Danny V’s Sweet 16: Root, root, root for the home teams

The first weekend of the new statewide football playoff format is in the book and we certainly learned a few things about the setup.

Staying at home seems the safest recipe for future success. Higher seeds posted a 54-10 record in first-round contests. In Division 1, 3 and 4, the home team won each of the eight matchups.

The biggest upheaval occurred in Div. 8, where four of the eight road teams emerged victorious. No. 12 KIPP avenged a regular season loss to Manchester-Essex by stinging the fifth-seeded Hornets. The rest of the road warriors who had a happy bus ride home included No. 9 Narragansett, No. 10 Randolph and No. 11 Oxford.

KIPP was one of two No. 12 seeds to survive the opening week, the other being Bedford, who surprised a perennially solid Tewksbury squad in a Div. 4 opener. Joining Bedford as a successful visiting team in Div. 4 was Wilmington, who knocked off No. 6 Middleboro.

The other road teams who won on the opening weekend included No. 9 Reading (Div. 2), No. 9 Norton and No. 11 Hudson (Div. 5), and No. 10 Sandwich (Div. 6).

NEPSAC BOWL FEVER: Milton Academy clinched the ISL-6 title with a win over BB&N and have locked up a NEPSAC bowl berth. BB&N and Lawrence Academy are both 6-1 and meet this week with the winner likely claiming a bowl bid and the loser having to sweat a bit (our belief: all three ISL-6 powers should be in regardless).

As for the ISL-10, St. George’s has won six straight since a season-opening 7-6 loss to Noble & Greenough. An intriguing team is Rivers, who is 5-1 in league play (5-2 overall) with the only loss coming to St. George’s, 21-14.

One of the biggest local football games of the weekend could be an Evergreen League showdown between Dexter Southfield and Pingree, both 7-0. The winner goes bowling, while the losing team will be putting their fate in the hands of the NEPSAC Bowl committee, though it’s hard to think one of those two teams haven’t done enough to merit a bid.

FOOTBALL AT FENWAY: High school football will return to Fenway Park with a pair of doubleheaders on the two days before Thanksgiving. While the folks at Fenway have not sent out an official release, the identity of the eight teams playing there has been no secret for some time now.

South Boston and East Boston will open the festivities on Tuesday, followed by Andover and North Andover. On Thanksgiving Eve, Nipmuc and Blackstone Valley square off first with longtime Middlesex League rivals Woburn and Winchester wrapping things up.

SWEET 16

1. CATHOLIC MEMORIAL (9-0): Pretty scary when you score 41 points with a time of possession of under four minutes.

2. CENTRAL CATHOLIC (8-1): Raiders jumped out fast against Weymouth and never looked back.

3. LINCOLN-SUDBURY (8-0): Div. 2 quarterfinal matchup between Lincoln-Sudbury and Marshfield could be one of the best on the docket.

4. XAVERIAN (7-2): Hawks continued their recent dominance of Brockton, completing a two-game sweep of the Boxers.

5. FRANKLIN (8-0): The top seeded team in Div. 1 was simply too much for Braintree.

6. READING (9-0): Rockets held off Bishop Feehan to earn a shot at No. 1 Catholic Memorial.

7. ST. JOHN’S PREP (7-2): Eagles’ defense turned in their best performance since the Central Catholic game in September.

8. MARBLEHEAD (8-0): Magicians’ defense did a good job slowing down Norwood’s dangerous ground attack.

9. MARSHFIELD (8-1): Ninth straight game the Rams have scored more than 33 points.

10. METHUEN (7-2): Not as many people were surprised by Methuen’s win over Everett as one would think.

11. KING PHILIP (7-1): Warriors relied on the ground and pound formula which has served them so well through the years.

12. EVERETT (7-1): Crimson Tide ran into a tough home foe in the first round.

13. DUXBURY (7-1): Dragons have only allowed 28 points in the recent five-game winning streak.

14. SCITUATE (8-1): Sailors sure have a glut of offensive weapons.

15. NATICK (8-1): Redhawks get a chance to avenge their only loss when they travel to Milford for a Div. 2 quarterfinal matchup.

16. STONEHAM (9-0): Spartans had little trouble in their opening round win over Seekonk.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3qgzeHy