MIAA sets Tuesday playoff times and sites

The Marblehead and Lynnfield High football teams have become accustomed to turning in their equipment the day after Thanksgiving and going their merry was.Not this year.For the first time – at least since the modern-day Super Bowl format was established by the state of Massachusetts in 1972 – the Magicians will be playing football in December. They earned that right Thursday with a spine-tingling 32-27 victory over Swampscott at Christopher Piper Field.Marblehead, 9-2, will play Rockland Tuesday Manning Field in Lynn for the right to go to next Satgurday’s Division 3 Super Bowl. The Bulldogs were 6-5 during the regular season and play in the Patriot League, Fisher Division,The Marblehead-Rockland game is the first half of a Manning Field doubleheader that finishes up with a Division 1A playoff game between Gloucester and Westford Academy at 7:45. The Fishermen rolled through the regular season, finishing 11-0, to win the Northeastern Conference/North title. The Grey Ghosts, 8-3, earned their spot in the playoffs by defeating Acton-Boxborough Thursday.In Division 3A, Lynnfield, 10-1, will return to the post-season for the first time since 1986, when the Pioneers went to the Division 3 Super Bowl under former coach Bill Adams. The Pioneers, coached these days by Neal Weidman, will travel to Reading High School at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday to play Austin Prep. The Cougars, 8-3, are likewise strangers to the post-season. They clinched their first-ever Catholic Central League/Large title on Thanksgiving with a 24-0 victory over Bishop Fenwick.