Time to put a wrap on the football season.
Hope you all enjoyed the first-ever All-Longo team. I’ve read all the responses and can only say that I tried to be as honest and fair as I could be.
In putting together my final Top 10, I tried to weigh all the factors that matter most, record, winning when it counts, yes, even competition.
The first-ever Longo Top-10 champ delivers on all points.
The Amesbury Fighting Indians lived up to the billing, winning a tremendous CAL Small.
Look at the other leagues around:
The MVC was down. The CAL large down, CAC large down, NH Division 1 down.
The CAL small was loaded.
Therefore, I had to go with Amesbury, the Division 3A EMass champs, as my champs.
I dubbed the Indians the best 185-pound-and-under football team I’ve ever seen, and I’ll stand by that assessment after watching them run the table.
Execution, toughness, big plays, Thom Connors crew had it all. Hail to the champs.
2. Methuen (7-4) – It was the biggest win for the school in at least a dozen years, sticking Dracut on Turkey Day. The MVC might have been down, but Methuen was up, way up. The only thing that keeps Pat Graham’s Rangers from the No. 1 spot is the one-point loss to Lowell earlier in the year. Still, congrats on a huge season.
3. Pinkerton Academy (8-4) – Maybe, this is a letdown, for the Astros, who were banged up and came up short against South in the title game. I have to think a healthy Eric Guinto would have made a difference in the title game in right here, too. Still, this is the program by which all others are measured in this region. Right now, the Astros are favored in Division 1 NH for 2009 and for the Longo top 10 next fall as well.
4. Pelham (11-0) … Imagine, being perfect and falling three spots. Sorry, I can only say that extraordinary circumstances prevailed all around us on three accounts:
Amesbury’s dominance right through the Super Bowl.
Methuen’s win over Dracut to cap the best year ever.
And Pinkerton’s near-title run.
The lack of strong teams in Division 5 really hurts Pelham here. Throw in the fact that none of the other D5 teams stepped out into other competition and made any noise.
I feel awful about it, but my gut says this is where Pelham belongs.
5. Timberlane (7-4) … A major drop from 4 to 5 as the Owls made the early playoff exit.
6. Georgetown (8-2) … Almost a reverse Pelham effect here, as the royals lose their last two, but hold even here.
7. Pentucket (7-4) … Solid seasons on the West Newbury/Groveland line are so predictable. Somehow, this program always wins 6 or 7.
8. Londonderry (6-4) … The saddest word of mouth and pen are those that say what might have been.
9. Whittier Tech (8-3) … Bradley makes the most out an overachieving group. Watch the Cats in 2009.
10. Lawrence (3-8) … Rules are rules. Without the forfeits, Lawrence would have topped out at No. 5 after going 7-4. Even with the forfeits, the Lancers merit a spot. I’ll say it again, Lawrence was wrong, but it was a paperwork matter. I’m no fan of bureaucracy.
Bring on the hoop season, boys.
