Ten local football squads among MIAA post-season playoff teams

Ten of the area?s 17 high school football teams have made it into the first-ever post-season playoffs, with one — Bishop Fenwick — seeded first in its division.Three of Lynn?s four teams are in the tournament, with Tech having missed by virtue of Saturday?s Minuteman win over Greater Lowell.There will be two interleague matchups, both of them Friday night (7) in the quarterfinals. In Division 3 Northeast, No. 5 Beverly will travel to No. 4 Gloucester at Newell Stadium; and in Division 5, No. 8 St. Mary?s will go to Donaldson Field to face the top-seeded Fenwick Crusaders. Gloucester and Fenwick won earlier matchups this season.Both Classical and English are in Division 2, and both will travel Friday night. The No. 8 Bulldogs will head to top-seeded Haverhill (7) while No. 5 Classical will go to Lincoln-Sudbury, also at 7.There are four teams in Division 3 Northeast: Marblehead, Danvers, Beverly and Gloucester. Friday night (7), No. 7 Wilmington will travel to Piper Field to take on No. 3 Marblehead and Masconomet heads to Dr. Deering Stadium to play No. 3 Danvers.Lynnfield is the only area team to make it in Division 4 North, and the second-seeded Pioneers host Stoneham at the Middle School Saturday (2).St. John?s Prep is the only team in Division 1 to advance, and the fourth-seeded Eagles will have a home game Saturday (2) against No. 5 Lowell.Marblehead, Gloucester and Beverly ended up in a three-way tie for the top spot in the Northeastern Conference/South with 4-1 records. They were 1-1 against the other two, but Gloucester is the actual champion based on a tiebreaker system.Automatic bids went to Marblehead, Gloucester, Classical, Fenwick, Danvers and Lynnfield, with the rest of the spots (English, St. Mary?s, St. John?s and Beverly) being awarded at-large.The quarterfinals are being played this weekend, with the sectional semis and finals the following two weeks. The Super Bowl-deciding games will be played the weekend of Nov. 22-23, with Thanksgiving games the following Thursday as scheduled.The teams were rated on a points system that awarded point values to each victory based on a number of factors.See the Scoreboard page for a complete breakdown of the first weekend. And see the regular schedule for a list of non-qualifier games (times will be announced individually by schools).uThe schedule for the non-qualifiers is as follows (it has been set through the final three weeks of the regular season). Dates and times will be available once the schools announce them.Nov. 1-2Division 1: Peabody at ChelmsfordDivision 3 Northeast: Salem at RevereDivision 4: Winthrop at N. Reading; Ipswich at Saugus; Arl. Cath. at Swampscott.Division 6: Boston English at Tech. Nov. 8-9Division 1: Andover at PeabodyDivision 3 Northeast: Revere at Dracut; Boston Latin at Salem.Division 4: Weston at Winthrop; Saugus at Arlington Catholic; Swampscott at Ipswich.Division 6: Tech at MarianNov. 15-16Division 1: Lawrence at PeabodyDivision 3 Northeast: Dracut at Salem; Medford at RevereDivision 4: Winthrop at Amesbury; Swampscott at SaugusDivision 6: Tech at Minuteman.