3 days ago
The high school football season kicks off Friday. Here are 10 early storylines.
▪
Star quarterbacks:
We might be entering a golden age in the Bay State. Several QBs are primed to deliver strong senior seasons, and the next generation is already here, with St. John's Prep sophomore Chris Vargas the headliner . The 6-foot-5-inch passer from Lawrence is the
Related
:
Making his debut for Archbishop Williams is Hingham's Hudson Garrity, who earned UnderArmour All-American status as an eighth grader at Derby Academy and is recognized as the
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
Other quarterbacks to watch include Jonny Donovan (Scituate), Kise Flannery (Catholic Memorial), Jack Lambert (Bridgewater-Raynham), Osiris Lopez (Leominster), Owen Mordas (Bishop Feehan), Caden Smith (Central Catholic), Jareth Staine (Springfield Central), Tommy Vallett (Mansfield), and Will Wood (Xaverian).
Advertisement
▪
New and familiar head coaches:
Familiar names are among the new coaching hires. Everett native Rob DiLoreto ('86) is back at his alma mater after coaching the Crimson Tide to a 21-3 mark from 2020-22 . . . Methuen alum Ryan Dugan ('08) takes over after spending the past 12 seasons as offensive coordinator under Tom Ryan, now the school's athletic director . . . After 13 seasons as a defensive assistant and coordinator at Central Catholic, Jay Fielding is ready to run his own program at Andover. The founder of Pact Performance strength and conditioning programs has worked with many of New England's top defensive players in recent years . . . Matt Cerullo, another Pact Performance coach, takes over at North Andover following seven seasons as an assistant under John Dubzinski, who stepped down in January for family reasons . . . Veteran coach Shawn Theriault shifts from his role as Andover defensive coordinator to a head coach at Billerica . . .Jason Pithie has been promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach at Norwell . . . Former Apponequet, Wareham, and Sandwich coach Bob Lomp takes the reins at New Bedford . . . Worcester native and coaching veteran Gary Senecal is at the helm at Saint John's (Shrewsbury) . . . Doug Carilli, a coaching veteran who was most recently an assistant at his alma mater, Curry College, is the new coach at Dedham . . . Ed Melanson starts his first season at Triton after multiple stops in the North Shore region as an assistant . . . Former Stonehill standout Jermetrious Troy takes over at Carver boasting 12 years of experience . . . Brian Vaughan shifts to Arlington Catholic after eight seasons as head coach at Lynn Classical . . . Matt Silva replaces Justin Cruz at Greater New Bedford . . . Don Shumaker is the new coach at Millis . . . Alex Monteiro has been named interim head coach at Joseph Case.
Advertisement
▪
Divisional alignments:
In the divisional alignments for 2025-27, defending champion Catholic Memorial appealed to remain in Division 2, but perennial D2 power King Philip has shifted down to D3, along with Marshfield. Previously one of the smallest programs in D1, Lincoln-Sudbury is now in Division 2. Walpole moves from D3 to D4, Nauset drops from D4 to D5, and Medway is now in Division 6, not D5.
Advertisement
▪
Catholic Conference dominance:
Last fall, Needham upset St. John's Prep, becoming the third public school to play in the Division 1 Super Bowl since the new playoff format debuted in 2013. Xaverian topped Needham, 14-7, for a second straight state title, giving the Catholic Conference five of the last six D1 Super Bowls. That success combined, with Catholic Memorial's dominant run in D2 and the rise of BC High under coach Paul Zukauskas, puts the Catholic Conference in a class of its own.
▪
New league landscapes:
Barnstable joins Bridgewater-Raynham and Dartmouth in the updated Southeast Conference after playing an independent schedule the past two seasons.
The old Big Three Conference is officially resurrected with Brockton, New Bedford, and Durfee set to compete for a league title. Bishop Feehan and St. Mary's of Lynn are playing mostly independent schedules as the only two teams in the Catholic Central League Large division, and will meet in Week 4 to determine the league champion. Both programs are electing to play Bishop Fenwick and Bishop Stang (their respective Thanksgiving matchups), but those matchups are nonleague affairs.
▪
Prospect watch:
A few of top players in the Independent School League have settled on their commitments, with Tabor Academy quarterback Peter Bourque, a Hingham resident, and St. Sebastian's offensive lineman Marky Walbridge, of Needham, headed to Michigan. Tabor safety Brady Scott, of Reading, holds a number of offers, as does Xaverian quarterback Will Wood.
Advertisement
Wood's teammate, star safety/receiver Dave Chiavegato, recently committed to UMass Amherst. Leominster quarterback Osiris Lopez is headed to Coastal Carolina and Catholic Memorial passer Kise Flannery is slated to attend Harvard, while Knights linebacker Liam Conlon is drawing attention from colleges.
St. John's Prep receiver Pierson Scala (Columbia), Winchester linebacker Bryan Harrison (Harvard), Hanover receiver Brandon Errico (Bowdoin), Wellesley safety Matt Leibman (Bucknell), and Masconomet athlete Jack Fabiano (Williams) are verbally committed. Bedford edge rusher Mekhi Volcy impressed during a Boston College camp and committed this summer, joining an incoming class that includes Brady Bekknehuis (Arlington), Dominic Funke (Xaverian), and Mac Fitzgerald and Marcelino Antunes Jr. (Catholic Memorial).
▪
New fields and facilities:
After multiple seasons of away games and neutral site 'home games,' Stoneham is ready to debut its new stadium, with the Spartans first home game coming against Arlington Sept. 12.
Hamilton-Wenham is putting the finishing touches on a new facility that includes three turf fields with lights and new bleachers for football fans. Dover-Sherborn should have a new field in place by the end of September and Medway is looking to debut a new field by the end of October. Two-time defending Division 1 champion Xaverian has a new turf field and Malden Catholic's student-athletes can take advantage of a brand new weight room and indoor training facilities.
▪
Extra week on the calendar:
With Labor Day falling early (Sept. 1) and Thanksgiving falling late (Nov. 27) this year, programs have nine weeks to schedule their eight games.
Advertisement
As was the case in 2024, teams may open with a scrimmage the weekend after Labor Day, or play a game and use a bye week later in the season to reset. The cutoff date for the postseason is Saturday, Nov. 1 and playoff games will start on Friday, Nov. 7.
▪
Finale for LaChapelle?:
Entering his 50th year at Northbridge, with a state-record 401 victories (401-138-6), Ken LaChapelle has indicated that this will be his last season (he said '95 percent' on Wednesday). His grandson, Joel, will return as the Rams' starting quarterback. Catholic Memorial's John DiBiaso (373-83-1) sits second behind LaChapelle for victories, but leads with 17 Super Bowl titles amassed at CM, Everett, and Weston.
▪
NFHS rule changes:
The national federation has affirmed that in-helmet electronic communications are still banned at the high school level, but 'fixed electronic signs with play signals and non-audio methods' are permitted.
Student-athletes are not allowed to watch video footage during the game. The NFHS also updated the fumble rule so that all loose balls between the goal lines will be spotted where the player fumbled, rather than where it goes out of bounds. Previous rules called for a forward fumble to be spotted where it left the field, with exceptions on fourth downs and in other situations.
Nate Weitzer can be reached at
