Listen to full episodes of the Sports Exchange HERE
The opening round of the MIAA High School Football Tournament is here!
With 26 area teams competing in the playoffs this season across eight divisions, there are plenty of chances for South Shore title winners.
The move the MIAA made to a statewide playoff format in 2021 has been kind to the South Shore, with a total of 17 area teams reaching Gillette over the last three seasons.
In total, at least one South Shore team has competed in 13 of the 24 Super Bowls contested since 2021, and won nine of them.
We have also seen four South Shore vs South Shore matchups in Super Bowl games, including Hull vs Randolph (2021, Div. 8), Rockland vs Abington (2021, Div. 6), and Scituate vs Duxbury (2021 and 2023, Div. 4).
Winning has become habitual around these parts, making it easy to forget just how difficult it is to reach the state title game.
WATCH: The WATD Fantasy Draft makes its picks for Round 1 of the Playoffs
This past Sunday on the Sports Exchange, Quinn Kelly and Brendan Connolly analyzed all 26 teams in the playoffs and ranked the title contenders.
Breaking things into four tiers, teams were designated as picks to make it to the Super Bowl, picks to reach the Final Four, picks to advance to the second round, and picks to fall in Round 1 this weekend.
Listen to the full breakdown below:
The Tiers
Below are Quinn and Brendan’s picks to reach Gillette, the Final Four, and Round 2.
Quinn’s Tiers
Tier 1: Super Bowl Teams
Duxbury (Div. 4), Marshfield (Div. 2), Norwell (Div. 6), Randolph (Div. 8), Scituate (Div. 4), Xaverian (Div. 1)
Tier 2: Final Four Teams
Carver (Div. 8), Cohasset (Div. 7), Hanover (Div. 5), Mansfield (Div. 3)
Tier 3: Elite Eight Teams
Abington (Div. 6), BC High (Div. 1), Bridgewater-Raynham (Div. 2), Hingham (Div. 3), Milton (Div. 3), North Quincy (Div. 2)
Brendan’s Tiers
Tier 1: Super Bowl Teams
BC High (Div. 1), Duxbury (Div. 4), Randolph (Div. 8), Scituate (Div. 4)
Tier 2: Final Four Teams
Abington (Div. 6), Carver (Div. 8), Hanover (Div. 5), Marshfield (Div. 2), Xaverian (Div. 1)
Tier 3: Elite Eight Teams
Cohasset (Div. 7), Hingham (Div. 3), Mansfield (Div. 3), Milton (Div. 3), Norwell (Div. 6), Sandwich (Div. 6)
The Sports Exchange
The Sports Exchangeairs every Sunday night at 5 PM on 95.9 WATD.
Each week, you can hear the voices of local high school athletes, as well as opinions and insight on Boston sports.
Listen to this week’s full episode, including an interview with the captains of Scituate football, our bracket breakdowns, and recap from the Patriots loss to Tennessee:
