, 7 p.m. in Rochester
• Last Week: Bishop Guertin beat Nashua South 41-28; Spaulding lost to Exeter 42-13.
• Last Meeting: Bishop Guertin won 38-26 on Oct. 12, 2013.
• Bishop Guertin got a big game against South from quarterback Sam Raitt, who threw for 402 yards and five touchdowns. The Cardinals did struggled to run the ball against the Panthers.
• Spaulding went from allowing 76 points in Week 1 to 42 points in Week 2, but the Red Raiders scored fewer points as well.

Concord (0-2) at Manchester Memorial (0-2)

• When: Friday, 7 p.m. in Manchester.
• Last Week: Concord lost to Salem, 25-7; Manchester Memorial lost to Merrimack 56-14.
• Last Meeting: Concord won 28-19 on Oct. 2, 2015.
• Through two weeks of the season, Concord has struggled to put points on the board, scoring just 14.
• Memorial has been slightly better, averaging 17.0 points in its first two games, but the Crusaders have allowed 52.0.

Keene (0-2) at Exeter (2-0)

• When: Friday, 7 p.m. at Bill Ball Stadium.
• Last Week: Keene lost to Nashua North 41-22; Exeter beat Spaulding 42-13.
• Last Meeting: Exeter won 13-3 on Sept. 14, 2013.
• Keene played well defensively for a half against North. Quarterback Sean Corrigan threw touchdown passes in the first half to Alex Abreu and Logan Galanes.
• Exeter scored all of its points against Spaulding in the first half, starting with an interception Kyle Ball returned 61 yards for a touchdown. Five different players scored touchdowns for the Blue Hawks.

Timberlane (1-1) at Goffstown (2-0)

• When: Saturday, 1:30 p.m. in Goffstown.
• Last Week: Timberlane lost to Bedford 38-32; Goffstown beat Pinkerton 37-33.
• Last Meeting: Timberlane won 21-20 on Nov. 3, 2007.
• Timberlane had an 11-point lead over Bedford in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t hang on. Jacob Post led the Owls with 156 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and had 77 yards receiving. Dan Hayes threw for 264 yards.
• Goffstown quarterback Nik Moquin led the Grizzlies in the win over Pinkerton by completing 24 of 33 passes for 345 yards and four touchdowns, and also ran for a score. Goffstown has the state’s longest winning streak at 16 games.