By Tyler Amaral NEFJ Correspondent WRENTHAM – Fourth-seeded King Philip could not have started much slower Friday night in the opening round of the Division 3 playoffs. The Warriors fell behind 12-0 to 13th-seeded Reading in the first quarter. Starting in the second quarter, King Philip rose to the occasion and the game did a 180 as the Warriors rattled off 35 straight points to send the Rockets home in……

By Tyler Amaral NEFJ Correspondent Division 1 The field: 1. St. John’s Prep 2. St. John’s (Shrewsbury) 3. Central Catholic 4. Wachusett 5. Springfield Central 6. Xaverian 7. Leominster 8. Franklin 9. Andover 10. Haverhill 11. Natick 12. New Bedford 13. Shrewsbury 14. Everett 15. Brockton 16. Weymouth The favorites: St. John’s Prep, Springfield Central, St. John’s (Shrewsbury) The sleepers: Xaverian Best first round matchup: Andover at Franklin Players to…

By Michael Najarian NEFJ Correspondent FRANKLIN — Kyle Olson set the tone right away on Thursday night. Then, Marcus DeJesus and ninth-seeded Andover took the momentum and rolled with it all 48 minutes, delivering a dominating 56-21 win over No. 8 Franklin in the first round of the Division I playoffs. Andover, coming off a 5-3 regular season with back-to-back losses before the playoffs, took charge early and often to…

By Tyler Amaral NEFJ Correspondent FAIRHAVEN – The No. 11 seed in Division 6 Joseph Case nearly beat Fairhaven three weeks ago. They fought tooth and nail with the reigning Division 6 champions to the very end, before falling 45-37. Despite the loss, the Cardinals emerged from the game with a new found confidence that they could compete with any team in Division 6. On Thursday night, Case got a…

By Jose Rodriguez NEFJ Correspondent LYNN – Aavian Pena combined for 116 yards and two touchdowns to give No. 8 KIPP Panthers a 34-13 victory over No. 9 West Boylston on Thursday, November 5, at Manning Field in the first round of the Division 8 playoffs. The Panthers improved to 7-2 on the season while the Lions drop to 4-5. “I think what was working well for me tonight was…

By Colby Shannon NEFJ Correspondent WESTWOOD — Seven first-half touchdowns powered the three-time defending state champions Xaverian past Natick High School 49-0 in an MIAA D1 first round matchup on Thursday night. Specifically, the sixth-seeded Hawks (5-4) were aided by a three-touchdown performance from Boston College commit Will Wood, catapulting the fourth-ranked Hawks into the second round of the MIAA Division 1 tournament. After the game, head coach Al Fornaro,…

By Tyler Amaral NEFJ Correspondent Division 5 The field: 1. Shawsheen Valley 2. Gloucester 3. Watertown 4. Swampscott 5. Northeast Metro 6. Norton 7. Foxborough 8. St. Mary’s 9. Greater Lawrence 10. Apponequet 11. Medfield 12. Hanover 13. Auburn 14. North Reading 15. Blackstone Valley 16. Oakmont The favorites: Shawsheen Valley, Watertown The sleepers: Foxborough, Greater Lawrence Best first round matchup: Medfield at Norton Players to watch: Quinn Carbone, DB,…