DIV. 1 EMASS

Acton-Boxboro

Andover

Attleboro

BC High

Braintree

Brockton

Brookline

Central Catholic

Durfee

Everett

Framingham

Franklin

Haverhill

Lawrence

Lexington

Lincoln-Sudbury

Lowell

Methuen

Natick

Needham

New Bedford

Newton North

Newton South

St. John’s Prep

St. John’s (Shrewsbury)

Taunton

Westford Academy

Weymouth

Xaverian

DIV. 2 EMASS

Arlington

Barnstable

Belmont

Beverly

Bishop Feehan

Bridgewater-Raynham

Cambridge

Catholic Memorial

Chelmsford

Concord-Carlisle

Diman

King Philip

Marshfield

North Andover

North Quincy

Peabody

Plymouth North

Quincy

Waltham

Wellesley

Winchester

EASTERN MASS DIV. 1-2 OVERVIEW

The Div. 1 state championship last year was an all-Catholic Conference affair as archrivals Xaverian and St. John’s Prep met at Gillette Stadium with the Hawks capping a late-season run with a dramatic 31-25 victory. You have to believe those two teams will be among the favorites to return to Foxboro once again.

A pair of Merrimack Valley Conference teams should be among the best in Div. 1. Andover returns a solid nucleus led by quarterback Dom Papa, while two-time All-Scholastic running back Shane Eason leads a talented group of returnees for Methuen.

Needham had its best season in decades behind workhorse tailback Tate Hoffmeister. While he is gone, the cupboard is hardly bare for the Rockers as All-Scholastic linebacker Aiden Williams and linemen Charlie Simeone and Will McDonald are back.

It will be interesting to see how BC High fare as former star Paul Zukauskas returns to take over the program at his alma mater. He will lean heavily on quarterback Charlie Carroll to run the offense once again.

In Div. 2, Catholic Memorial’s expected march to a third straight state title came to a screeching halt in the state semifinals as Marshfield marched up and down the field at will and emerged with a 52-40 win.

Don’t shed too many tears for the Knights, who had plenty of players on the field that day back for another season. The same can be said for Marshfield, which has tons of talent back on both sides of the ball.

While we talk at length about Catholic Memorial and Marshfield, let’s not lose sight of the fact that the team which emerged as the Div. 2 state champion was undefeated King Philip. A perennial contender ever since Brian Lee took over the program, the Warriors are not about to relinquish their hold on the title without a fight as linebacker Aiden Astorino, running back Andrew Laplante and wide receiver Brandon Nicastro are back.

DIV. 1-2 DANDY DOZEN

Micah Amedee, Sr., OL/DL, 6-4, 285, Xaverian: The Boston College-bound lineman was a force down the stretch as the Hawks won their final eight games to capture the Div. 1 state title.

Aiden Astorino, Sr., LB, 6-1, 225, King Philip: Defensive standout was one of the forces behind King Philip’s march to an undefeated season and the Div. 2 state championship.

Brady Bekkenhuis, Jr., OL, 6-6, 295, Arlington: A recent verbal commit to Boston College, Bekkenhuis is a two-sport star who is considered one of the top junior linemen in New England.

Thomas Brown, Sr., OL/DL, 6-3, 280, Chelmsford: A two-sport standout, Brown should be one of the premier linemen in the MVC once again.

Vincent Busa. Sr., LB/RB, 6-0, 195, Xaverian: Hard-hitting linebacker registered 63 tackles, five sacks and three interceptions last year.

James Curry, Sr. RB, 6-1, 238, Braintree: Curry was immense as a junior, rushing for 1,725 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Mekhi Dodd, Sr., RB, 6-1, 210, Catholic Memorial: Talented BC recruit looking to bounce back from suffering a season-ending knee injury in week 2 last season.

Shane Eason, Sr., RB, 5-11, 180, Methuen: A dual threat, Eason rushed for 544 yards and nine touchdowns, while catching 36 passes for 805 yards and six more scores.

Dominic Funke, Jr., DE, 6-3, 230, Xaverian: St. Sebastian’s transfer tallied 71 tackles and 12 sacks in eight games last year.

Tor Maas, Sr., QB, 6-5, 215, Marshfield: Maas helped guide the Rams to the Div. 2 state championship game as he threw 20 touchdown passes and ran for six more, amassing more than 2,500 yards in the process.

Graham Roberts, Sr., OL, 6-3, 280, St. John’s Prep: Harvard-bound lineman anchored one of the top offensive lines in the state.

Aidan Williams, Sr., LB. 6-2, 215, Needham: One of the keys to a Needham defense which made it to the Final Four in Division 1 last year.

OTHER DIV. 1-2 PLAYERS TO WATCH

Connor Acheson, Sr., DB (Andover); Cameron Aieta, Sr., RB/DB (Weymouth); Elijah Alcorn-Crowder, Sr., OL/DL (BC High); Drew Alsup, Sr., WR (Central Catholic); Will Anderson, Jr., OT/DT (Xaverian); Dylan Annese, Sr., OL (Peabody); Marcelino Antunes, Jr., OL (Catholic Memorial); Luke Bell, Sr., PK (Xaverian); Adrian Blake, Sr., WR/FS (Methuen); Tommy Bongiolatti, Sr., OL (Marshfield); Jake Broggi, So., RB/DB (Wellesley); Thomas Cairns, Sr., TE/LB (Bishop Feehan); Scott Caissie, Sr., RB (Newton North); Cooper Campo, Sr., OL/DL (Chelmsford); Charles Carpenter-Simms, Jr., WR/DB (Newton South); Carter Carroll, Sr., QB (BC High); Charlie Carroll, Sr., WR (Marshfield); Marcus Cassel, Sr., PK (Lincoln-Sudbury); Will Cavalier, Jr., WR/DB (Brookline); Austin Clemente, Sr., PK (Bishop Feehan); Ryan Conley, Jr., WR (Lowell); Jack Consedine, Sr., TE/DL (Beverly); Brady Crowley, Sr., TE (Marshfield); Vinny DeMaio, Jr., LB (Methuen); Marvin Desruisseaux, Sr., OL/DL (Everett); Will Dever, Sr., LB (Andover); Will Devine, Sr., DB (Marshfield); Trinley Dudley, Sr., PK (Taunton); Nathan Duggan, Jr., WR/DB (Chelmsford); Jake Eckstrom, Sr., DE (Marshfield); Carson Eutsay, Sr., LB (Catholic Memorial); James Farrell, Sr., QB (Haverhill); Isaiah Faublas, Jr., WR (Catholic Memorial); Jimmy Festa, Sr., OG/LB (Peabody); Mac Fitzgerald, Sr., DT (Catholic Memorial); Kise Flannery, Jr., QB (Catholic Memorial); Maayan Fogel, Sr., C/LB (Newton North); KaRon Ford, Sr., RB (Barnstable); Gael Garcia, Sr., FB (St. John’s Prep); Mike Garrigan, Sr., QB (North Quincy); Caleb Garrity, Jr., WR (Catholic Memorial): Alvin Gaston, Jr., WR/DB (Durfee); Mihai Gavala, Sr., LB (St. John’s Shrewsbury); Nate Goff, Sr., QB (Quincy); Jarred Goodine, Sr., RB (New Bedford); Cam Gray, Sr., OT (Attleboro); Joe Guida, Sr., DB (Winchester); Deignan Guiney, Jr., PK (St. John’s Shrewsbury); Bryan Harrison, Jr., TE/LB (Winchester); Michael Hegarty, Sr., TE (Catholic Memorial); Sean Hickey, Sr., OL/DE (Bishop Feehan); Will Hoover, Sr., WR/DB (Concord-Carlisle); Dante Howard. Sr., QB (Cambridge); Sam Hubbard, Sr., RB (Natick); Jake Jackson, Sr., WR (North Andover); Jayce Jean-Pierre, Sr., WR/DB (Peabody); Kayden Kheav, Sr. LB/WR (Durfee); Joe Kajunski, Sr. SS (Needham); Dylan Keenan, Jr., QB (Taunton); Josh Kwakye, Sr., RB (Methuen); Andrew Laplante, Sr., RB (King Philip); Langdon Laws, Sr., PK, (St. John’s Prep); Andrew Lima, Sr., LB (Framingham): Jaden Lopes, Sr., WR (Brockton); Gio Lynch-Ruberio, Jr., RB (Plymouth North); Will McDonald, Sr., DE (Needham); Jarred Mighty, Sr., DB/WR (Brockton); James Moehring, Jr., OL (Lexington); Alex Molander, Sr., LB (Marshfield); Jesse Moran, Sr., LB (Westford Academy); Amari Mow, Jr., RB/DB (Lexington); Aidan Mulcahey, Sr., WR/LB (Acton-Boxboro); Adon Natsis, Sr., RB (Bridgewater-Raynham); Brandon Nicastro, Sr., WR (King Philip); Wesley O’Connor, Jr., WR/DB (Waltham); Yariel Ortiz, Sr., WR (Everett); DJ Overall, Sr., DB (Catholic Memorial); Sid Panchu, Sr., WR/FS (Acton-Boxboro); Dominic Papa, Sr., QB (Andover); Evan Pasters, Sr., WR (Westford Academy); Simon Pedrelli, Sr., TE (Natick): Sam Perry, Sr., QB (Diman); David Pressman, Sr., OL/DL (Braintree); Elijah Prophete, Sr., LB (Taunton); David Quinn, Sr., RB (Bishop Feehan); Julian Rampino, Sr., OL/DL (Franklin); J.D. Rayner, Sr., OL/DL (Catholic Memorial); Casey Regan, Jr., WR (Belmont); Naheem Ridore, Sr. DE (Weymouth); Deacon Robillard. Sr., QB (St. John’s Prep); Brenden Ryan, Sr. RB (BC High); Jordel Sanchez, Sr., WR (Cambridge); Elijah Santell, Sr., LB (Lawrence); Ben Schreiber, Sr., TE/LB (Needham); Bobby Shanahan, Jr., QB (Wellesley); Ben Sherry, Sr., WR (Durfee); Jack Showstead, Jr., LB (Natick); Matheus Silva, Sr., QB (Framingham); Charlie Simeone, Sr., OT/DT (Needham); Jason Stevens, Sr., OT/DE (Wellesley); Garoid Stones, Sr., QB (Braintree); Charles Swenson, Sr., LB (Bridgewater-Raynham); Henry Tassmer, Sr., DT/OG (Arlington); Vincent Tavares, Sr., OL (Bridgewater-Raynham); Jake Tempesta, Sr., G/DE (Winchester); David Timson, Sr., LB (Catholic Memorial); Caleb Tripp, Sr., LB (Bridgewater-Raynham); Davin True, Sr., RB (Marshfield); Luke Turco, Sr., DB (Brockton); Christopher Vargas, Fr., QB (St. John’s Prep); Jayvien Castillo Vasquez, Jr. OL (Methuen); Brian Waller-Reitano, So. OL/DL (Central Catholic); Alex Wilson, Sr., DB/RB (Westford Academy); Will Wood, So. QB (Xaverian); Zac Zaddem, Sr., OT/DT (Belmont)