It’s an interesting weekend coming up in local Division II football circles as Bishop Guertin, as powerful as they’ve looked, face a tough road test in Winnacunnet of Hampton. Meanwhile, Alvirne hopes to continue its streak on the road (two straight wins) at Dover and Merrimack is looking forward to a more manageable schedule the rest of the way, starting with a home game vs. Spaulding.

Here’s a look:

MERRIMACK:

The Tomahawks are looking for their first Division II win of the year, and hoping for more. They have games with the Red Raiders,Dover and Keene at home over the last five weeks (Alvirne and Winnacunnet on the road will be tough tests) and that’s a lot more manageable than facing Nashua North, Bishop Guertin, Timberlane and Exeter in four of the first five weeks.

“I’m looking forward to the second half of the year,” Merrimack coach Joe Battista said. “Defensively we have to get to the point where we get some three-and-outs. We need to get some confidence where we shut down the other team and get our offense the ball.”

Right now, leading the Tomahawks in tackles is junior inside linebacker Cody Gladstone.

“I’m just looking forward to not playing the top ranked teams week to week,” Battista said. “But I don’t think we’re getting pushed around (at the line of scrimmage) like we were last year.”

BISHOP GUERTIN

Why is Cardinals coach Tony Johnson worried about a team that has already lost to Exeter and Dover, the latter a club BG routed last week, 51-0? Because the Warriors are desperate, for one; two, they have an excellent all-around option quarterback in Steve Cronan, and three, they are always tough at home.

“The bottom line is they are tough at home,” Johnson said. “They are going to come after us. They need this game after two losses, and that’s a big factor.”

One thing that has helped the Cardinals so far is health. Usually by now, going by past seasons, they would have lost one or two key starters to injury. But that hasn’t happpened, partly, Johnson thinks, because they’ve shortened practice time and focused more on mental preparation than physical.

“We’ve shortened practice by about 15 minutes,” he said. “We’re getting more efficient. We don’t need to bang each other in practice. I look at my team and judge, ‘Are these guys ready? Do they need to get ready?’  It’s more mental preparation than physical. We don’t need to bang that much.”

ALVIRNE:

As they play their third road game in three weeks, the Broncos are looking to their offensive line to set the tone and chew up yardage and clock time.

“Our guys have been doing a good job for us up front,” Alvirne coach Bobby Nimblett said, noting the work of linemen such as Mike McLaughlin, Tom Eldridge, Jeremy Baker and Ryan Vigeant. “They’re doing an excellent job down blocking and read blocking.”

And when they aren’t? “Our backs,” he said, “have done well enough to make up for any errors…If we can clean up some of (the mistakes), we’ll be a good offense.”

— TOM KING