Football: Northeastern Conference well-represented in playoff matchups

Beyond the two Lynn teams, the Northeastern Conference is sending six of its 11 teams — both North and South — to this week?s football playoffs.And four of the teams are in Division 3 Northeast. Since there are no Division 3 teams in central or western Massachusetts, the region was split into four sectionals, with eight teams each. Hence, the bracket is filled out by several teams with losing records.The highest seeded team in this division is No. 2 Marblehead, which will play Friday (7) at Piper Field against No. 7 Wilmington.A defeat two weeks ago to Beverly spoiled an unbeaten regular season for the 6-1 Magicians. They?ve been led all year by rugged running back Brooks Tyrrell. Outside of the Beverly loss, the Magicians — in their first season playing up in the NEC/North — did quite well, beating Gloucester, English and Swampscott.The Wildcats, 3-4, finished last in the Middlesex League/Freedom, with the same record (3-4) as both Stoneham and Burlington.The two teams did not play any common opponents.Masconomet at DanversAt Dr. Deering Stadium (7), the No. 3 Falcons absorbed a Week 1 loss to Marblehead and then rolled from there to a 6-1 record, including 5-0 in the NEC/South. Along the way, Danvers defeated Beverly, but its character-building win occurred against Lynn Classical — at Manning Field — earlier this month.Alex Valles has been the mainstay for the Falcons. His fumble recovery/return helped the Falcons defeat Peabody, and he made another game-saving play in the Classical game. He also scored the go-ahead touchdown last Saturday night in a win over Winthrop.The No. 6 Chieftains, 4-3, were in the middle of the pack this season in the Cape Ann/North after winning the combined NEC/CAL upper tier in 2012.Beverly at GloucesterAt Newell Stadium (7), this will be another rematch from a game earlier this season. No. 4 Gloucester got the better of the No. 5 Panthers the first time, 18-14, also at Newell, but much has happened since then.Beverly, after a 1-3 start, turned its season around to defeat Marblehead, English and Swampscott and head into the Division 3 Northeast playoffs with a 4-3 record.There are also several non-qualifying games Friday night. These are the teams that did not attain tournament status after their regular seasons ended.In Division 6, Boston English travels to Manning Field (7) to face Lynn Tech. The Tigers just missed. They won their final two games, but were only ranked 10th.Boston English is coached by former English standout Brian Vaughan.In other games Friday, Salem is at Revere (7), Peabody at Chelmsford (7) and Weston at Winthrop (7).