MIAA’s tournament alignment changes plenty
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE — Melrose High football’s landscape has changed, again.
Last February, the MIAA Football Committee affirmed their decision to realign the Massachusetts high school football divisions. The MIAA has now created eight divisions, (from six) which pulls Melrose out of Div. 3 North West and lands them into Div. 2 A, bringing them a new set of opponents in post season. It is believed the thought of the MIAA was to align the schools according to enrollment (see below). Seventeen high schools voiced their objection over the winter (Melrose was not one of them) but their appeals were denied by the committee.
As a result Melrose will no longer have to face Dartmouth in a high school Super Bowl appearance, nor will they have to go through Tewksbury to get there.
This year Melrose will play their M.L. Freedom opponents, two non-league bouts (against recent rivals Waltham and Masco) prior playoffs, which open around the fourth week of October. By Thanksgiving, all teams will have already locked Super Bowl spots for December at Gillette.
Melrose’s biggest threat to return for a third straight Super Bowl appearance could be Danvers, whom they knocked out last year to get to Gillette. On the south of the bracket, Milton could be a future opponent. The MIAA breakdown follows:
EMass HS Football Alignment
NORTH SECTIONAL *with enrollment
Division 1: Lowell (1655); Lawrence (1624); St. John’s Prep (1520); Lexington (1101); Everett (1098); Methuen (995); Acton-Boxborough (979); Haverhill (967); Malden (935); Newton South (914); Lynn English (902); Andover (858)
Division 1A: Lynn Classical (858); Westford (849); Revere (848); Central Catholic (846); Chelsea (781); Cambridge Rindge & Latin (778); Lincoln-Sudbury (767); Chelmsford (743); Malden Catholic (723); Peabody (701); North Andover (683); Woburn (668)
Division 2: Reading (647); Masconomet (642); Winchester (629); Waltham (610); Concord-Carlisle (608); Beverly (601); Arlington (596); Belmont (574); Billerica (574); Medford (569); Somerville (522); Tewksbury (508)
Division 2A: Danvers (494); Marblehead (485); Burlington (479); Wakefield (461); Melrose (456); Gloucester (436); Wayland (434); Bedford (429); Wilmington (419); Matignon (411); North Reading (407); Dracut (393)
Division 3: Salem (391); Newburyport (370); Manchester-Essex (365); Weston (363); Watertown (352); Triton (346); Swampscott (343); Greater Lowell (343); Arlington Catholic (334); Austin Prep (334); Pentucket (333); Amesbury (331)
Division 3A: Saugus (330); Lynnfield (320); Stoneham (304); Bishop Fenwick (300); Lowell Catholic (295); Hamilton-Wenham (279); Winthrop (274); Marian (271); Ipswich (266); Saint Mary’s (235); Shawsheen (231); Boston Latin (BPS)
Division 4: Whittier (218); Greater Lawrence (215); Northeast (200); Georgetown (188); Mystic Valley (174); Cathedral (170); Essex Tech (164); Pope John XXIII (163); Brighton (BPS); Madison Park (BPS); East Boston (BPS)
Division 4A: Lynn Vocational (148); Minutemen (127); Saint Clement (96); Burke (BPS); Boston English (BPS); Excel (BPS); New Mission (BPS); Dorchester (BPS); West Roxbury (BPS); Latin Academy (BPS); Charlestown (BPS); O’Bryant (BPS)
SOUTH SECTIONAL
Division 1: Brockton (1714); BC High (1615); New Bedford (1142); Framingham (1080); Brookline (970); Xaverian (959); Durfee (895); Newton North (837); Franklin (820); Weymouth (813); Needham (813); Braintree (779); Natick (743)
Division 1A: Bridgewater-Raynham (737); Barnstable (733); Taunton (730); Attleboro (725); Catholic Memorial (711); Wellesley (708); King Philip (686); Marshfield (669); Mansfield (646); Plymouth North (640); Quincy (621); Hingham (602)
Division 2: North Quincy (600); Sharon (592); Bishop Feehan (588); North Attleborough (584); Whitman-Hanson (578); Duxbury (570); Walpole (568); Milford (566); Oliver Ames (564); Stoughton (549); Hopkinton (535); Dartmouth (515); Pembroke (515)
Division 2A: Norwood (503); Silver Lake (494); Westwood (486); Nauset (475); Milton (474); Canton (466); Somerset-Berkley (459); Foxborough (442); Falmouth (432); Medfield (431); Plymouth South (426); Scituate (417); Hanover (416)
Division 3: Norton (405); Cardinal Spellman (400); Holliston (396); Randolph (396); Dennis-Yarmouth (386); Dighton-Rehoboth (381); Sandwich (381); Medway (380); Bishop Stang (371); Ashland (368); Middleboro (365); Old Rochester (362)
Division 3A: Dedham (361); Bishop Connolly (355); Apponequet (350); Archbishop Williams (337); Norwell (333); Dover-Sherborn (332); Fairhaven (324); East Bridgewater (314); Rockland (295); Bellingham (287); Martha’s Vineyard (277)
Division 4: Wareham (276); Seekonk (269); Case (265); Bourne (253); Nantucket (244); Monomoy (242); Coyle & Cassidy (241); Diman (233); Bristol-Plymouth (227); Carver (227); Cohasset (223); Holbrook (217)
Division 4A: Southeastern (216); Abington (210); Saint John Paul II (203); West Bridgewater (191); Millis (183); Hull (174); Sacred Heart (172); Tri-County (171); Blue Hills (144); Upper Cape (128); South Shore (121); Cape Cod Tech (112); Old Colony (94)
