Adam Kurkjian

(1) Milford 24, (9) North Attleboro 17 — Scarlet Hawks sweep Red Rocketeers with D3 quarterfinal win

November 10, 2023

By Siddharth Chandra NEFJ Correspondent MILFORD — In Friday night’s D3 quarterfinal, there was a rematch of two Hockomock League rivals, No. 9 North Attleboro and No. 1 Milford. Despite a 33-13 victory in October for Milford, the Scarlet Hawks knew that this game was going to be a dogfight. “Hock’s physical football. It’s probably the most physical football in the state,” Milford coach Dale Olson said. In the end,……

(6) Grafton 17, (14) Marblehead 6 — Defense powers Gators’ win in D4 quarterfinal

November 10, 2023

0 comment

By Tony Catalina NEFJ CorrespondentGRAFTON — In a playoff matchup featuring two D4 powers with a Final Four appearance on the line, Grafton’s defense came to play en route to a 17-6 win. In what was a defensive struggle for most of the night, No. 6 Grafton was able to flex its defensive muscle on its way to a sound victory over No. 14 Marblehead. Grafton took the lead late……

(2) Xaverian 21, (7) Springfield Central 20 — Defense sends Hawks to D1 Final Four

November 10, 2023

0 comment

WESTWOOD — The last three times Xaverian played Springfield Central, each game followed a familiar script. For a little while, Xaverian would hang close with Central, but then the same thing happened. The Golden Eagles hit big play after big play, and either ran away with a dominant win, or held on as Xaverian was forced out of its game plan. Then, finally, on Friday night in a D1 quarterfinal,……

(3) Needham 42, (6) Methuen 24 — Ground game powers Rockets

November 9, 2023

0 comment

NEEDHAM — The Methuen offense is aesthetically pleasing, and downright entertaining. In Thursday night’s D1 quarterfinal at Needham, the Rangers threw out a bevy of laterals, screens, double passes, and an assortment of plays to keep their opponent on its heels. But host Needham answered with what can be best described as a masterclass in power football. It was the latter that won out. The third-seeded Rockets dominated on the……

New England high school preview — Week 10

November 8, 2023

0 comment

With the MIAA playoffs in full swing, we figured we would break down the Massachusetts games by playoff division, just to group the games together. It’s going to be an amazing weekend, so let’s get right to it. Here we go. Division 1 St. John’s Prep meets BC High in a battle of Catholic Conference rivals. The Prep won this regular season meeting handily, and is favored to do so……

Boston College offers five from Tabor Academy

November 7, 2023

0 comment

It has been a banner week at Tabor Academy, as Boston College offered five Seawolves players. The five players are Hugo Djeumeni, Amahn Williams, Kaiden Drinkwater, Jacob Burns, and Botond Varga. All five players also hold UMass offers. Djeumeni is a 6-foot, 190-pound running back in the 2025 class from Canada. Williams is a 6-4.5, 260-pound offensive lineman in the 2026 class from Randolph. Drinkwater is a 6-0.5, 180-pound wide……

Q&A with Weymouth coach Mike Donovan

November 7, 2023

0 comment

Weymouth football is experiencing a resurgence unlike most anyone expected under first-year coach Mike Donovan, who was previously an assistant at Brown. The Wildcats are 7-2, and coming off their biggest win of the year, a 20-0 shutout over Lincoln-Sudbury in the D1 playoffs. This week, Weymouth takes on Andover in another game the Wildcats are probably the underdog. We spoke over the phone with Donovan about his team and……

Week 7 Chaos Poll

November 5, 2023

0 comment

The big upset of Governor’s over Lawrence leads to some movement. Belmont Hill has been outstanding lately, and makes a big move up. Let’s get into it. Week 7 Chaos Poll 1. St. John’s Prep (9-0) 2. Springfield Central (8-1) 3. Catholic Memorial (6-2) 4. King Philip (9-0) 5. Xaverian (7-2) 6. Deerfield (6-2) — Huge challenge with Choate next. 7. Hanover (9-0) 8. Duxbury (7-1) 9. Milford (8-1} 10…….

Week 9 MIAA Top 25

November 5, 2023

0 comment

The postseason opened with a bang, with a few upsets and other intriguing results. We did not get a ton of movement at the top of the rankings, but there was some toward the back end. Let’s get to it. Week 9 MIAA Top 25 1. St. John’s Prep (9-0) — Rematch with BC High looms. 2. Springfield Central (8-1) — Running game did the trick. 3. Catholic Memorial (6-2)……

(7) Wellesley 42, (10) Belmont 0 — Raiders roll into D2 quarterfinals

November 4, 2023

0 comment

WELLESLEY — To say the very least, Wellesley did not start off this season the way it wanted to. The Raiders had lost most of its contributors to graduation, and it took a little longer to get going than they hoped. The result was an 0-3 start, and maybe some thoughts that the state tournament was not in the cards this year. Fast forward to Saturday, and Wellesley is back…….