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By STEVE KRAUSE
First things first. There is a legitimate “big game” Friday night involving Marblehead and Beverly.
It’s big because it’ll go a long way toward determining who wins the Northeastern Conference/North. But while that still matters to the players and the coaches, it doesn’t matter a whole lot in terms of postseason eligibility. As it stands now, all three NEC/North competitors — Danvers, Marblehead and Beverly — are in the money.
Those who do not like this current postseason system — and I’m definitely one of them — point to the above as just another drawback to it. It takes the drama out of the regular season.
If the playoffs were to begin this weekend, just in the North, there would be eight teams participating with sub-.500 records (five of them alone in Division 4A, which must be the AFC East equivalent). How do you justify that?
Traditionally, what always made football unique in high school sports was the fact that you had to win your league to have any shot at all of advancing — and even then it wasn’t a guarantee. It might not have been fair, and I can remember one year when Winthrop was undefeated and was on the outside looking in on Super Bowl Saturday.
But I’ve always believed that if you erred in these matters, it should be on the side of increased selectivity, not the other way around. This isn’t to say that there’s no satisfaction in winning a championship where you have to go through a process. I’m sure the Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t going to give the NBA title back because there were seven other teams in the NBA East — not all of them good — in the playoffs too. But that’s professional sports, and it’s 100 percent money driven. Nor would I ever suggest that an undefeated team doesn’t have a beef over whatever process is used if it is not selected.
Some might suggest that high school sports is getting that way too, of course. Goodness knows the MIAA hasn’t been immune to such charges. But there’s just so much about this current system not to like, including the idea that a bonafide mid-season game between what would appear to be two excellent teams is almost an afterthought because, unless something totally unforeseen happens, they’re both going on to the postseason.
To anyone who really savors a good high school football game, that might not be the case. Beverly and Marblehead has pretty much become THE non-thanksgiving rivalry on the North Shore. Going back almost a decade, these two schools have been fighting for the same slice of pie more often than not. Both Marblehead’s Jim Rudloff and his predecessor, Doug Chernovitz, were assistants for Dan Bauer when he was at Beverly. And now, Bauer is principal at, of all places, Marblehead. So there’s some history there.
I just can’t help thinking, though, that this would be a lot more fun if a postseason berth was at stake.
— Onward and upward. If the North playoffs were to start today, the North Shore would have 10 of the 17 teams in the Item coverage area going: St. Mary’s, Swampscott, Marblehead, Lynnfield, Bishop Fenwick, Danvers, Beverly, Gloucester, Winthrop and St. John’s Prep.
Of these 10, only Winthrop (1-3) does not have at least a .500 record. On the other hand, one of the teams that, as of today, would be out of the hunt is 2-2 Salem.
Why is that? Because the teams are rated on several variables, the Witches’ two victories are against two winless teams: Saugus and Bishop Connolly, and both are in lower divisions. Its losses are to Archbishop Williams, which may be 3-1, but is also in Division 3A as opposed to 2A; and Winthrop, another division lower.
Starting in Division 1, St. John’s, at 2-2, is fifth out of eight, but remember the Eagles play one of the toughest schedules in the state, so they don’t lose a lot by defeats to Everett and Central Catholic. And they beat 3-1 Haverhill.
Neither Classical nor English, at this point, has cracked the top eight in Division 1A. Of the two, English may have the better shot because its only win is against Winthrop, which has at least won a game. Classical’s lone victory is against winless Revere.
In Division 2, Beverly is No. 3. Even though they’re undefeated, the Panthers suffer for being in the same division as Billerica, which got a huge bump from its win over Division 1 Everett last weekend. The Panthers are the only area school in D2.
Marblehead (4-0), Danvers and Gloucester (3-1) are 1-2-3 in Division 2A.
In Division 3, Triton’s hot start leaves the Tigers on top of the pack, and a decisive win over Peabody hasn’t exactly hurt them. Bishop Fenwick is third, followed by Swampscott at No. 4. Both are 3-1.
St. Mary’s gets the top spot in Division 3A at 4-0, even though both Stoneham and Shawsheen are unbeaten as well. Obviously, beating a Division 1A team (English) helps, and it also helps that English has won a game. Everything counts one way or the other in this system.
Going down the line, Lynnfield (2-2) has climbed back into the hunt at No. 5, and Winthrop is sixth at 1-3. The Vikings may have only won once, but it was against Salem, which has two wins and is a whole two divisions higher.
Lynn Tech is the lone area representative in Division 3A but the Tigers, after walloping Chelsea in Week 1, have lost three straight.
— Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t wish a happy retirement to John Kasian, who has been the city’s point man at both Manning and Fraser Field for the last decade. Sept. 30 was officially Kasian’s last day on the job. He has balanced the demands of five high schools, middle schools, Pop Warner, The Lynn Generals, Fisher Junior College and the North Shore Navigators. The two facilities have hosted baseball, soccer and lacrosse state tournament games. And in what might have been Kasian’s official Fraser swan song, Lynn was host to the New England Regional Babe Ruth tournament in July. Through it all, Kasian has been a model of accessibility and good grace.
And best of luck to Rich Avery, who will be the new point man going forward. Rich has some shoes to fill, but I’m sure he’ll fill them quite nicely.