(Photo courtesy of the Eagle Tribune)
The high school playoffs are upon us and there some intriguing match-ups on the docket for this weekend. Here are my thoughts on some of this weekend’s action.
1.Everett and Haverhill has the potential to be the best game of the weekend. If Haverhill is going to pull off the upset, they must control the clock with running back J.C. Laguerre and keep Jordan McAfee and the Everett offense on the sideline.
2.Lexington, Andover in Division One North has the potential to be the highest scoring game of the weekend. I love the quarterback match-up between Andover’s E.J Perry and Lexington’s Sal Frelick.
3.There are some great match-ups to open round one but I think the best match-up this weekend in Division 1A is the match-up between Mansfield and Marshfield in the South. It’ll be a battle between two old school Wing-T coaches in Mike Redding and Lou Silva. It’ll be a great game and it could be a high scoring affair.
4. Braintree , B.C High has the potential to be a highly entertaining 3-6 match-up in Division 1 South. The Wamps are explosive on offense and their speed could give the Eagles some problems defensively.
5. D2 South is loaded with Duxbury, Dartmouth, North Attleboro and Stoughton in the bracket. Assuming they all win this weekend, next weekend’s match-ups will look like this: Stoughton at Duxbury, North Attleboro at Dartmouth. Both games have the potential to be terrific match-ups.
6. Bridgewater-Raynham is one of the favorites in Division 1A South but they will face a stiff test tonight from Natick. Shawn Noel and company better gear up for one of the more physical defenses in the state.
7. Leominister visits Shrewsbury in a battle of D2 Central stalwarts. Leominister has had an up and down season but Dave Palazzi’s Blue Devils can turn their fortunes around with a strong playoff performance in this one.
8. Middleboro visits Holliston in a rematch in Division 3 South rematch from last year’s playoffs. Many people think the Panthers are vulnerable. I don’t see it. I still Todd Kiley has a pretty good football team.
9. Xaverian begins their quest for a third straight D1 title tonight. The South bracket looks favorable but as Xaverian Head Coach Charlie Stevenson will tell you, the road is not that easy.
10. I still don’t like this playoff system and I think we need to tweak it. Teams that finish 1-6, 2-5 or 3-4 do not deserve to make the playoffs. I will argue that point with anyone!