Here's five takeaways from a busy playoff evening across the Commonwealth:
A steady rain at several state semifinal football sites led to a big day on the ground for multiple backs, plus one mobile quarterback. North Attleborough ran for more than 300 yards in the first half alone during a 42-20 win over Reading, finishing with 436 yards and averaging just under nine years per rush. The Big Red were led by their quarterback, Chase Frisoli, who piled up 311 yards and four touchdowns on the ground and added a score through the air. But he was far from the only ground-bound star:
Four of the seven teams headed to the Super Bowl thus far hail from the Hockomock League: King Philip, Mansfield, North Attleborough, and Foxborough, which defeated Hanover, 14-7, in the best game of the night. Meanwhile, Walpole and Wellesley lost, leaving Needham as the Bay State Conference's lone representative at Gillette. So far the Commonwealth (Shawsheen) and Catholic (Catholic Memorial) conferences will also be repped at Gillette, with nine more games to be decided Saturday.
And all three of them pit all-too familiar foes.
In Division 2, defending champion King Philip will take its 24-game winning streak up against powerhouse Catholic Memorial, which defeated the Warriors in the 2021 and 2022 Super Bowls.
In Division 3, Hockomock rivals Mansfield and North Attleborough will face off at Gillette, but not until after the Hornets face another Hockomock foe, and D5 finalist, Foxborough, on Thanksgiving morning for their 92nd matchup.
In Division 5, Shawsheen is looking for revenge against Foxborough after the Rams were eliminated by the Warriors in last year's semifinals, 42-12. "It's revenge," said Tildsley. "We got the team that we were hoping for."
The Super Bowl schedule will be released by the MIAA on Monday.
In her final high school game, Kyah Montano was the star of Nipmuc girls' soccer's first state championship in a decade, scoring the lone goal in a win over Medfield. It was Montano's 111th career tally, a program record. Before the game she met with Maria Picard, a 2005 Nipmuc graduate and the previous record holder. Montano is committed to play at High Point.
After winning the program's third state title (first since 2010), Dover-Sherborn boys' soccer was welcomed home with a police escort.
Check out reporter Mike Puzzanghera's video of both D-S goals.
Let's breeze through a few other fun nuggets: Mansfield coach Mike Redding won his 299th game, setting him up for a shot at No. 300 on Thanksgiving against rival Foxborough. The Hornets lead the all-time series 53-35-3 . . . Catholic Memorial committed three turnovers in the first half and was still up 29-7 at halftime . . . If BC High beats Xaverian on Saturday, it will mark the first Division 1 Super Bowl without one of St. John's Prep, Central Catholic, or Xaverian since 2011, when, coincidentally, Needham faced BC High for the title . . . Needham star Aidan Williams, who is committed to Lehigh, is the son of Vaughn Williams, the former associate athletic director at Boston College, and current AD at Bentley. St. John's Prep coach Brian St. Pierre played at BC while Vaughn Williams was there and went out of his way to congratulate the younger Williams after the game.
Division 2: No. 1 Masconomet vs. No. 2 Duxbury (19-1-1) or No. 3 Westborough (15-3-1), at Worcester State, 10 a.m.