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.

Springfield Central Pulls Away from West Springfield in Battle of WMass Powers

Springfield Central quarterback Aaron Moses-Williams led Central with four touchdown passes.

By Ethan Winter (@EWints)

SPRINGFIELD - After two losses against two very tough opponents to open up their 2017 season, the Springfield Central Golden Eagles finally got in the win column with a 44-27 victory over the rival West Springfield Terriers.

In the unquestioned top game of the week in Western Mass, the top two teams in the region battled it out on the campus of Springfield Central High School. It did not disappoint.

St. John's (Shrewsbury) Runs Away from Springfield Central

By John McGuirk (@patsfan1313)

SHREWSBURY - The best coaches often avoid viewing their team's performances with rose colored glasses.

Case in point. John Andreoli, the 13-year head coach of St. John's (Shrewsbury) could have walked off of Pioneer Field singing the praises of his team's total dismantling of Springfield Central on Saturday afternoon. But Andreoli is not built that way. He is a man who demands perfection in all three phases of the game.

In spite St. John's compiling 677 yards of offense during its 62-39 beat down of the Golden Eagles, Andreoli was quick to point out his concerns regarding complacency of his defense during the second half.

MIAA Football Camp Road Trip: The Springfield Central Golden Eagles

Coach Valdamar Brower prepares for his 10th year on the Golden Eagle sideline.

By John McGuirk (@patsfan1313)

SPRINGFIELD - For Valdamar Brower, life is more than being a head football coach.

Set to enter his 10th season leading Springfield Central's football team, Brower has gone to unexpected lengths in providing love, care, wisdom and guidance to all of his players, both past and present.

Serving as a special education teacher and coach for an inner-city school, which harbors great diversity and contrasting backgrounds, Brower has become an entity of sorts. The long-time coach takes pride in successfully connecting with all of his players, putting them on the straight and narrow, and getting them focused on life, family, academics and football.

A strict disciplinarian, Brower says that raising academic standards, and the low number of off the field issues within his club has been most rewarding. Because of Brower's no nonsense style, he has forged the Golden Eagles program into one of the most dynamic state-wide.

The SuiteStars: Our 2016 MIAA All-State Football Team

Duxbury quarterback Bobby Maimaron

By SuiteSports Staff

SuiteSports is proud to unveil its first ever MIAA All-State football team, compiled with the input of our many contributors who hustled across the state all season long. Please keep in mind that we do have an "athlete" category, so be sure to check there before you freak out that your favorite player didn't make the team, and continue all the way down for our annual award winners.

One rule we're going to lay out here: We encourage debate and discussion, and we'd love to hear who we "snubbed." However, we ask that you avoid personal attacks on players. It's not a good look, and personal attack comments will be deleted.

Also note that we have listed, in parenthesis (), where a player has committed to play college football. Obviously, not everyone on our team has picked a school, or chosen to play college football at all, but if we missed a commitment, Tweet editor Joe Parello and let him know.

Grafton Hangs on Against Taconic for Trip to Gillette

By Connor Evans (@RonnocEvans)

LEOMINSTER, Mass. - The Grafton Indians would face off against the Taconic Braves Saturday afternoon. The undefeated Indians would prevail by a final score of 26-13, providing them a state final berth at Gillette Stadium come December 3rd.

RADIO: The High School Football Lunch Box, State Semifinal Preview

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

It was a busy hour on this week's episode of "The High School Football Lunch Box" on WPKZ, as the guys welcomed in Maynard head coach Harold Ogilvie. Coach Ogilvie chatted about his team's incredible run, and what the Tigers must do the rest of the way if they hope to be state champs.

The Telegram & Gazette's Chris Kyne also called in to break down all the teams remaining in the state tournament from Central Mass, and Mike Walsh from the Berkshire Courier called in to give us the skinny on all the Western Mass teams that our CMass guys will have to play this weekend.

All that, and much more, in this week's episode. Listen in below!

Fixing Massachusetts' High School Football Playoffs

Holliston celebrating a Division 4 state championship at Gillette Stadium last December.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Yesterday the Football Committee of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) voted to amend its statewide football tournament. The vote comes just two years after the new statewide plan was implemented in 2013, and expands the field from six divisions to eight.

Prior to 2013, Massachusetts did not crown true state champions. Instead, the season culminated with 18 sectional "Super Bowl" champions every year, with teams winning titles in Eastern, Central and Western Mass, but never beyond their respective region.

The new system has faced resistance ever since its inception for a number of reasons. Namely, it rendered Thanksgiving Day rivalries meaningless for many teams, especially those playing in the state title games. It also made selling tickets difficult for teams that missed the playoffs. Those schools now had to play a "non-playoff" schedule against unfamiliar opponents with no real stakes.

But it also began playoff football sooner, and awarded six true state championships, with each title game being played at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. For all its flaws, the system was delivering on its promise of allowing all the best teams to play for state titles in the Patriots' house.

Now, both of the system's current strengths will be eliminated, while the fundamental issues still remain.