Nashua High School North boys soccer coach Jeremy Zelanes was getting his players ready to start practice Friday afternoon around 3 p.m. on the North soccer field when he realized right nearby he’d have some company.

“It was definitely a little bit different today pulling up,” Zelanes said. “I was wondering why all the BG people were here, and then realized I had forgot they had moved the game over here. It was a little bit weird.”

Yes, Friday was one of those days to remember in local sports, with Bishop Guertin and Nashua North playing the first ever varsity football game on North’s field that’s surrounded by its track. Of course this was all because of the unfortunate but correct decision to shut down Stellos Stadium for the rest of the fall sports season as the badly worn field turf at Motta Field was becoming a safety issue. The incredible need to replace it after 13 years was caught up in what appears to be an even more incredible web of bureaucracy at its worst, but that’s for city and school officials to sort out.

The flip side was history was made on Friday, because the Nashua athletic department under the guidance of AD Lisa Gingras did an incredible job to create an atmosphere that was memorable. Of course, it helped that the back-and-forth game, a 43-42 BG win on a Nate Bowen TD pass to Cole Reeves with 12 seconds left as the sun was starting to set was memorable too.

“It was a cool atmosphere,” BG coach Anthony Nalen said. “They had their band rockin’ in the first half, it was kind of like that old school environment.

“It was pretty cool. The kids bought into it, both sides. It was definitely a cool venue to play at. They’ve got a great field, for what it’s worth. Their grass is outstanding.”

The visiting Cardinals certainly seemed to handle switch from a scheduled night game a Stellos to a late afternoon donnybrook.

“I felt pretty good,” said Bowen. “It’s a nice practice field. It’s a nice sunset out tonight. It feels good to be here.”

The Titans were on the far side of the field with the woods behind them, with scissor lifts there as well for their assistants to get a good view. North and BG fans were seated on the same side, across the field from the North players. Public address announcer Jason Robie was set up on the top row of a small set of bleachers, but you could hear him loud and clear.

The scoreboard was OK, seemingly missing a few bulbs here and there with the clock, but Robie did a fine job to let people know where the ball was and how much time was left. There were a couple of snack or ice cream trucks parked outside the area.

So yes, it was all surreal. Nashua ETV did the game on the back of a pickup truck donated by a BG parent so the camera angle could be somewhat elevated.

All was good as all made due. North coach Chad Zibolis said his players were able to put the tough news of losing Stellos behind them.

“Not too bad, actually,” he said. “We wer e kind of excited with the way this came out. The field is beautiful, the maintenance guys did an unbelievable job. A couple guys donated these scissor lifts for us, so it was nice to be able to get up top and get some good film.

“This field is probably one of the better grass fields in the state, no doubt. It came out beautiful.”

The loss of Stellos was “tough”, Zibolis said. “It’s your home field, but it’s their (BG) home field too, we were kind of both thrown into a situation. They’re losing their Stellos too.”

Darkness was beginning to set in as Zibolis graciously spoke, following what had to be a gut-wrenching loss.

“It was a great atmosphere,” he said. “And Lisa did an unbelievable job making sure everything got taken care of. She’s still on this field right now cleaning up and doing the stuff she needs to do.”

Someone yelled over to Zibolis that a power generator was still on his sideline.

“Yeah, that’s mine,” he said. “I’ll take care of it.”

That’s the attitude North’s powers that be had on Friday. And it worked like a charm, making a potentially tough situation a pretty darn cool one.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com., or @Telegraph_TomK.