MIAA Football:Thanksgiving Football Picks!

Three years after clinching a Catholic Conference title at Fenway Park, Xaverian is hoping to do it again on Wednesday night (Photo Courtesy: John Mahoney/ESPNBoston)

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612), Featuring Joe Parello (@HereWeGoJoe)

Happy Thanksgiving one and all! Throughout the state on Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, some of the state's most storied rivalries will commence. Folks from across Massachusetts, including family, friends, and alumni will bundle up and make their way to their local high school football field to take in one of the top annual high school traditions.

Four teams have the special opportunity to play at Fenway Park as part of the Gridiron Series. Last night, Burke took down West Roxbury while Foxboro defeated Mansfield in an instant classic, 35-33, that lasted three overtimes.

Tonight, meanwhile, St. John's Prep and Xaverian will play for the Catholic Conference title before Natick and Framingham finish off the two day affair.

For the 100th time, East Boston and South Boston will go head-to-head with kick-off scheduled for 9:30am on Thursday morning. In one of the more notorious Thanksgiving Day rivalries in the country Needham and Wellesley will play for the 128th time. Wellesley leads the all-time season series 62-59-6.

The annual battle of the Lynn schools will take place at Manning Field with Lynn English holding a 55-40-2 all-time series lead over Lynn Classical. Quincy and North Quincy will play in front of an expected capacity crowd at Veterans Stadium.

In one of the top clashes in the state, Attleboro and North Attleboro will fight for supremacy in a battle of the border. The matchup features two of the top linemen in the state in Attleboro's Nick Evans and North's Ryan Clemente.

Out in Central Mass., Wachusett and Shrewsbury will play for the Mid-Wach A league title. Nipmuc and Blackstone Valley have the rare opportunity of playing each other on Thanksgiving before both head to Gillette for a Super Bowl.

With that, co-editors Joe Parello and Matt Feld are here to make their picks for the top Thanksgiving games on the docket. Heading into the final week of games prior to the super bowls, here is how our editors stack up:

Feld: 80-24
Parello: 67-37

Now, for our holiday picks!

MIAA Football: An Updated Look At Our Player of the Year Candidates

St. John's wide receiver Jay Brunelle has become one of the top threats in Massachusetts in 2018.

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

As the weeks have gone on, SuiteSports' list of MIAA Football Player of the Year candidates has grown as players have entered their names into contention. 

Two seasons ago, Duxbury's Bobby Maimaron took home the honor, while last season King Philip's Shane Frommer won the award in a runaway.

We began with five candidates, but players have had the opportunity to add their name to the list on a weekly basis.

This week, we have added two more players bringing our total number of candidates to 11. One is arguably the top pure wide receiver in the state despite being only a junior in St. John's' Jay Brunelle. The second, meanwhile, is a standout defensive back in Springfield Central's Keshaun Dancy. 

We will release our final candidates for the award on the Monday of Super Bowl week.

Here is SuiteSports' updated list of MIAA Football Player of the Year Candidates as selected by our panel of writers, correspondents, and editors.

Xaverian Shows Injuries Not a Problem, Posts Third Straight Shutout

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

Westwood, Mass. -- Xaverian may be wounded, but for the five-time defending Div. 1 South champions, it seems to merely be a chink in the armor.

Mike Masse ran for two touchdowns while the Hawks defense posted their third consecutive shutout as top-seeded Xaverian defeated No. 8 BC High, 17-0, on Friday night at Xaverian Brothers High School.

MIAA Football: Thanksgiving Football at Fenway Once Again

Xaverian will take on St. John's Prep at Fenway Park for the second time in four seasons (Photo Courtesy: Jon Mahoney, ESPNBoston.com)

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

High school football is returning to one of baseball's most storied ballparks.

As first reported by Dan Ventura of the Boston Herald, Fenway Park will play host to Thanksgiving Eve football for the third time in four seasons.

This year features three new matchups that are yet to experience the atmosphere that playing football at Fenway brings.

In the doubleheader on Tuesday, the Boston City League will receive representation with Burke facing off against West Roxbury.

Also on Tuesday is expected to be Mansfield-Foxboro. The Hornets who are fighting for a top spot in Div. 2 South, barely hold the all-time series lead, with a 35-33-2 record all-time versus the Warriors.

Then Wednesday features the game that very well may decide the Catholic Conference title with Xaverian taking on St. John's Prep. It's the second time the two will play at Fenway with Xaverian winning back in 2015, 14-0. The Hawks defeated St. John's Prep last season, 30-0, marking their fifth straight win in the series.

Coinciding with the Xaverian-St. John's Prep showdown, Framingham will take on Natick. The two played one another for over a century now, with Natick holding a 75-32-5 lead all-time.

Times have not been announced for games on either of the days.

Here are the results from the 2015 and 2017 games that took place at Fenway Park:

2015

BC High 13, Catholic Memorial 10

Boston Latin 28, English 6

Xaverian 14, St. John's Prep 0

Needham 12, Wellesley 7


2017

BC High 32, Catholic Memorial 16

Everett 36, Masconomet 20

Hingham 7, Scituate 6 

MIAA Football: 2018 Mid-Season All-State Team

Mike Saliba has been a major part of Xaverian's early season success on both sides of the ball. 

By SuiteSports Staff 

With just about seven weeks gone by since the start of camp, we have reached the midway point of the 2018 MIAA Football Season.

That being said, SuiteSports is excited to announce our 2018 Mid-Season All-State Team as selected by its panel of writers, correspondents, and editors. 

It's important to note that this is simply a mid-season team, and that players have plenty of time to work their way onto this list by the time we announce our 2018 All-State Team following the conclusion of the eight Super Bowls at Gillette Stadium in early December. We will have three instead of two teams when we release our final All-State team. 

Additionally, since this is built off a relatively small sample size (five, or maybe even four games) there's a chance that players who may be expected to make this list are omitted due to injury for a week or two that impacted overall production. Its safe to assume that those players, as long as they stay healthy, will be under strong consideration to appear once the season comes to a close.

Lastly, while we always encourage conversation or input in our comments section, that space is not to be used to denigrate any players. This is not an easy selection, and unfortunately we only have so many spots to fill.

Now, without further ado, here is our 2018 Mid-Season All State Team:

MIAA Football: Top 25 Poll Week Five

St. John's held off rival Shrewsbury to jump to No. 16 in our latest poll.

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

There is some shuffling in our latest MIAA Football Top 25 Poll as teams begin to showcase that recent big time performances were not one-off evenings, but rather signs of sustained success.

Needham climbs up into the top five for the for the first time this season following another resounding win over Braintree. Duxbury and Acton-Boxboro, meanwhile, come in at 7 and 8, respectively. The Dragons showed on Friday they are still the class of the Patriot League Keenan while Acton-Boxboro continued its big offensive display in a win over Dracut.

St. John's Shrewsbury makes the biggest climb of the week, jumping nine spots up to No. 16 after defeating rival Shrewsbury in a thriller on Saturday afternoon. Falmouth makes its first appearance coming in at No. 25 following a big win over defending Div. 5 Super Bowl champ Dennis-Yarmouth that landed them at least a share of the ACL title.

Now, here is our full brand new MIAA Football Top 25 Poll as selected by our panel of writers, correspondents, and editors. 

1. Everett (5-0; Last Week: 1)  Crimson Tide were on upset alert early on Friday night versus BC High, but then Duke Doherty and Mike Sainristil arrived to prove yet again why Everett is the top team in the state. 

VIDEO: Xaverian Wears down Brockton

Videos by Matt Siegel (@SportVideoMA)

Brockton, Mass. - It was all even for a half, but eventually Xaverian found a way to pull away from feisty Brockton, 14-0, thanks to some stingy defense, and a powerful ground game.

Our Matt Siegel was there to capture all the biggest plays, which you can view below.

MIAA Football: Week Five Picks

The Duxbury offense, led by QB John Roberts, will have its hands full with Hingham Friday night.

 By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612), Featuring Joe Parello (@Herewegojoe)

Ahead of this weekend's MIAA high school football action, editors Matt Feld and Joe Parello are here to make their picks for the top games across Massachusetts.

Heading into week five, here are our two editors shake up in the standings. Joe promises to be better, but he can be a filthy liar sometimes.

Feld: 30-8
Parello: 25-13

Now, for this week's picks!

No. 1 Everett at BC High

Parello's Pick: If the Tide was gonna lose, I feel like it would have been before super soph QB Duke Doherty and new coach Theluxon Pierre really got rolling. We're past that point, and it's hard to see anybody knocking off Everett now.

35-21, Everett




Feld's Pick: The Eagles defense keeps this one interesting for a half, but Everett's speed becomes the late deciding factor.

27-10, Everett

Xaverian Comes Storming Back, Proves They are Still the Kings of Div. 1 South

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

West Roxbury, Mass. – Staring a heartbreaking loss in the face, the titans of Division 1 South returned from the dead.

Xaverian overcame a 17-point deficit to tie the game in the fourth quarter capped off by a Michael Berluti game-winning touchdown pass to Cooper DeVeau in overtime as the No. 4 Hawks defeated No. 3 Catholic Memorial, 25-17, at Jim O’Connor Field in West Roxbury.

“We always say the Catholic Conference and Division 1 South runs through Clapboardtree Street,” said DeVeau. “And we want to keep that going as long as possible because we know we’re the best team and we want to prove it every week.”

MIAA Football: Week Four Picks

Is Catholic Memorial a legit Catholic Conference and D1 state title contender? We'll find out Friday when the Knights host Xaverian.

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612), Featuring Joe Parello (@Herewegojoe)

It's time for SuiteSports editors Matt Feld and Joe Parello to make their picks for all the top 10 games on the docket in week four.

So far, here is how the scoreboard reads through three weeks of play:

Feld: 23-5

Parello: 19-9

And here are this week's picks:

Next in Line: Michael Saliba Hoping to Become The Face of Xaverian's Next Super Bowl Run

Mike Saliba is hoping his talents on both sides of the ball lead Xaverian back to the top.

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

If you are looking for parity across the Massachusetts High School Football landscape over the last half decade, the Div. 1 South Sectionals have been the last place to go searching. 

Since the implementation of the new playoff format in 2013, Xaverian has won five consecutive Division 1 South titles, including a pair of Super Bowls in 2014 and 2015. While the Hawks have been no slouch on the offensive side of the ball over the years, there has been no greater lynchpin to their success than their nearly impenetrable defense.

Over the course of the last five seasons eventual household names have pioneered the unit, including current Northwestern standout Joe Gaziano, Yale Bulldogs in John Dean, Brian Abraham, and AJ Ryan, Bryant defensive back Mekhi Henderson, and Brown’s Cal Flanders.

Previewing The MIAA State Football Championships: Divisions 1 & 8

Can Everett capture a second state title in a row? The Tide has plenty of new faces since last year, but still plenty of championship caliber talent.

 By SuiteSports Staff

We finish our series of MIAA state championship previews with the largest and smallest divisions in the Commonwealth. For any of our past previews, click below, and continue on for breakdowns of Everett vs Xaverian and Hoosac Valley vs Millis.

Divisions 2 & 3
Divisions 4 & 7
Divisions 5 & 6

Xaverian Crushes Catholic Memorial, Advances to D1 Super Bowl

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

WESTWOOD — Over the course of the first five years of the new MIAA playoff format only one program has represented Division 1 South.

For the fifth straight time, Xaverian is headed to the Super Bowl as behind 167 rushing yards, two touchdowns, and an interception from Ikechukwu Irabor the No. 3 Hawks downed No. 5 Catholic Memorial, 35-7, in the Division 1 South Sectional Final on a winter night at Xaverian Brothers High School.

The Hawks (6-3) will be looking to win their third state championship in five tries.

MIAA Football Top 25: Week 5

BC High continues to get the job done on the ground, led by Harvard commit Danny Abraham (pictured), quarterback Will Bowen, and a loaded offensive line.

Our weekly rankings of the best teams in the state, as selected by our panel of staff writers and correspondents. (Updated 10/2)

1. Everett (3-0; Last Week – 1 ) After an idle week, the Crimson Tide will prepare for a road trip to Cawley Stadium and an exciting matchup against high-scoring Lowell. 

2. BC High (4-0; Last Week – 2 ) The Eagles handled another tough matchup on a loaded schedule, running past Brockton for a 42-18 win at Harvard Stadium last Friday.

3. Central Catholic (4-0; Last Week – 3) With a convincing 44-14 win at Billerica, the Raiders continued to showcase their talent on both sides of the ball. 

Xaverian Football Has a New Three-Phase Star

By SuiteSports Staff

WESTWOOD - Two seasons ago, Coby Tippett electrified fans and invigorated his teammates while leading the Xaverian Hawks to an undefeated season and Super Bowl.

Last year, the Hawks tried to use cornerback Mekhi Henderson as a similar all-purpose weapon, yet he wasn't quite the same type of transcendental talent as the son of the Patriots Hall of Famer.

In order to get back to the mountaintop and earn a crack at an Everett team that's now defeated them twice in a row by a combined score of 59-14, the Hawks may need to find a new three-phase star, and he might just have emerged on Friday night. 

Everett is Clear Division 1 Favorite After Thrashing of Xaverian

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

EVERETT - Within moments it was clear; The Crimson Tide are the prohibitive Division 1 favorites in 2017.

Behind a stellar opening day performance from quarterback Jake Wilcox, Everett cruised to a 38-7 victory over Xaverian on Saturday afternoon at Everett Memorial Stadium.

The lead up to the game was a recognition of the town, as it was the Crimson Tide’s homecoming, while the 44 minutes of play that followed were a non-stop celebration of a prolific Everett offense.

Wilcox, who went 11-for-16 for 305 yards and 3 touchdowns, used a multitude of offensive weapons that the Hawks were simply unable to contain.