Welcome to Veterans Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, where No. 10 Chelmsford visits Central Catholic tonight.

On a night day all but a handful of locals ran for shelter as the remnants of Hurricane Noel rip through the Bay State, these two Merrimack Valley Conference are set to tangle in a steady rain that should make things interesting. Sure, we've got a synthetic surface up here that, from previous experiences, drains well enough, but the slick track and slippery ball is sure to cause a few fits this evening.

We're reminder of a similar contest last year when a previously up-and-down Lowell squad stunned No. 11 Central Catholic, 13-10, in the rain here last year.

Could Central Catholic flip that script on the Lions tonight?

I suppose it depends on which Central squad shows up tonight. Will it be the Raider squad that endured a tough 30-27 loss to Tewksbury two weeks ago, or the Central squad that laid a 43-0 hurting on an undermanned Lowell squad last week?

Chelmsford comes in off a lopsided win over rival Andover, and wins tonight against Central and next week against Dracut could set up a winner-take-all battle with Billerica on Thanksgiving Day.

The Lions thrived last week in utilizing the pass (particularly to Mike Murphy) to convert some huge third downs and move the chains, which helped them hang 43 points on Andover.

We don't think either teams is headed for the 40s tonight and the conditions should keep it close early on.

If we're offering up a pregame prediction, we'll take Chelmsford by a touchdown. Remember, even last week the Lions didn't motor away until the fourth quarter. We think Central needs to put points on the board early to prevent playing from behind (like it had to against Billerica earlier this year), or else the Lions could separate themselves earlier.

We're going to pass along as many updates as Mother Nature allows and we'll be filming highlights that we'll pass along throughout the night.

Stay tuned for more from Lawrence.