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Queen City Jamboree: Looking for answers

The 2026 Queen City Jamboree will be held Friday at Manchester’s Gill Stadium. The schedule:

— Alvirne vs. Pembroke (4 p.m.)

— Bishop Guertin vs. Souhegan (5 p.m.)

— Pinkerton vs. Trinity (6 p.m.)

— Central vs. West (7 p.m.)

— Bedford vs. Salem (8 p.m.)

Here are five questions entering Friday’s event:

Prep Redzone: Names to know in the Queen City Jamboree
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1. Where is Memorial?

Typically, all four Manchester schools — Central, Memorial, Trinity and West — participate in the jamboree, but Memorial opted out this year. Memorial coach Rob Sturgis said the Crusaders could either play a Division II team in the jamboree or scrimmage Londonderry on Saturday. He chose the latter.

2. Will Salem throw the ball more than Bedford?

It’s a legitimate question, since the Bulldogs have scrapped their spread offense and are running the Wing-T under first-year head coach Tom Babaian. Salem also runs the Wing-T, so a better question might be, How many times will we see the Waggle Pass?

3. Which team will be better this season, Souhegan or Trinity?

The Pioneers beat the Sabers in last year’s Division II championship game, but both teams are replacing a lot of key players. Both teams will also be in deep Friday, as Souhegan is facing Bishop Guertin and Trinity is playing Pinkerton. BG and Pinkerton are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the New Hampshire Football Report Top 10. We probably won’t have an answer to this question until mid-season at the earliest.

4. Will Alvirne be better than it was last season?

Yes. The Broncos nearly snuck into the Division I playoffs last season in Justin Hufft’s first year as the program’s head coach, so it’s reasonable to expect improvement in Year 2. Alvirne has had some success convincing athletes from other sports to give football a try and have about 70 players in the program. Regardless of their record, expect the Broncos to be more competitive against the top competition this season.

5. What’s the best matchup on Friday’s schedule?

Many would vote for the Bedford-Salem tilt, but we’re going with the city rivalry: Central vs. West. Central has one of the state’s best quarterbacks in junior Drake Jaimes and he has some good talent up front and at the skill positions. West should be one of the top teams in Division II. It could be hard for both teams to be up emotionally for their Week 1 opponent after playing such an intense exhibition.

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