Note: We wanted to create a new feature that honored the history of the high school game a little. This is a snapshot of MIAA play in 2003, and while a lot of that info is hard to access, we still remember a good amount of it.

So here’s an attempt to capture those old glories. If you have any additional information from other years, it is welcome.

Here is a look back at 2003.

This was a year that had plenty of debate at the end of it on who was actually the best team in the Commonwealth.

The team that won most of those debates was Everett. The Crimson Tide rolled to an 11-0 and D1 Super Bowl season out of the Greater Boston League. Part of why the public leaned toward the Crimson Tide was the play of quarterback Matt Nuzzo, and his older brother, Frank. Everett was just coming off a 2002 season where the Crimson Tide beat St. John’s Prep in the D1 Super Bowl, beating a Prep team which was considered one of the best in its era. So it was only logical that the ’03 team, with many of the same pieces, would be held in such high exteem.

In ’03, Everett earned wins over the likes of Marshfield (in the D1 Super Bowl), one of the best Cambridge teams of recent memory, the Prep, Peabody, Leominster, and Waltham. One of the criticisms of that Everett team is that the Crimson Tide was never really tested.

The second team that people pointed to as a possible best team in the state was Acton-Boxboro. The then-Colonials were in the middle of a long winning streak that eventually reached 50 games later on. And, like Everett, A-B had a brother tandem that paced the squad. Running backs and linebackers Larry and Bobby Abare had tremendous seasons.

Although A-B played in a Dual County League that was not considered the strongest, A-B beat the second-best team, Lincoln-Sudbury and linebacker John Baranowsky decisively. The nonleague schedule was tough, and featured wins over Chelmsford, Marshfield, and Bridgewater-Raynham. A-B beat Chelmsford twice, the second in the D2 Super Bowl after several Lions players were suspended for a graffiti incident with Thanksgiving foe Billerica.

A third team that probably should have been considered more at the time was Mansfield, which also went undefeated. The Hornets were led by quarterback John Sperrazza, and, this, at the time, was considered as good of a team that coach Mike Redding may have ever had. Brian Kiley, a running back and linebacker, was every bit in line as anyone else at those positions, in some ways, as Frank Nuzzo for Everett and the Abares for A-B.

The best wins for Mansfield were one over North Attleboro in the regular season, and over Swampscott in the D3 Super Bowl. Like A-B and Everett, Mansfield did not play many close games.

Another team that did not get a ton of looks in the best team in the state discussion, but deserved mention, was Longmeadow. The Lancers went unbeaten, and mostly dominated the competition, including a 33-12 win over Fitchburg in the CMass/WMass D1 Super Bowl.

The Catholic Conference saw St. John’s Prep emerge in the most surprising of ways on Thanksgiving. Xaverian was a heavy favorite heading into to T-day in Danvers. When Xaverian jumped out to a 21-7 lead, it looked like the visitors would have it. But the Prep rallied, behind another monster effort from running back Chris Zardas.

It was Zardas who rushed in a two-point conversion to give the Prep a 22-21 lead. Behind quarterback Zack Asack, Xaverian moved the ball deep into Prep territory. But a game-winning field-goal attempt was blocked by Prep’s Andrew Long, and the Eagles earned the Catholic Conference title and major upset.

It marked the third straight T-day win for the Prep over Xaverian.

Bishop Feehan won the D4 Super Bowl with a shutout win over Masconomet, and Feehan was so consistently dominant in the Eastern Athletic Conference that there was discussion about Feehan moving up to the Catholic Conference.

That was an interesting year for Feehan. The Shamrocks scrimmaged New Jersey power Don Bosco Prep in the preseason. Bosco basically did whatever it wanted on offense, but Feehan did manage to move the ball with its dynamic passing game.

Paul Hallion’s Westwood team won the D5 Super Bowl with a 21-14 victory over Tyngsboro. The Wolverines were coming off a great decade in the 1990s, and continued that great tradition as one of the top small-school powers.