Thursday’s Division 3 Super Bowl matchup between No. 1 Marblehead and No. 3 North Attleborough is a contest between two teams with very different Super Bowl histories.
A win on Thursday for the Magicians, who are back in the title game for the first time since 2016, would give the program its first-ever Super Bowl championship.
On the other side, North Attleborough has a championship history dating back to 1973, with 10 trips to the big game and seven state titles in that time. The Rocketeers last won it all back in 2002 (when they beat Marblehead’s archrival Swampscott) and last played in the title game in 2017.
But their histories aren’t the only difference between the squads, as they have each taken very different routes to get to Gillette Stadium.
Marblehead (11-0) has largely been a powerhouse all season, winning all but one of its 11 games by at least two touchdowns.
After earning the No. 1 seed in the Division 3 playoffs, the Magicians kicked things off by rolling to a big win over Norwood. Marblehead quarterback Joshua Robertson threw for 199 yards and three touchdowns in the win, while receiver Shane Keough had two touchdown receptions. Receiver Drew Annese added a 61-yard touchdown reception in the victory.
The next week was a hard-fought 21-7 win over Northeastern Conference foe Masconomet in the quarterfinal round, putting the Magicians into the semifinal against Westfield.
The offense came alive there, as Marblehead rolled to a 40-7 win to punch its ticket to the Super Bowl. Roberston ran the offense at an efficient clip in the win, completing 17-of-28 passes for 274 yards and four touchdowns. Three of those touchdown passes went to junior running back Connor Cronin, who totaled 155 yards from scrimmage (78 rushing, 77 receiving) and had a number of solid returns in the kicking game. Senior receiver James Doody had two receptions for 37 yards and a touchdown, while senior receiver Craig Michalowski had two receptions for 44 yards. Senior running back George Percy rushed for a touchdown in the win, while senior kicker Eli Feingold hit a 23-yard field goal and also made five point-after attempts.
The lone close game came on Thanksgiving morning, when the Magicians beat rival Swampscott 31-28 on a last-second field goal from Feingold.
For North Attleborough (8-3), a shaky start to the year threatened to derail any chance at a Super Bowl. The Rocketeers started off 0-2 in heartbreaking fashion, losing to rival Bishop Feehan in the opener, and then dropping a double-overtime game to Mansfield in Week 2. But after that, things changed.
Largely behind the stellar play of senior captain Tyler DeMattio and the Rocketeers’ explosive offense, North Attleborough won four of its final five regular season games to earn the No. 3 seed in the Division 3 playoffs. In their final five games leading into Thanksgiving, which included three playoff games, the Rocketeers won by margins of 30, 35, 42, 34 and 18 points, respectively.
Now, coming off of a 14-6 grind of a win over Thanksgiving rival Attleborough, the Rocketeers are riding high heading into the final game of the season.
Kickoff of the Division 3 Super Bowl between Marblehead and North Attleborough is set for Thursday afternoon (3) at Gillette Stadium.