Dedham High School won the small division championship in 2023
The annual Northeast 7 on 7 kicks off this morning at Xaverian High School in Westwood with the South Regional. The North Regional Tournament is tomorrow at Marshwood High School in Maine.
Under the direction of Milton High School coach Steve Dembowski, the tournament are grown tremendously in recent years.
Here are some thoughts on today’s South Regional. We will have a North Regional preview later today.
Open Division
Pool 1
Pool 1 features Xaverian. The Hawks return quarterback Will Wood and talented but young skill group. Walpole is also in this pool and they return quarterback Noah MacKenzie who one of the top returning signal callers in the state. The expectation is that these two will advance and make a run in the South Regional but don’t sleep on Wellesley. St. George’s of Rhode Island and Plymouth South round out the pool.
Pool 2
Pool 2 might be the most competitive pool in the open division. It features Natick, Hingham, Mansfield BB&N and Weymouth. All good programs that are capable of winning not only their pool but the regional. Game 7 between BB&N and Natick should be interesting with Damon Taylor of BB&N going up against his former Natick teammates.
Pool 3
Brockton, Needham and Billerica headline this pool. Needham will be one of the favorites in D1 this year. It will be good to see them, especially Lehigh commit Vaughn Williams. Brockton is still in flux with their coaching situation but the Boxers return plenty of skill. It will be interesting to see who their quarterback is. Billerica is always well coached under the tutelage of Duane Sigsbury. North Quincy and Silver Lake are also in this group. This should be a competitive pool.
Pool 4
Marshfield and Milton will be the two teams to watch in this pool. Marshfield returns one of the most talented skill led by quarterback Tor Maas, running back Davin True and wide receiver Charlie Carroll. The defending Division 3 champion Milton Wildcats return a bevy of skill players as well. Wide receiver Roman Salmon is one of the best players in the state and in this tournament. Attleboro, Whitman-Hanson and Kingswood-Oxford make up the rest of the bracket.
Small School Bracket
Pool 1
Pool 1 features Carver who beat Dexter-Southfield last year to win the South Regional. Norwood is also in this pool. The Mustangs are coming off a 7-4 season but will have a new quarterback after graduation do it all signal caller Matty Mahoney. Defending Division 6 Super Champion Fairhaven is also in this pool. I wonder if Coach Derek Almeida will try and run Justin Marques? Overall, this is one of the best pools in the South Regional.
Pool 2
Dedham won the small school bracket last year. The Marauders return several players from that team most notably running back A.J Pinet. Hanover graduated a lot of skill but the Hawks always reload and are well coached. Abington has a new coach for the first time in 50 years as longtime assistant Ed Reilly takes over. Will the Green Wave spread it out? Greater Lawrence Tech is also in this bracket. They have some athletes who could create match-up problems.
Pool 3
Duxbury and Middleboro in the same bracket will make this pool interesting. The Dragons return quarterback Trevor Jones and a young and talented skill group. Middleboro is always skilled and well coached. Norton and Mashpee are two programs to keep an eye in this pool. Both return talent and could come out of this pool and advance.
Pool 4
Scituate and Foxboro play early in the regular season so we will get a preview of sorts when they play in Game 6. The Warriors won the Division 5 Super Bowl and will be heavily favored to repeat. Herb Devine returns a good team that should be a player in Division 4. Apponequet and DY could spoil the party. Dolphins quarterback Jayden Barber is one of the best passers in any of the regionals.