With just two weeks left in the regular season, the MIAA Power Rankings watch is on.
Playoff positioning is in full swing, as teams vie for top seeds, home games, and for some, spots in the tournament.
It’s been a great fall thus far for the South Shore and Metro South. At least one area team occupies a top-3 seed in every division, including four number 1 seeds (Divisions 3, 4, 5, and 6) and 10 teams set to hold homefield advantage through to the state semis.
On the flipside, however, many teams will be fighting for postseason berth in these final two weeks, with paths into the playoffs of varying degrees of clarity.
On Tuesday night’s Main Event on 101.1 WBMS/1460 AM, host Quinn Kelly broke down the paths into the tournament for every bubble team.
Listen to the full breakdown below.
The Bubble Teams
Division 1
Braintree sitting at 17 is in position to potentially be the last team out.
The good news: there is one team inside the top 16 that has yet to qualify for the postseason via the requisite win total.
The bad news: that team is Central Catholic; a team far better than their record, who finishes their season with a game against 1-5 Chelmsford.
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Braintree could sneak in with a quality win over Walpole this week and a season-ending victory over Newton North, but the path is slim.
Brockton is also on the outside looking in. The Boxers need to win out to reach the postseason in the first year of the Jermaine Wiggins era, and even that likely wouldn’t put them inside the top 16.
Division 2
Bridgewater-Raynham is sitting at 11 despite having just one win on the season thanks to a strong strength of schedule.
The Trojans need to win out though, and a 6-0 Dartmouth awaits them this weekend. If they can knock off their SEC foe, a do-or-die game would follow against Shrewsbury, who currently sits at 18 in Division 1.
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Plymouth North and North Quincy appear safe at 15 and 16, but Quincy is a little bit less secure at 17.
While 10th ranked Chelmsford will likely miss the playoffs by virtue of too few wins, Quincy also needs at least one more win to claim their spot.
A final stretch of Plymouth South and Scituate will have Presidents fans uneasy.
Division 3
Speaking of Plymouth South, the Panthers are in a dangerous spot at 18 in Division 3.
There are fortunately four teams inside the top 16 of Division 3 that still have not qualified for the playoffs, with 11 North Attleboro, 13 Hingham, and 14 Stoughton needing one more win, and 16 Reading needing two.
Interestingly, three of the four teams have a very winnable game on tap for Week 7, but all four have brutal matchups for Week 8.
The team to watch here is North Attleboro, with 6-0 Lynnfield (#7 in Div. 6) this week and a near surefire loss to 6-0 King Philip (#2 in Div. 2) in Week 8.
If the Red Rocketeers lose out, and Reading drops one if its next two, Plymouth South can sit pat at 18 and qualify.
Still, it would behoove the Panthers to win out.
As for the other Panthers in Division 3, Whitman-Hanson really has their backs against the wall after a Week 6 loss to Plymouth North. They essentially need all four of the aforementioned teams and #20 Masconomet not to qualify to sneak in at the 16.
Division 5
Irony stings the 15th ranked Pembroke Titans, whose biggest win of the season is hurting them more than any other result.
The Titans 49-0 victory over Austin Prep, who last year made the move out of the MIAA and into the ISL, appears not to be recognized in the Power Rankings, functioning the same as an out-of-state competition.
This leaves Pembroke with just one MIAA victory this season, and needing to win out to gain eligibility.
Undefeated and top-ranked Hanover lies ahead this weekend, with Plymouth South on the horizon.
After another blown two-score lead against North Quincy last week, it seems injuries will make this a season of “what could have been” for a talented Titans team.
Archbishop Williams would certainly be the beneficiary of Pembroke’s elimination, however. The Bishops sit at 18, needing two teams ahead of them of the four possible to not qualify.
Archie’s could leave this weekend a near playoff lock if beat and eliminate one-win Bishop Stang and see Pembroke fall to Hanover.
Divisions 7 and 8
The bottom two divisions tell intertwined stories, with both Cohasset (6, Div. 7) and Randolph (12, Div. 8) needing one more win to reach the playoffs.
Randolph has a good shot this week with 3-2 Brighton on tap. Cohasset is in a more precarious position, heading into a game against third-ranked Mashpee as underdogs.
If the Blue Devils fail to beat Brighton this weekend, the stakes of their Week 8 meeting with Cohasset would be further elevated: winner gets into the tournament, loser goes home.
Listen to the full episode of the Main Event with Quinn Kelly below.
