By Tyler Amaral
NEFJ Staff

The state semifinals are here. Only 32 teams are in action this weekend and 22 of those teams are in this week’s New England Football Journal top 25.

This week’s new entrants are Duxbury, Norwell, Fairhaven, Amesbury and North Reading. The top seven from last week’s top 25 remains unchanged.

Here’s how things look before Super Bowl matchups are determined:

1. St. John’s Prep (10-0) vs Central Catholic – No Chris Vargas, no problem. The Eagles soared past Leominster despite an all-time performance from Osiris Lopez.

2. Springfield Central (9-1) vs Xaverian – Golden Eagles looked much better (and healthier) in round two than round one.

3. Xaverian (8-2) vs Springfield Central – The Hawks cruised to a win over Andover. Star Dave Chiavegato is back after missing the entire regular season.

4. King Philip (10-0) vs Malden Catholic – Warriors dominated Mansfield in the first meeting between the teams in four years.

5. Catholic Memorial (7-2) vs Winchester – The Knights smothered Wellesey in their first playoff game.

6. Tewksbury (10-0) vs Canton – Redmen continue to rack up blowout wins.

7. Winchester (10-0) vs Catholic Memorial – Winchester rolled past a pesky Lincoln-Sudbury team. They have a chance to pull off a major upset this week.

8. Bishop Feehan (8-1) vs Bridgewater-Raynham – Shamrocks won their eighth straight game in convincing fashion.

9. Shawsheen (10-0) vs North Reading – The regular season meeting with St. Mary’s was a thriller. The playoff rematch? Not so much.

10. Central Catholic (7-3) vs St. John’s Prep – The Raiders snuck past Natick in overtime in the best game of last weekend.

11. Scituate (9-1) vs Duxbury – It wasn’t easy, but Grayson Foley and company got past Walpole. Chief rival Duxbury awaits.

12. Milton (9-1) vs North Attleborough – The Wildcats offense is firing on all cylinders.

13. North Attleborough (8-2) vs Milton – Frankie Strachan is putting together an impressive postseason. The bruising senior has over 70 carries and six touchdowns in two playoff games.

14. Foxborough (8-2) vs Archbishop Williams – The Warriors pulled away from a good Gloucester team.

15. Canton (8-2) vs Tewksbury – Canton erased an early 14-0 deficit versus Marblehead. The Bulldogs need to avoid a slow start against Tewksbury this week.

16. Archbishop Williams (10-0) vs Foxborough – The Bishops won a thriller against Hanover.

17. Natick (7-3) BYE WEEK – Natick lost a heartbreaker to Central Catholic. The annual Thanksgiving matchup versus Framingham is up next.

18. Barnstable (8-2) BYE WEEK – The Redhawks ran into a North Attleborough buzzsaw last weekend. They will play Falmouth on Thanksgiving.

19. Masconomet (8-2) BYE WEEK – The defense wasn’t able to contain the high-powered Milton attack. The Chieftains will play Northeast on Thanksgiving.

20. Bridgewater-Raynham (7-3) vs Bishop Feehan – The Trojans have won six of their last seven games and are playing confidently.

21. Duxbury (7-3) vs Scituate – Duxbury dominated a previously-unbeaten Burlington team. Duxbury is starting to look like Duxbury.

22. Norwell (8-2) vs Hudson – The Clippers have outscored opponents 71-14 in two playoff games. Star quarterback Jack Luccarelli is closing in on 2,000 rushing yards this season.

23. Fairhaven (9-1) vs Bishop Fenwick – The defense has caught up to the offense. Fairhaven is playing as well as anyone in the lower divisions right now.

24. Amesbury (10-0) vs Clinton – The Redhawks dethroned two-time reigning Division 7 champion, Uxbridge, in convincing fashion.

25. North Reading (9-1) vs Shawsheen – The Hornets defense rose to the occasion, shutting out the vaunted Medfield rushing attack in the second half last weekend.

Best of the rest
Abington
Andover
Ashland
Burlington
Cohasset
Hudson
Leominster
Lincoln-Sudbury
Lowell
Malden Catholic
Mansfield
Marblehead
Medfield
Methuen
Randolph