Central Catholic ekes out CM for top spot in Boston 25 High School Football Top 10 Poll

DEDHAM, Mass. — Following Week 1 of the Massachusetts high school football season, there’s a new top team in the commonwealth. The No. 1 Central Catholic Raiders, who defeated Springfield Central 67-52 on Friday night, squeaked past the No. 2 Catholic Memorial Knights for the top spot in this week’s Boston 25 High School Football Top 10 Poll.

Just one point separated the two top teams in the state while the Raiders garnered five of eight possible first-place votes to CM’s two.

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The lone remaining first-place vote went to the Everett Crimson Tide, who jumped from No. 4 last week to No. 3 this week by virtue of their narrow 21-19 overtime win against the Xaverian Hawks. Xaverian fell from the No. 3 spot in the preseason poll to No. 6 in the state following their loss in extra time.

Mansfield moved from fifth in the state in the last Top 10 Poll to No. 4 after scoring twice in the fourth quarter to overcome St. John’s Shrewsbury, 28-20 this last week. Similarly, Lincoln-Sudbury moved up one spot, this week to No. 5, following their big 48-20 win over North Andover.

The Eagles of St. John’s Prep and the Natick Redhawks both held firm this week, maintaining their No. 7 and No. 9 rankings, respectively. Prep knocked off Marshfield, 47-42, while Natick blanked Needham, 24-0.

>>>LAST WEEK’S POLL: Catholic Memorial headlines inaugural Boston 25 High School Football Top 10 Poll

Reading leapfrogged the Redhawks to grab the No. 8 spot by nearly doubling-up Melrose, 40-21, this weekend. Melrose, who had been the eighth-ranked team in the state headed into Week 1, fell out of the Top 10 with the loss. Taking Melrose’s place in the ranking are the Barnstable Red Hawks, who were voted into the No. 10 spot following their 52-35 win over Brockton.

Marblehead, Bishop Fenwick, Duxbury, King Philip, Marshfield and Scituate also received votes this week.

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