MIAA assigns seeds to 128 football teams for weekend playoffs

128 high school football teams will compete in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Association playoff tournament this weekend. The MIAA released seedings for all eight divisions on Sunday afternoon, concluding the regular season. The association used its power ranking system to assign positions to the 16 teams in each division. A minimum of three wins was required for a squad to qualify for the postseason field.

The bracket determines the path to Gillette Stadium. A team requires three victories to reach the final game and a fourth win to claim the state title. Most first-round contests are scheduled for Friday, though the source notes that some action may occur on other dates. The matchups are set by seeding, with the top team in each division hosting the bottom team.

In Division 1, undefeated St. John’s Prep, which holds an 8-0 record, is the number one seed. The team will host Weymouth, which has a 5-3 record, in the opening round. Other Division 1 matchups include Andover visiting Franklin and Shrewsbury traveling to Wachusett. Undefeated Scituate, also 8-0, leads Division 4 and will host Ashland.

Division 2 features Catholic Memorial as the top seed, holding a 6-2 record. They will face Cambridge R&L, which finished 4-3. Mansfield, with a 7-1 record, sits at number one in Division 3 and will host Malden Catholic, a 4-4 team. Shawsheen, undefeated with a 7-0 record, tops Division 5 and will host Oakmont, which has a 6-2 record.

Norwell, which holds a 7-1 record, is the number one seed in Division 6. They will host Belchertown, a 7-1 team that entered the bracket as the number 16 seed. Cohasset, with a 5-2 record, is the top seed in Division 7 and will host Gardner, which finished 5-3. Lee, an undefeated 8-0 team, leads Division 8 and will host Ware, which has a 4-4 record.

The full field includes teams from across the state with varying win totals. For example, in Division 8, Randolph is the number two seed with a 6-2 record, while Cape Cod Tech is the number four seed with a 7-0 record. The MIAA’s power ranking system determined the specific order of all 128 participants. These seeds remain fixed for the duration of the tournament unless a team withdraws or forfeits a game.