FOXBOROUGH, Mass. –- Perhaps the greatest quality to be found in the new MIAA high school football playoff system is its ability to force the cream of the crop to rise to the top during the postseason.
For Xaverian (11-0) and Everett (10-1), it’s provided a dramatic background to determine the true “ruler of the state.”
These powerhouse programs have clashed 14 times since 1996, and have met in the state title game three times. However, this year marks the first time that these teams have navigated a bracket full of elite Division 1 programs to face off at Gillette Stadium in the Super Bowl.
Everett has a slight overall edge in the ongoing rivalry (8-6), but Xaverian has emerged victorious in four of six playoff meetings with the Crimson Tide.
The Hawks also handed Everett its only loss of the season back in September. But since then, both teams have gotten on a roll, as they’re currently ranked first and second in nearly every statewide poll.
Now the rivals will headline a Saturday full of six exciting matchups, and the players seem to understand the stakes.
“It would unbelievable,” Xaverian senior captain Noah Sorrento said about potentially capping an undefeated season with a state title, “Especially over one of the best teams in the state in Everett.”
Sorrento continued, “It’s great that we get to go at each other on the biggest stage. Talking to coaches and alumni, I get the sense that you’ll remember high school football for the rest of your life, so going out at Gillette Stadium with a ring would be incredible.”
The best in each other: The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Sorrento was immense in Xaverian’s season opening win over Everett, and has been a huge part of the Hawks success all year, but the true strength of the state’s consensus number one lies on the defensive side of the ball.
Led by ESPN Boston Mr. Football finalist Joe Gaziano, Xaverian has held opponents to a shade over eight points per game this season. Everett is one of four teams to score two touchdowns in a game against that vaunted unit, and Crimson Tide head coach John DiBiaso knows he’ll need close to a perfect game from his players this time around.
“When we met in the Super Bowl in 1998 they were clear-cut the best team in the state. Same thing in 2009, and this year, they’re clear-cut the best team in the state. They’re head and shoulders above everybody, and it’s going to take a herculean effort on our part to play mistake free football and win this final game,” said DiBiaso.
DiBiaso’s helped Everett maintain one of the 25 best records (757-365-79) of any high school football program in the nation.
In his 24 years on Everett’s sidelines, he’s led the Crimson Tide to 20 consecutive first place finishes in the Greater Boston League, and 10 Super Bowl championships. Still, he remains 0-3 against Charlie Stevenson’s Xaverian teams in state title games.
Both legendary coaches claim to have a friendly relationship with each other that’s based on mutual respect, and both seem to deflect credit for the success of their programs towards their players and assistants.
“I have great assistant coaches that provide continuity,” Stevenson said. “I believe John [DiBiaso] has as well, and the most important thing is that we seem to get good players year after year.”
“[Stevenson]’s as good a coach as we have in high school football and I think his record shows that,” DiBiaso said of his contemporary. “It’s always a battle when we play them. Whether it’s on homecoming, at their stadium or ours, it’s a charged up atmosphere.”
'It's not all about talent here': These teams play such difficult schedules that the players say they don’t have much time to worry about when they will face their rivals.
However, for Everett’s Boston College-bound superstar Lukas Denis, the biggest games stick out in his memory.
“I was in the stands back in 2009 when my brother was playing in the Super Bowl, and it was probably one of the coldest days and worst snowstorms I’ve ever been in,” Denis recalled, “It was intense.”
“We go a little bit harder,” Denis said when asked about practices leading up to a clash with Xaverian. “If we played them under normal circumstances it would still be a big game, but beating them in the Super Bowl would mean everything.”
Another ESPN Boston Mr. Football finalist, Denis has done a little bit of everything for the Crimson Tide this season. He’s an outstanding wide receiver, a lock-down cornerback, and even runs Everett’s offense as the usual quarterback in “heavy” packages.
According to Xaverian’s coach, players of his caliber are what make this rivalry special.
“We’ve had some great games over the last twenty years or so,” mused Stevenson. “When you have so many major college players competing against each other on game day, its something that’s different from what you usually see in Massachusetts.”
Those star players have plenty to play for in 2014. Denis said he’s excited to get out on the field at Gillette Stadium after missing the 2012 Super Bowl due to injury, and Noah Sorrento said he was one of several Hawks at less than one hundred percent when Xaverian fell to Central Catholic in the 2013 D1 championship.
Stevenson has led the Hawks to six Super Bowl titles since 1986, but his players are eager to atone for last season’s disappointing result.
“It was tough,” Sorrento admitted, “but we’re healthy now, and we’re ready to roll.”
For the Crimson Tide, it’s easy to stay hungry when you feel like an underdog despite playing for an incredibly successful program.
“It’s not all about talent here,” Denis said from Everett Memorial Stadium earlier this week. “We’re not as big and strong as we were in previous years. So we really have to go out and execute to win this game. I think we take it a lot more seriously now.”
Both teams are peaking at the right time, and it should be thrilling to watch which program notches a proverbial feather in its cap by winning the 2014 D1 Super Bowl.