Sixteen teams across the state are so close to Gillette Stadium they can taste it as they compete in this weekend’s state semifinals.
Half of those teams hail from across the South Shore.
There’s the possibility of three double-local Super Bowls. In Division 4, Patriot League foes Duxbury and Scituate would love to run it back. Duxbury won that first meeting by one point. In Div. 6 and 8, four South Shore Leagues could make it to the final.
In Div. 6, Rockland and Abington’s success is hardly a surprise given both teams’ recent track record. But Hull and Randolph in Div. 8 would be stunning.
Here you can follow all the South Shore scores and highlights, plus all the highlights from around the state.
More: All the MIAA high school playoff scores and South Shore highlights, including non-playoffs
More: Surprising semifinalists: South Shore high school football top 10 rankings
Division 1
No. 5 Springfield Central 60, No. 1 Franklin 49: Springfield Central won the barnburner.
No. 2 Central Catholic 35, No. 3 St. John’s Prep 12: Central Catholic (10-1) secured a spot at Gillette Stadium.
Division 2
No. 3 King Philip 31, vs. No. 2 Milford 16: The Warriors secured a spot at Gillette Stadium.
More: Milford football knocked out by KP in pursuit of first Super Bowl appearance since 2007
No. 1 Catholic Memorial 41, No. 4 Marshfield 0: The Rams fought valiantly against what many, if not all, consider to be the best team in the state.
More: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Marshfield’s valiant effort not enough against Catholic Memorial
Division 3
No. 1 Marblehead 40, No. 5 Westfield 7: The Magicians (10-0) remain undefeated.
No. 3 North Attleboro 28, No. 2 Billerica 10: The Red Rocketeers will play Marblehead in the Div. 3 final.
Division 4
No. 1 Scituate 21, No 4 Grafton 14: Scituate’s Keegan Sullivan scored the winning TD in the fourth quarter and finished with 142 yards rushing on 11 carries. D’Kari Rodrigues ran 12 times for 126 yards.
More: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Keegan Sullivan’s fourth-quarter TD propels Scituate to Super Bowl
No. 2 Duxbury 38, No. 3 Foxboro 21: The Dragons rallied out a 14-0 deficit to earn a spot at Gillette Stadium.
Division 5
No. 1 North Reading 31, No. 4 Pentucket 14: The top-seed (10-1) advances to Gillette Stadium.
No. 2 Swampscott 20, No. 3 Bishop Fenwick 6: Swampscott will meet North Reading in the state final at Gillette Stadium.
Division 6
No. 4 Rockland 20, No. 8 Blackstone Valley Tech 17: PJ Celestino (6 of 9 passing, 147 yards) threw the winning TD 14-yard pass to Logan Rogers midway through the fourth quarter to send the Bulldogs to Gillette Stadium against Abington. Lucas Leander finished with 160 yards) and hauled in a 63-yard TD pass from Celestino. Jacob Coulstring added a 3-yard TD run.
More: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Rockland and Randolph join South Shore League Super Bowl party
No. 2 Abington 26, No. 3 St. Mary’s (Lynn) 21: The Green Wave were without legendary coach Jim Kelliher, who missed the game for COVID protocols. Despite not being there, Kelliher was credited with career win No. 300, all at Abington. Drew Donovan scored on a 60-yard TD rush and hauled in a 10-yard pass from Eddie Reilly. Kurtis Lucas-Summers and Isaiah Ricketson each ran for a TD.
More: A WIN FOR A LEGEND: Without Kelliher on sidelines, Abington grinds way to semifinal win
Division 7
No. 6 Cohasset 14, No. 7 Mashpee 8: Sophomore Liam Appleton made his first start at quarterback with usual starter Will Baker out. Appleton threw a TD pass and ran for another. Junior linebacker Charlie McKeen recovered a fumble with 3:53 remaining, which allowed the Skippers (8-2) to kill the clock. Thomas Hansen intercepted two passes, bringing his season total to eight, a new program record.
More: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Cohasset punches ticket to Super Bowl with win over Mashpee
No. 1 Wahconah 22, No. 4 Northbridge 7: The top seed remains undefeated.
More: Division 7 football: Northbridge is picked off by Wahconah, 22-7, in state semifinal
Division 8
No. 4 Hull 39, No. 1 Hoosac Valley (10-1) 22: Nick Tiani broke the game open with three second-half TDs to send the Pirates (9-2) to Gillette Stadium. Austin Bongo scored on a 37-yard TD pass from Luke Richardson, which began as a Tiani reception before he lateraled to Bongo. John Gianibas and Jade Stilphen also scored TDs.
More: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Hull upsets No. 1 seed, gets first title shot since 1996
No. 10 Randolph 8, No. 11 Oxford 6: Sabastian Jouissancce ran for a TD and Mahki Barnes and added the 2-point conversion, which was the only score as the Blue Devils earned a spot at Gillette Stadium against rival Hull.
More: Division 8 football: Oxford is conversion short of Randolph in quest for Super Bowl berth
NEPSAC
Loomis Chaffee 21, Milton Academy 3: The Mustangs were dealt their first loss of the season in the NEPSAC Todd Marble Bowl in Connecticut.
VOKE TOURNAMENT
Blue Hills 48, South Shore Tech 8: On Wednesday, the top-seeded Warriors rushed for 493 yards to advance to the Massachusetts Vocational Athletic Directors Association’s small-school state final on Dec. 3. Blue Hills (9-2) will face the winner of Friday night’s other semifinal between No. 2 Nashoba Valley Tech (6-3) and No. 3 Old Colony (6-3).
Eric Mann led Blue Hills’ ground game by carrying 12 times for 225 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Caiden Montas (6-150, 2 TDs), Jake Reissfelder (12-55, TD) and Nakado Jinius (52 yards, 2 TDs) also contributed for the Warriors, who led 29-0 at halftime. Defensively, Jinius had a pair of sacks, Cody Jones had an interception, and Joe Deascentis chipped in with seven tackles (two for loss).
For South Shore, Tyler Richards passed for 90 yards and rushed for 25 yards and a TD.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Division 1-8 semifinals plus all local scores