Grid Bits: CMass falls short of Gillette berths; coach Mark Allen is a winner at Algonquin
Here are the final Grid Bits of the strange year of 2021:
• This is the first time since the state championship system was established in 2013 that no Central Mass. teams are playing at Gillette Stadium. Eastern Mass. has generally dominated the format but never like this year. Fourteen of the 16 finalists are from Eastern Mass. Springfield Central and Wahconah from Western Mass. are the other two.
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• Algonquin coach Mark Allen is 9-8-0 in two seasons. He is the first Algonquin coach with a winning record in his first two years since Frank Kronoff went 10-9-1 in 1983 and ’84.
• The Fitchburg-Leominster series is the most played of any in the region and one of the country’s as well, at 140 meetings. With its 32-0 victory on Thanksgiving, Leominster has won exactly half the games. It leads the series all-time, 70-61-9.
• Bartlett’s Thanksgiving Day loss to Southbridge evened that school’s all-time record in documented games to 465-465-30.
• While Shrewsbury has an 8-4 lead over Wachusett in their Thanksgiving Day series, the games have been very competitive. Three have been decided by one point, like this year’s, and four others have been decided by a touchdown or less.
• St. John’s finished at 5-6, the first time since 1996 (5-5-0) the Pioneers were not above .500. That streak, not including last year’s partial season, was the longest in Central Mass. history at 23 years. The state record is 29, set by Walpole.
Current leaders are Northbridge with 16 straight, Valley Tech with 11 and Doherty with 10.
• Quaboag finished at 9-2-0. The Cougars won nine games total in their first five years of varsity football from 2009-14. Their 358 points this season were 84 more than the previous school record of 274 in 2015.
• South’s Angelo LaRose set multiple records, and the Colonels had eight victories, their most since 12 in 2006 and fifth-best in school history. Their 335 points were a school single-season record. South extended its record for most all-time losses in Central Mass. to 550, but the gap has narrowed recently. Hudson is second at 540, North third at 535 and Gardner fourth at 531.
• In contrast, Leominster added to its record of having the most total victories of any Central Mass. school with 792. The Blue Devils could hit the very exclusive 800 Club with a strong season next year. Fitchburg is second in the region with 692 triumphs. Leominster ranks third in the state, unofficially, behind Everett (829) and Brockton (813.
—Contact Bill Ballou at sports@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillBallouTG.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Grid Bits, high school football, No CMass teams at Gillette Stadium
