Pig skin. Those two words may elicit a loss of an appetite more than a sense of excitement.
But when you combine the two words together – Pigskin – a much different feeling can be drawn out.
It’s code for football.
As urban legend has it, the earliest gridiron (or dirt road) games featured the kicking of an inflated pig bladder – hence pigskin. Nowadays, however, footballs are made with leather, rubber or plastic.
No matter the material, local high school teams are eager to strap up their pads and helmets on Friday for the official start of another football campaign.
See:The 32 high school football players to watch in MetroWest for the upcoming season
“We are excited for the season to start so we can get to work,” Algonquin head coach Mark Allen said.
With the pigskin season upon us, we take a look at the Top-10 questions we have heading into the fall.
10. Will COVID-19 protocols come back at any point?
Last fall, restrictions amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic were mostly lifted for outdoor high school sports. Sure, indoor sports like volleyball required masks to be worn and so did bus rides and trips into locker rooms – but that was basically it for restrictions. This school year, athletic directors, coaches and players are excited to not have to worry about COVID-19 modifications. At least for now.
“It has been nice to not have to navigate COVID health protocols and the ever-changing guidance like in the past few years,” Natick AD Tim Collins said.
9. What else do we have to worry about in the world?
Do you remember Triple E? Yeah, mosquitoes were the worry in the fall of 2019. Seems like a long time ago. And what about the rumor of murder hornets? Hopefully those worries are put to rest so that coaches and players can focus on Xs and Os and not what’s flying around in the air – other than a football.
8. Will the new MIAA playoff system hold up?
Last year, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) adopted a new playoff system for most high school sports. Long gone were sectional winners as a statewide format was born. Some quibbled with the new system but overall, most ADs, coaches and players liked the overall premise of the new playoff format. So it looks like the current MIAA playoff system is here to stay.
More:MIAA passes new statewide tournament
“While no system is perfect, it was an improvement and provided excellent matchups towards the end,” Lincoln-Sudbury football coach Jim Girard said. “A final eight instead of a final 16 seems more appropriate, however, from a competitive standpoint.”
7. Do we have enough bus drivers or referees?
In May, the Daily News documented the shortage of bus drivers to shuttle high school sports teams around the state. “Every morning, the first thing we do is check buses,” said Wellesley High School athletic director John Brown at the time. That issue hasn’t changed. Add in a shortage of referees, a story that the Worcester T&G tackled in February, and that’s a recipe for disaster. So finding enough people to work the other jobs that make the HS sports happen is worth monitoring.
Hey ref you stink:Verbal abuse at an all-time high for HS officials
6. Will we have all 8 Super Bowls at Gillette Stadium?
Gillette Stadium hosted high school super bowls for the 14th time last fall in Foxborough. And for the fourth time, Gillette welcomed all of the state championship games – although stadium operators had to get a little creative to do so. Unable to offer the stadium during the first weekend of December, Gillette and the MIAA worked out a schedule where all eight games were played in a span of three days during the week. The decision to play a state title game at 3 p.m. on a Wednesday was met with a little pushback – so is there any way we can guarantee a weekend for all eight games? Friday and Saturday? Good news is the Patriots host the Bills on Thursday, Dec. 1 before not playing again for 11 days.
5. Can teams survive their tough schedules?
With the formula of the new MIAA playoff format rewarding teams for playing more difficult schedules, did football squads beef up their slates on purpose this fall? From the looks of it, Franklin, Milford and Wayland – along with a few other teams in our area –boast tough league and non-league schedules this season. Wayland went 5-6 last year and lost 17 seniors to graduation. Can a relatively new team survive with a tough schedule? I guess we will find out.
“It’s tough to start off with these teams,” Wayland coach Scott Parseghian said. “But anything can happen.”
4. Who will surprise us this season?
Surprises, by definition, are unexpected. What nobody sees coming. So maybe a good criterion for surprise is a team that didn’t make the playoffs last year? A surprise squad that could make the postseason this fall? If that’s the criteria, then Holliston fits the bill. The Panthers won their final five games last year and welcome back nine starters on offense – including senior QB TJ Kiley – and eight starters on defense.
3. Who are the top players to watch who aren’t quarterbacks?
The Daily News recently listed the top-32 players in the area to watch (plus some honorable mentions). For non-QBs, keep an eye on juniors Teddy Ferrucci (Natick, RB/LB) and Brian Olson (Dover-Sherborn, WR/DE), and seniors Isaiah Pantalone (Milford, WR) and Jake Parker (Wellesley, RB/LB). Oh and don’t forget the kickers. Millis’ Nick Almeida, Milford’s Nicholas Araujo, Franklin’s Garrett Portesi and Wellesley’s Eddie Webb form a quartet of talented booters across the MetroWest.
2. Who are the top QBs in our area?
There isn’t a shortage of premier signal-callers in the MetroWest this year. Milford’s Evan Cornelius tops the list of local QBs to watch, followed closely by Wellesley’s Vincent Ferrara and the aforementioned Kiley from Holliston. Add in Hudson sophomore Jake Attaway and whoever plays QB at Natick High (either Drew George or Damian Taylor) and you’ve got quite the mix to start.
Meet:The players who made the Daily News football All-Stars for fall 2021
1. Can any of our teams win a Super Bowl?
A few local teams came close to securing a trip to Gillette last year. Just none actually knocked down the door. Franklin lost to the eventual Division 1 state champs in the state semifinals. Hockomock League rival Milford fell in the Div. 2 state semis and Dual Valley Conference contender BVT bowed out in the D6 semis. Those three programs, along with Ashland and Lincoln-Sudbury, have proven they can compete for championships on a yearly basis over the past half-decade. We wouldn’t be surprised to see any of those five teams make a run at a Super Bowl this fall. But the edge – early on – goes to Milford for our favorite team to be the last one standing this fall.
Tommy Cassell is a senior multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tcassell@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @tommycassell44.
