Image courtesy of the MIAA By Tyler Amaral NEFJ Staff Nine weeks of regular season football games are in the books. It’s time to turn the page to the postseason. The MIAA football playoffs begin Friday night. State champions will be crowned at Gillette Stadium December 4-6. Some divisions are more predictable than others, but we’re in store for another exciting postseason in Massachusetts. Division 1 The field: 1. St. John’s……
By Tyler Amaral NEFJ Staff It’s officially playoff season in Massachusetts. The final week of the regular season was a memorable one; there were ranked vs. ranked battles, upsets and plenty of changes to the playoff seeding. Abington, Bedford, and Burlington each debut in this week’s Top 25. Andover, Marblehead and Bridgewater-Raynham are out after suffering losses last week. Catholic Memorial and Bishop Feehan have first round bye weeks due to…
More big time performances this week. Here are this week’s Dudes of the Week for High School Football. Connecticut Maloney’s Devan Bacote rushed for 102 yards and scored 3 touchdowns in Maloney’s 30-28 loss to New Britain. DUDE! Plainville’s Chase Bouchard caught five passes for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns. He had an 80-yard kickoff return to start the game in a 56-20 win over Lewis Mills. DUDE! Fitch’s Sean……
By Rob Gullo & Andy Close NEFJ Correspondents Not a ton of movement this week in the latest Connecticut state rankings, as the top teams have definitely separated themselves through seven weeks. Killingly and Greenwich did flip-flop positions, however, with Killingly moving up to their highest spot of the season at No. 2, while Greenwich drops one spot to No. 3. Southington is the only new addition to the poll,…
By Tyler Amaral NEFJ Staff DANVERS – Trailing Catholic Memorial by 12 late in the first half, St. John’s Prep needed a spark. Eagles coach Brian St. Pierre sent his offense out in wildcat formation. Running back Maxwell Parent took the direct snap and scored from six yards out to cut the lead to 20-14 and start a run of 21 straight St. John’s Prep points in the final four…
Image courtesy of Johan Moskowitz By Rob Gullo NEFJ Correspondent WESTPORT — For a second-straight week, St. Joseph’s defeated a top-10 team in the state, beating Staples 27-6 on the road Saturday afternoon. It was the Finn Kilmartin Show for St. Joseph as the junior scored all four of the team’s touchdowns. Kilmartin scored on runs from two (twice), one, and four-yards out. While it was Kilmartin who had all…
MANSFIELD – It’s been a strange few weeks for the Canton football team. That’s what made Friday night’s 28-16 win over Mansfield – the first for the program over the Hornets since 1990 – so special for the players and coaches. After starting 4-0, head coach Anthony Fallon was replaced by co-interim coaches Jeff Eckler and Marty Sasin. The Bulldogs lost two straight to North Attleboro and Foxboro before blowing…
By Charlie Adams NEFJ Correspondent PORTSMOUTH – Xavier Calderon sent Bishop Hendricken into the postseason with a walk-off field goal, ending Portsmouth’s undefeated season in a 20-17 overtime win. The Hawks were stonewalled until the final four minutes of the fourth quarter, taking advantage of bounces going their way and completing a miraculous comeback. “It was one of the most improbable wins I’ve ever been a part of as a…
Image courtesy of Dan Heary By Rob Gullo NEFJ Correspondent MERIDEN — Down three touchdowns against Maloney 10 minutes into Friday afternoon’s game at Falcon Field in Meriden, New Britain didn’t fold. In fact, the Golden Hurricanes stormed back for a wild 30-28 win. With both CCC Tier 1 teams entering the game with 5-1 records, New Britain coach Isaiah Boddie knew the type of fight his team would be…
By Mukala Kabongo NEFJ Staff MILTON — A strong second half helped Milton to 21-14 victory over Natick in the regular season finale for both Bay State Conference crossover foes on Friday night. In a matchup between two teams ranked in the top five in the latest power rankings, the Redhawks (No.4 in Division 1) and the Wildcats (No. 4 in D3) looked to gain some momentum and some much-needed…