The MIAA released its football postseason pairings Sunday morning and 11 area teams are in the hunt for state championships in their respective divisions.
All five Lynn teams, Classical, English, KIPP Academy, St. Mary’s and Tech, have qualified for the postseason. The Panthers are making their program’s first state tournament appearance as the No. 3 seed in Division 8 North.
“We set this as our goal at the beginning of the year,” Panthers coach Jim Rabbitt said. “Our goal was to make the playoffs and make history. We did that. It’s great to go into the playoffs having won four in a row, with some momentum. We’re excited.”
KIPP will host No. 6 Charlestown of the Boston City League Saturday night (6) at Manning Field. “We saw them on film,” Rabbitt said. “They’re definitely athletic. They have some speed, some size up front. It’s going to pose a challenge for our defense, which has played very well over the past five weeks. We’ll dial up a game plan. We have to take everything we do and amplify it even more.
“It’s definitely a loaded bracket,” Rabbitt said. “We feel that anybody can come out of it and we’re hoping to be that team.”
The Tech Tigers are the top seed in Division 8 North after a 5-2 regular season. They’ll host No. 8 Matignon at Manning Field Friday night (6).
Classical and English are both in the mix in Division 3 North. The Rams, winners of four in a row, locked up the No. 5 seed and will travel to No. 4 Wilmington Friday (7). The Bulldogs, winners of two in a row, are the No. 7 seed and will visit No. 2 Tewksbury Saturday afternoon (1).
In Division 7 North, St. Mary’s is the No. 7 seed. The Spartans are on the road Saturday afternoon (2) at No. 2 Greater Lawrence.
“We beat Greater Lawrence in the semifinal last year,” St. Mary’s coach Sean Driscoll said. “We scrimmaged them earlier in the year. They’re a good football team. We’ll have our hands full. They’re very big up front. They have athletes at quarterback and running back.
“We’re very happy to qualify for the playoffs. At 4-3 we’re at the same point we were at last year. We had some competitive league games with Fenwick, Spellman and Arlington Catholic. Hopefully that helps us.”
St. John’s Prep is the lone area team in Division 1 North. The Eagles have the No. 2 seed and a home game Friday (7) against No. 7 Lowell.
Revere, still undefeated at 7-0, is the No. 2 seed in Division 4 North. The Patriots welcome No. 7 Dracut Friday (6:30) to Harry Della Russo Stadium.
“Dracut’s in the Merrimack Valley and that’s tough football,” Revere coach Lou Cicatelli said. “We’ve seen them. They’re a good football team. They run the spread. I remember precisely what they did to Marblehead last year when Marblehead was undefeated. The guys are focused. We watched film Sunday morning. We clinched one of our goals with a share of the NEC championship and now this is our second goal. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
Also in Division 4 North are the Marblehead Magicians, as the No. 5 seed. Marblehead, currently in a 2-game slide, hopes to bounce back into the win column Friday (7) at No. 4 North Reading.
Lynnfield and Swampscott are in the mix in Division 5 North. The No. 3 Pioneers welcome Cape Ann League rival No. 6 Newburyport Friday (7). The No. 4 Big Blue have a home game Friday (7) against No. 5 Weston.
Fenwick drew the No. 3 seed in Division 6 North. The Crusaders will play against No. 6 Ipswich Friday (7) at Donaldson Stadium.
Peabody, Saugus and Withrop are in the non-playoff bracket. Winthrop travels to Hamilton-Wenham, while Peabody and Saugus have home games against Arlington and Wilmington, respectively. All non-postseason games are TBA.
