MA High School Football Week 1 Games to Watch

By Bob Holmes, Patch Correspondent

The 2016 football season gets under way Sept. 9-10 with one of the best opening weekend slates in decades.

Here's a look at some of the top games in Week 1:

Everett at Xaverian -- If your spouse has a to-do list a mile long and you only have time to see one high school football game, it has to be this Saturday showdown in Westwood. Xaverian has a state-best 24-game win streak and is loaded, especially on defense, led by Meki Henderson. If you believe the early-season chatter, Everett is back after stumbling to a 5-5 record last fall. The pressure will be on Crimson QB Jordan McAfee. In last season's opener, Everett was ahead, 7-0, in the second quarter after a McAfee touchdown before Xaverian scored 29 straight points to win easily.

Andover at BC High -- Unless Andover takes the Division 1 North title and plays at Gillette, this Friday night matchup will be the only time fans on the South Shore can take a short drive to see Warriors quarterback E.J. Perry. The kid's worth it too. The Boston College commit goes into the season with 67 career touchdown passes after throwing for 34 last fall. And BC High's defensive backfield will be tested immediately not only by Perry, but also by one of the best receiver's in the state in Dan Gemmell.

Duxbury at Bridgewater-Raynham -- The B-R defensive backs can sympathize with BC High's defensive backs. The Trojan DBs have an incredible challenge in their first game too. If any QB-WR pairing is going to top Andover's, it could be the Duxbury combo of QB Bobby Maimaron and WR Ryan Reagan. Maimaron threw 31 TD passes last fall, despite his top target Reagan missing most of his junior year with an injury. If B-R stumbles in Week 1 against Duxbury, they still have to face Xaverian in Week 2.

Reading at Central Catholic -- Two of the top teams in the state last fall each ended their season with losses at Gillette Stadium in Super Bowls. They have one more thing in common, great returning quarterbacks. Bret Edwards passed for 19 TD passes for Central last fall, while Corey DiLoreto had 16 for Reading. If Friday night isn't your cup of tea, that's fine because this one is Saturday in Lawrence.

East Bridgewater at Abington -- It won't take long to figure out who the top team is in the South Shore League. EB won the league last year with Abington second and the past four years it's been one or the other atop the SSL standings. East Bridgewater won both of last year's matchups, pitching a shutout in a 21-0 regular-season win, then beating the Green Wave, 26-14, in the Division 5 South semifinals. With the teams in different divisions this fall, Friday night will be the only meeting of the longtime rivals this fall.

Framingham at Norwood -- The last time these two Bay State Conference teams finished with a winning record was 2011 when both went 7-4. Since then it's been a struggle, with Framingham going 9-35 and Norwood 12-32. But the pressure is clearly on Framingham after the school system placed its coaches on administrative leave when several players developed blisters after an pre-season practice. The coaches are back now but the Flyers haven't won a road game since 2012. Throw in Norwood's 31-13 win in last year's opener and the fact five of Framingham's first six games are on the road and you can see the challenge ahead for the Flyers.

Millis at Holliston -- After six years of co-oping with Hopedale, Millis is finally on its own again. Too bad, because Millis will need all the help it can get against two-time Division 4 Super Bowl champion Holliston, a school many think is one of the best in the state. The Panthers moved up to Division 3 this fall and are led by linebacker Sam Athy and quarterback Jack Barrett. Barrett earned Boston Globe All-Scholastic honors as a junior after throwing for 18 touchdown passes.

North Andover at Woburn -- The Tanners hope to send longtime coach Rocky Nelson into retirement with a winning season. To do that, Woburn has to get off to a better start after going 0-2 on the road to open the 2015 season. The same two teams -- North Andover and Burlington -- are on the schedule but this time the games are in Woburn. North Andover beat Woburn, 27-15, last fall. Whomever starts for Nelson at quarterback, either senior Jake Bridge or sophomore Ryan Qualey, will be asked to improve an offense that scored just 20.6 ppg last year, a huge drop from 2014 when the Tanners averaged 32.2 ppg.

Winthrop at Danvers -- Danvers was one of the big surprises last November, beating Tewksbury and Marblehead in the Division 3 playoffs. But the Falcons lost their last two games to finish the season 8-4. Danvers beat Winthrop, 43-0, to open last season but after that the Falcons offense sputtered, and finished with just a 17.5 ppg average. The Northeastern Conference North and South titles are up for grabs this year, the last season before the four Greater Boston League schools join the fun in 2017.

Billerica at Burlington -- This has been one of the better non-league opening games over the years and Friday night shouldn't be any different. Billerica returns running back Derek Laundry, the third-leading scorer in Division 2 last year, along with defensive lineman Scott Murphy. Burlington counters with one of the better quarterbacks in the North, three-year starter Dylan Bonfilo.

Bob Holmes has spent three decades covering high school football in Massachusetts for The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald. Contact him at masspatchfootball@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @robertholmes630