Mansfield Overpowers Newton North to Land Fourth Sectional Final Berth in Six Years

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

Taunton, Mass. – It was the middle of January, and Mike Vaughan was worried.

Vaughan saw his team, looked at the landscape of Division 1 South and pondered how his Mansfield Hornets would be able to navigate one of the more competitive fields in recent memory.

Two months later and the Hornets are on the verge of South Sectional title as behind 25 points from Johnny McCoy and 23 points and 12 rebounds from Damani Scott, No. 1 Mansfield dominated No. 4 Newton North on Monday night, 70-50, to advance to the Division 1 South Sectional Final.

The sectional final berth is Mansfield’s third in four years, and fourth in the last six years.

PHOTO GALLERY: King Philip vs Lincoln-Sudbury in the D2 State Final

Photos by Eamon Convey (@eamonconvey)

FOXBOROUGH - We will have a full recap and some bonus coverage of King Philip's nail-biting 10-7 victory over Lincoln-Sudbury in the MIAA Division 2 state championship football game, but first enjoy these shots from our Eamon Convey.

Note that you can click any image to enlarge and launch a slideshow.

Prediction Time: The SuiteSports Staff Picks the MIAA Football Championships

Lincoln-Sudbury quarterback Braden O'Connell and his the Warriors' high-powered backfield will look to knock off defending champion King Philip. What do our guys think of that game, and all the others being played at Gillette Stadium this weekend?...

By SuiteSports Staff

Who doesn't love game picks?

Everybody loves seeing our writers take sides until, of course, we pick against their favorite team. Well, fear not, because several of our correspondents are here to "sleep on" and "disrespect" your favorite program just before its biggest game of the year.

Or maybe we'll pick your team, who knows. Anyways, here are the picks.

Previewing the MIAA State Football Championships: Divisions 5 & 6

Dennis-Yarmouth's explosive offense will try to keep pace with West Springfield and stud running back Vaunell Hill.

By Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports)

We've already looked at Friday night's games at Gillette (Divisions 2 and 3), and previewed the D4 and D7 title games yesterday. Now, our Tom Joyce looks at two of the more intriguing matchups featuring teams from the Central and Western part of the state.

Previewing the MIAA State Football Championships: Divisions 2 & 3

King Philip is headed back to Gillette, but can the Warriors repeat as state champions against an explosive Lincoln-Sudbury team?

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

Two weeks ago, high school football fans across Massachusetts welcomed the exciting news that all eight Super Bowls would be played at Gillette Stadium.

Prior to the usual six-game slate on Saturday, a pair of contests would be played Friday night, giving fans of all schools the opportunity to see their team play at the home of the New England Patriots.

Those two Friday night games turned out to arguably be the top two games on the docket.

First up in the Division 3 state championship game is Central Mass champion St. John’s (Shrewsbury) against D3 South champ North Attleboro, two teams that have been explosive all season long.

In the night cap, it’s the Division 2 state title game, where defending champion King Philip will look to cap off its second consecutive undefeated season against Lincoln-Sudbury, a squad that hopes to hand longtime coach Tom Lopez his first Super Bowl win since 1989.

Before we preview a loaded Saturday slate of Super Bowl matchups, lets take a look at those two Friday night affairs.

St. John's (Shrewsbury) Tops Springfield Central in Shootout for Trip to Gillette

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

Worcester, Mass. - St. John’s (Shrewsbury) quarterback Steve Bucciaglia soaked it in for a while. Who could blame him, he had just led his team to Gillette Stadium.

On Saturday afternoon, Bucciaglia was the fulcrum of an explosive Pioneer offense, completing 23-of-28 passes for 230 yards and 3 touchdowns as St. John’s Shrewsbury defeated Springfield Central, 52-33, at Foley Stadium.

With the win, St. John’s (11-0) advances to the Div. 3 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium versus North Attleboro.

Mashpee Rides Ford Past St. Mary's (Lynn) for Spot in D7 State Final

By Nate Rollins (@n_rollins1)

Braintree, Mass. - The Mashpee High football team is off to the Super Bowl, again.

The Falcons secured their third straight trip to the state championship game with a 28-20 victory over St. Mary’s (Lynn) in the Div. 7 state semifinals.

“It feels tremendous,” Mashpee head coach Matt Triveri said of going back to the Gillette Stadium.

Mashpee will square off against Blackstone Valley Tech (11-0) in the Div. 7 Super Bowl on Friday, Dec. 1, at Gillette Stadium.

Seide Carries Melrose Past Hopkinton in D4 State Semis

By Jake Levin (@JakeLevin09)

WEYMOUTH - Isaac Seide felt it was only a matter of time before he broke off a lengthy run for the unbeaten Melrose Red Raiders on Saturday.

Playing behind what he deemed the best offensive line in the state, Seide’s prediction came to fruition in the second half in Melrose’s 22-8 victory over the Hopkinton Hillers (10-1) to earn a trip to Gillette Stadium in the Division 4 State Championship Game. Melrose is now 11-0.

McHugh Breaks Out to Lead North Attleboro to Gillette

By Jake Levin (@JakeLevin09)

WEYMOUTH - Good things came in threes for the North Attleboro Red Rocketeers in its 29-21 win over the Tewksbury Redmen to advance to Gillette Stadium.

Brendan McHugh had three touchdowns for North Attleboro, while the Red Rocketeers forced a trio of Tewksbury turnovers to move on to the Division 3 State Championship Game on December 3rd.

McHugh had 163 yards from scrimmage for North. He carried the ball only 10 times but managed 86 yards, and caught just two passes but again made those count, with 77 yards receiving.

PHOTO GALLERY: St. John's (Shrewsbury) vs Springfield Central Football

Photos by Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

WORCESTER - St. John's (Shrewsbury) was too much for Western Mass power Springfield Central Saturday afternoon in Worcester, topping the Golden Eagles 52-33 for a spot in the Division 3 state championship game.

Our Matt Feld will have a full recap for you later, but for now, enjoy these shots from Foley Stadium. Note that you can click any image to enlarge and launch a slideshow.

Dennis-Yarmouth Dominates Watertown for Trip to Gillette

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

Medford, Mass. – All season long, Dennis-Yarmouth has been as dominant as its record would advertise. On Friday night, quarterback Jacob McCarthy made sure the Dolphins took it to another level.

Behind four touchdown passes from McCarthy, and a nearly perfect defensive effort, Dennis-Yarmouth defeated Watertown, 41-3, in the Division 5 state semifinals at Hormel Stadium. 

With the win, the Dolphins (11-0) advance to the Division 5 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium.

Breaking Down the MIAA Eastern Mass Football Finals (Divisions 3, 4 & 7)

Mashpee is hoping for ANOTHER trip to Gillette, but St. Mary's (Lynn) will present the Falcons with their biggest test yet.

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

Our Matt Feld already previewed Divisions 5, 6 and 8 of the MIAA's North vs South football state semifinals, and now he's back to fill in the gaps.

You can also check out our collaboration with MassLive to preview the four Central vs West state semis, but now here is everything you need to know about Saturday's games in EMass Divisions 3, 4 and 7.

Breaking Down the MIAA Eastern Mass Football Finals (Divisions 5, 6 & 8)

Star senior quarterback Bryce Latosek will look to lead Millis back to a state championship game.

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

Earlier today, we linked to a MassLive article where our editor Joe Parello and MassLive's Mark Chiarelli broke down all four of the Central vs West state football semifinals.

Now, our Matt Feld examines the battle between the North and South sectional champs in the Eastern part of the state. Note that Central and Western Mass do not participate in Divisions 1 or 2, so Division 1 sectional champs Everett (North) and Xaverian (South), along with Division 2 sectional champs Lincoln-Sudbury (North) and King Philip (South) have already advanced to their respective state championship games.

Let's take a look at a few of the biggest matchups on tap for this weekend.

SuiteSports & MassLive Preview the Central vs West MIAA Football State Semifinals

St. John's super soph Eamonn Dennis has emerged as one of the state's best kick returners, and most explosive receivers.

By SuiteSports Staff

The MIAA football playoffs are, for lack of a better word, weird.

Since no Central or Western Mass teams compete in Divisions 1 or 2, the North and South champs for those divisions already know they're going to Gillette.

But, as a new wrinkle of realignment this year, Western Mass teams only compete in four divisions (D3, D5, D7 and D8), which means that Division 4 Central champion Nashoba and Division 6 Central champion Littleton can also start making travel plans for Foxboro.

This new alignment sets up six different Eastern Mass finals in Divisions 3-8 (we'll preview those soon enough), and four Central vs West state semifinals that are always hard to predict. Why? Well, unlike in Eastern Mass where media outlets cover the North and the South pretty evenly, there really isn't an outlet that covers both Central and Western Mass.

That's why we're thrilled that MassLive, who does a fantastic job covering Western Mass high school sports, reached out to our Editor-in-Chief Joe Parello to get his thoughts on all the Central Mass state semifinalists.

Click here to read a full preview of all four games, including Joe's thoughts on the CMass squads, plus MassLive's Mark Chiarelli's break downs of all sectional champions from Western Mass.

SuiteSports' MIAA Football Player of the Year Watch List: 11/16

Everett quarterback Jake Willcox, like his team as a whole, keeps delivering big performances.

By SuiteSports Staff

SuiteSports is proud to unveil its updated list of candidates for its 2017 MIAA Football Player of the Year Award. This list will be updated weekly through state championship Saturday on December 2nd.

The winner will be announced in accordance with SuiteSports’ All-State teams in the second week of December.

Here are the current candidates for the 2017 MIAA Football SuiteSports Player of the Year Award. Players can make their way onto this list as the final weeks of the playoffs unfold.

This week brings only one new addition to our list, but he comes from out west.

Your MIAA Football Playoffs Weekend Review: The Sectional Finals

It took a last-minute touchdown but, for the second time in three years, Stoneham is a sectional champ.

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

Sectional Final weekend is officially in the books.

While six teams – Everett, Xaverian, Lincoln-Sudbury, King Philip, Nashoba, and Littleton  – sealed Super Bowl berths, 10 others will now battle it out in the state semifinals, hoping to join them at Gillette Stadium.

The Crimson Tide all season long have been considered the top team in Massachusetts, and Saturday’s performance against Central Catholic in the Division 1 North Sectional Final did little to change that notion.

Xaverian, meanwhile, overcame a 3-3 regular season to rally back and win their fifth consecutive Division 1 South Sectional title in dominating fashion over Catholic Memorial.

Elsewhere, North Attleboro easily took care of business against Duxbury to clinch a spot in the Division 3 State Semifinal, where the Red Rocketeers will take on Tewskbury.

St. John’s (Shrewsbury) defeated rival Shrewsbury 34-16, Cathedral ended Lynn Tech’s undefeated season, and St. Mary’s (Lynn) and Millis cruised to sectional final wins.

There is still plenty of excitement to come over the next two weeks, including state semifinal action next weekend, the Gridiron series at Fenway Park, and Thanksgiving Day rivalry games.

Before we look ahead to those story lines, lets take a quick look back at sectional final weekend.

Your MIAA Football Sectional Finals Preview: The Central and West

Springfield Central quarterback Aaron Moses-Williams has the Golden Eagle offense humming.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Our Matt Feld got kicked off our sectional championship game coverage earlier today, previewing the North and South sections.

Now I'll take a crack at the smaller regions out in Central and Western Massachusetts, where there are six sectional title games in CMass (Divisions 3-8) and four in WMass (Divisions 3,5,7, and 8).

Let's take a look at the matchups, story lines and players you need to pay attention to this weekend.

Your MIAA Football Sectional Finals Preview: The North and South

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

The sectional championships are upon us for MIAA football, and this weekend brings a slew of tremendous matchups as we continue our journey down the Road to Gillette Stadium.

In Eastern Massachusetts, we're prepping for an astonishing 16 sectional title games, as EMass teams will play for sectional titles in all eight divisions of the North and South sections. While we obviously can't go in-depth on every single one of those games, here are the matchups, players and story lines to watch in the North and South.

SuiteSports' MIAA Football Player of the Year Watch List: 11/8

Can we keep this guy off the list for another week? Nah.   Photo from @bryce_shaw44

By SuiteSports Staff

SuiteSports is proud to unveil its updated list of candidates for its 2017 MIAA Football Player of the Year Award. This list will be updated weekly through state championship Saturday on December 2nd.

The winner will be announced in accordance with SuiteSports’ All-State teams in the second week of December.

Here are the current candidates for the 2017 MIAA Football SuiteSports Player of the Year Award. Players can make their way onto this list as the final weeks of the regular season and playoffs unfold.


This week brings only one new addition to our list, but he's an impact player on both sides of the ball.

Asked and Answered: Your MIAA Sports Mailbag, 11/7

St. John's (Shrewsbury) is the school I get asked about most... For some reason.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Whenever somebody finds out that I (sorta) cover sports for a living, they always have a bunch of questions.

After I tell them that I cover high school and college, don't know Tom Brady, and can't get them any tickets, they usually start asking me the same four or five questions that are filling my mentions on Twitter and inbox on Gmail. Those usual questions change with the season and circumstance, but here we are with the MIAA football playoffs in full swing, and I find myself getting asked four questions all the time.

But no more, because now every time I notice similar questions from you, our fine readers, I am going to do a mailbag and explain my feelings on the biggest MIAA sports issues of the day.

Now, that doesn't mean I don't enjoy novel questions, so if you have something you would like to see answered in a future mailbag, hit me up on Twitter @HerewegoJoe, or via email at jparello86@gmail.com.

Off we go.

Ed. Note- All questions are actually just me condensing numerous similar questions from multiple readers into one (semi) coherent thought.