Update post publication:
Melrose defeats Whittier Tech 35-8 (Nov. 2)
Published November 3, 2023
Despite 41-28 win, Melrose (6-2) won’t see playoffs
By JENNIFER GENTILE
WILMINGTON—Despite an offensive gem of a win against Wilmington last Friday night on the road, the Melrose High football team will not see a post season, despite improving to a strong 6-2 record on the eve of playoffs. Instead, they will host Whittier Tech (6-2) Thursday evening in non-playoff action at 7:00 p.m.
Melrose traveled to Wilmington last Friday evening to take on the Wildcats, entering the game at 5-2 and power ranked just outside the Field of 16. A win would be considered critical to advance up the rankings.
And Melrose did the job, with a whopping 41-28 victory over Wilmington, behind 4 touchdowns from senior quarterback Connor Brophy, who had a monster game for Melrose, rushing for 286 yards and passing for 65.
Melrose overcame an early 14-7 deficit and 14-14 tie with a great second half, fueled on the legs of Connor Brophy and a timely interception by Marco Albanese. Despite the Wildcats hanging around, Melrose was able to close the door on Wilmington for the ultimate 41-28 win.
Despite the key victory, Melrose will not see a post season and that’s a source of contention for some. On Sunday, the MIAA posted their Round of 16 division brackets and Melrose ultimately drew the #18 spot in Div. 4. At 6-2, their only losses this season were against Burlington and Winchester.
Coach Tim Morris spoke of the end result. “We’ve had some injuries. Losing Nico [Chiulli] on both sides of the ball hurt us, and losing Sam Madden recently. This is not as senior heavy a team as usual.”
Indeed, Melrose has seen some underclassmen shine during their second half of the season including Marco Albanese, Nick Hitchman, Keegan Moloney and Max Lanciani, who will keep Melrose competitive next year.
Most would agree that Melrose is a playoff-made team. Yet, some Middlesex League teams had underwhelming seasons (Reading, Lexington, Watertown) who Melrose all played, and Melrose’s opposition ratings suffered for it. Yet if the ML was so unchallenging, how did 7 of its teams (Belmont, Winchester, Woburn, Arlington, Wilmington, Stoneham and Burlington) get in?
Consider people confused.
Social media has been letting the MIAA (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) have it, but Melrose head coach Tim Morris remains pragmatic. Never one to complain about setbacks, he’s coached under plenty of snafus (coin flips, unplayable field conditions in snow), so it may be hard to surprise him. Still, all things considered, Melrose won 75% of their games and it’s hard to see that ignored.
“We have a lot of feelings about it, but at the end of the day we aren’t dwelling on it,” the coach says. “Of course the kids are disappointed but we’re not boo-hoo’ing over it. We left stuff out there and in Winchester and Burlington games and they know that. But, we have a lot of football left and a league title on the line. We’re going to play the best football we can from now until Thanksgiving.”
That includes Whittier Tech who they host tonight at 7:00 p.m. in non-playoff action.
Opposition rating questioned after several playoff snubs
While the new MIAA playoff system is generally quite accurate in its power ranking formula (the top 5 ranked teams in a division almost always advance to state and state seminal play in any sport) football appears to be a different beast.
How else to describe #6 state ranked Everett not making playoffs?
Social media erupted this week (MIAA was even trending on Twitter) over the exclusion of Everett in the Div.1 playoff bracket, as they clocked in at #18, just two spots shy. At least two, 3-5 teams made the cut, St. Johns and Central Catholic. Everett’s win-loss point differential was about 35 points during their 8-game season this fall.
Other teams across the state who are in the same 6-2 boat with Melrose include Amherst-Pelham, Whittier and O’Bryant, who also all won 75 perfect of their games, only to be denied a spot in the Sweet 16 of each division.
The reasoning? Strength of schedule, or lack thereof.
Melrose seemingly had a strong schedule in 2023, playing against teams who are coming off of Super Bowl seasons or have been in the last few years. Teams like Reading, Stoneham and Wakefield have dominated in the last few years and made Super Bowl runs—Wakefield won it just last year.
Contends coach Morris, “Any other season, having Reading and Lexington on our schedule is a challenge and advantage.”
Everett was the biggest victim of this computer tabulated power rating. At 7-1, their only loss came at the hands of Xaverian this fall. They added strength to their relatively weak schedule in the Greater Boston League by adding that juggernaut, along with BC High, whom they beat.
Still, no playoffs?
Some have suggested adding variations to the formula to make things more bearable. In the MIAA, most sport teams are automatically qualified for playoffs if they compile a .500 record or better, no matter how they are power ranked.
This is not the case in football. Post season planning is always challenging given the nature of the sport (unlike other sports, they can’t play more than one game a week, for starters) and Super Bowl appears fast on the calendar, but some are insisting that if football teams win a league title or 75% of their games. they should have automatic qualifiers, lest the 6 or 7 wins collected in an 8-game season becomes meaningless.
One also wonders, what will make any team want to put a historically weak sport team on their schedule, if they will only get punished for it, win or lose? In the case of Everett, they’re forced to play in an overwhelmingly weak league of neighboring cities. Whether or not that’s something they will change remains to be seen.
Notes coach Morris, “I think there might have been some talk about making it harder to make playoffs. 8 teams go in each division, not 16. Or like it used to be, a league title helps determine it. I don’t know what they will do.”
Bottom line: it’s not about it being unfair—life is unfair— but if computers are calling the shots, it might be time to rethink the factors of the equations.