Springfield Central, Wahconah and Hoosac Valley Capture Western Mass Crowns

By John McGuirk (@Patsfan1313)

HOLYOKE - Championship games are not supposed to play out this way. The collective thinking is that these are the best teams representing their district. On paper that may be correct. But on the field? Not so much.

That was never-more evident than during Saturday's Western Mass. finals, in which all three contests transcended into lopsided affairs. Springfield Central, Wahconah Regional and Hoosac Valley each made bold statements in terms of how easy they made things look. All three clubs dominated in their respective tilts and find themselves one victory away from earning a trip to Gillette Stadium to compete in the state Super Bowls.

West Springfield Keeps Rolling, Takes Care of Longmeadow in D5 West Final

By John McGuirk (@Patsfan1313)

HOLYOKE — Who else but Vaunell Hill?

With West Springfield clinging to a meer three point lead just a handful of minutes into the third quarter, the Terriers turned to their top running back to become the difference maker. 

Hill's 68 yard dash down the left sideline midway through the quarter gave West Side the added cushion it was seeking as they proceeded to leave Longmeadow in its rearview in the form of a 42-18 victory during in Friday night's Division 5 sectional final held at Roberts Stadium.

Lee Crushes Amherst on Senior Night

By Ethan Winter (@EWints)

LEE – In what was a highly anticipated Intercounty South matchup coming into the game Friday night, it turned out to not be much of a game at all as the Lee Wildcats flexed their muscle and ran away from the Amherst Hurricanes, 40-0 on senior night, to further solidify their standing in the Division VIII Western Mass Playoff race.

The Wildcats were led by senior Lukas Loehr who rushed for 100 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns in his final regular season home game of his career.

West Springfield Defense Pitches Shutout at Longmeadow

By John McGuirk (@Patsfan1313)

LONGMEADOW - Two games, two shutouts. No matter how you slice it, West Springfield's defense is eons ahead of its offense at this point in time.

For the second consecutive week, the Terriers pitched a shutout. This time blanking Longmeadow, 14-0, on a hot and humid Friday evening. Last week, West Side shut down Springfield Commerce 42-0.

With the realization that the stakes were a bit higher this time around, the Terrier defense remained true to form as they suffocated the Lancers' patented Wing-T formation from the start to finish, holding them to a paltry 53 yards of offense.

Playoff Notebook: CMass Sweeps WMass for Trips to Gillette

Davon Jones gets some serious air on this first quarter St. John's touchdown vs Springfield Central.

By Joe Parello  @HerewegoJoe

Central Mass went a perfect 4-0 against Western Mass Saturday in the state semifinals, as St. John's, Doherty, Northbridge and Littleton all earned spots in their respective Super Bowls at Gillette Stadium.

Those Super Bowls, which will serve as inaugural football state championship games for each division, will take place on December 7th. But, each of those teams must first play a Thanksgiving Day game, thanks to the new statewide playoff system that forces teams still alive in the playoffs to play, effectively, meaningless games against their old rivals.

How the coaching staffs and standout players on each team handles this will be interesting to see, and I'm sure I'll be at one of those games to keep you posted on playing time and whatnot. Anyways, I'll have full previews of each Super Bowl up next week, but now let's take a look back at how each CMass school got to this point.

Division 2: St. John's

Next Up: Mansfield

The Storyline: Back on Top

St. John's had lost five in a row to rival Leominster, and though people weren't talking about it as much, had also dropped its last two to cross-town rival Shrewsbury. The offense that was supposed to lead the Pioneers to greatness was held to check against Fitchburg, but receiver Michael McGillicuddy's miracle kickoff return (McGiracle™) saved St. John's from starting the season 1-2.

Postgame Blog: St. John's Stuns Springfield Central

Drew Smiley hauls in a one-handed interception to clinch the game for St. John's.

By Joe Parello  @HerewegoJoe

Here is your reminder that this blog is simply a collection of my wandering thoughts. For a complete write up, my buddy Brendan Hall has you covered over at ESPN Boston. If you'd like to see my highlights, those are on ESPN Boston as well, and here's a link for you lazy folks out there.

Now, let's get into what was a HUGE win for the St. John's football program.