By Jim Stout
MaxPreps.com
With the vast number of
tradition-rich programs based in Eastern Massachusetts and with all of the
outstanding athletes competing in the region, it's easy to forget at times
that there's some outstanding football being played in the Central/West area
as well.
Longmeadow High, however, makes it
easy to bring the Central/West region into focus, particularly after its
resounding performance last weekend in the area's Division I Super
Bowl.
Though the East's Everett High may
be regarded in many circles as the No. 1 team in all of Massachusetts,
Longmeadow made a strong case for its own Bay State supremacy as it routed
Leominster, 42-0, in the Central/West Division I final at Worcester
State.
The victory clinched for the
Lancers (12-0) their second straight undefeated season. They now own the
longest winning streak in the state, 24 games.
Longmeadow also defeated
Leominster in the 2005 Division 1 Super Bowl.
While Everett was rolling over
Brockton in the Eastern Mass Division I final and working toward securing its
place atop the state, Longmeadow's near-flawless performance against
Leominster (8-4) demanded people take notice. Leominster, after all, had
beaten Brockton as well during the season (26-15) and only lost to Everett by
eight points (36-28) during Week 1.
For the season, Longmeadow
out-scored opponents by 473-109.
Longmeadow had 11 different ball
carriers combine to rush for 301 yards, including 233 before halftime. The
Lancers played without Andrew Pettersen (injured shoulder), a senior captain
who had rushed for more than 800 yards.
Ryan Harrison, a third-year
starting senior who is entertaining a Division I-AA career for college, scored
four touchdowns and rushed for 154 yards on 19 carries. He finished at
Longmeadow with 4,036 career yards and as the region's eighth running back to
surpass the 4,000 mark.
The Longmeadow defense held
Leominster's Jon Hernandez (2,078 for the season) to 40 yards on 15
carries.
"I have to go home and watch this
on tape ... because I'm not sure it really happened the way it did,"
Longmeadow coach Alex Rotsko told the Springfield
Republican.
"This was the best I have seen any
high school team play," Harrison added. "It was a perfect ending to the
season. We just beat a team that lost to Everett (by eight points), the No. 1
team in the state, and we beat them by 40, 42 points, shut them
out..."
And made people take
notice.
Everett Grinds Out East D1
Title
Isaac Johnson led all Everett ball
carriers with 15 carries for 206 yards and three touchdowns on Saturday as his
team completed the season at 12-0 with a 35-6 win in Quincy over Brockton, the
two-time defending champs.
Johnson finished his junior season
with 1,352 all-purpose yards.
The top six Everett rushers
combined for 352 yards. In two post-season games, Everett's first-team offense
grinded out 628 rushing yards.
"We played excellent as a team,"
Johnson told the Boston Globe. "We all came together at the half. I
think this is one of the best teams I've ever played with."
Everett finished the season having
scored 466 points, its most since 1914. Brockton closes at 6-6.
"(Everett) is a better team, and
we tip our hats. No doubt about it," Brockton coach Peter Colombo
said.
Other Super Bowl
Highlights
Ben Sherry rushed for 136 yards on
15 carries and completed nine of 13 passes for 101 yards to lead Wayland
(13-0) to a 28-0 victory over Marshfield and the Eastern Mass Division 1A
Super Bowl championship, its first. Tony Torres scored three touchdowns to
help fell Marshfield (11-2).
In the Central/West Division IA
final, Milford made amends for its 2005 Super Bowl loss to South Hadley as it
scored a 20-0 win over the Tigers at Holyoke. Senior Brian Flumere rushed for
153 yards and two touchdowns at Roberts Stadium, giving the Scarlet Hawks
their first Super Bowl title since 1987.
Senior quarterback Drew Connolly
completed 12 of 20 pass attempts for 132 yards and two touchdowns (both to
Ryan Wilson) as Foxboro defeated Burlington, 21-10, in Division 2 East final.
The victory for Foxboro avenged last year's 8-3 Super Bowl loss to Natick.
Foxboro's defense limited the Middlesex League champions to 38 total rushing
yards and a season low in points.
Emil Igwenagu rushed 12 times for
131 yards and three touchdowns, and caught a 12-yard TD pass from quarterback
Nick Haag in Holy Name's 36-8 win over Mount Greylock in the Central/West
Division 2 final.ÿ Igwenagu also had six tackles, a sack and
two forced fumbles in leading Holy Name to its 15th straight win and second
straight Super Bowl title. Igwenagu won his second consecutive MVP
award.
The Winthrop defense made a key
defensive stand early in the third quarter that helped turn the momentum away
from Wareham and led the way to a 25-8 win in the East Division 2A final at
Stonehill. Winthrop (13-0), which won its first title since 1983, had
dominated the first half in building a 13-0 lead, only to have Wareham climb
to within 13-8 just prior to halftime. Following its defensive stand early in
the third quarter, Winthrop used six plays before Matt Murray (18 carries for
120 yards, 2 TDs) scored on an 8-yard run.
A touchdown scored by Mike Lane
late in the fourth quarter pushed Medford to a 28-22 win over Whittier in the
Division 3 East Super Bowl at Acton-Boxboro. Lane scored his fourth touchdown
of the game on a 4-yard run with 1:15 remaining in regulation, ending a drive
that started at Medfield's 41. Matt Schairer hit Bud Stevens with the
conversion pass.
Ipswich effectively shut down Cape
Tech/Harwich running back James Hamilton and recorded its seventh shutout of
the season, 7-0, in the East Division 3A final. Steve Phaneuf scored on a
37-yard run for Ipswich in the second quarter and rushed for 172 yards on 24
carries. Cape Tech did not record its initial first down of the game until
early in the third quarter. The title was the first by Ipswich since
1991.
West Bridgewater (10-1)
capitalized on four Brighton fumbles in the second half and exploded over the
final two quarters for a 34-14 win in the Division 4 East final at Stonehill.
The game was tied at 6-6 at intermission.
"I've been doing this for 21
years, so I know you don't get an opportunity every year, and even when you
do, you don't always win," West Bridgewater coach Bill Panos told the Brockton
Enterprise. "So it feels special when you do (win)."
West Bridgewater, which improved
to 2-3 all time in Super Bowl appearances, used fumbles on three consecutive
plays by Brighton (8-4) to score 28 straight points in the second half and
build a 34-6 lead. Junior quarterback Matt Nunes (11 carries, 96 yards;
3-for-7, 92 passing, 1 TD) helped pace West Bridgewater.
In the Division 1AA Central/West
Super Bowl, St. John's earned a 20-14 overtime triumph over Minnechaug
Saturday night at Worcester State.
Chicopee Comprehensive held off
Auburn, 8-2, in Division 2A final in Central/West Mass for its first Super
Bowl championship.
"I'll never forget you guys until
the day I die," Comp coach Marc Schuerfeld told his players after the
game.
Led by a methodical running game,
Oakmont Regional of Ashburnham (11-1) scored a 28-0 victory in the Division 3
Super Bowl over Frontier.
Worcester South beat Dean Tech,
34-7, in the Division 3A final.
Jim Stout is the MaxPreps.com
master photographer for the Massachusetts/Rhode Island region
and a Northeast region columnist. He may be reached at
j.stout@jmstout.org