Senior Night couldn’t have gone better for the Everett High School football team as it rolled to a 43-12 victory over Lynn Classical Friday at Everett Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Before the game, the seniors on the football and cheerleading teams were honored during an impressive ceremony on the field.
The Crimson Tide then went out and won their seventh game in a row while holding a high-scoring Classical team to two touchdowns. BC-commit Christian Zamor showed why he is considered one of the elite players in the nation with three-second half touchdowns, two on the ground, and one with a pick-six interception.
The seventh consecutive victory gave Everett the undisputed GBL title under first-year head coach Justin Flores, who had his team playing its best football of the season – and primed for a playoff run at the state title.
But on Sunday, Coach Flores and his team learned that they hadn’t qualified for the MIAA playoffs, finishing 18th in the Division 1 power rankings. The top 16 teams in each division advance to the playoffs.
Everett was hurt its quest for a playoff berth by its “opponents’ value” rating. It is the second time in three years that a GBL team was denied a playoff berth due to the power rankings system, with Revere suffering a similar fate in the 2021 season when it finished 6-2 during the pre-playoffs schedule and 8-2 overall.
“It’s the system that’s in place and I know it has the potential to change next season, but we have to play in that system right now,” said Flores.
Flores said the players were disappointed about not being able to compete in the playoffs.
“I personally feel it’s not fair to them, but I especially feel for these seniors that they don’t get a chance at it again – that’s the biggest group that I feel for,” said Flores.
So, despite being ranked No. 6 in the Boston Globe Poll, capturing the GBL title, and rallying to beat BC High (who qualified for the playoffs as the No 10 seed) in a Homecoming classic, Everett is on the outside looking in with a 7-1 record.
“We were prepped to play any team and our kids were raring to go – we just had that unfortunate news on Sunday,” said Flores. “I don’t think there are 16 teams better than us in Division 1 in Massachusetts. I think a lot of people would agree with that statement.”
MIAA Assistant Director Jim Clark told the Everett Independent that the MIAA will be reviewing the current power rankings system and would consider a proposal to grant league champions an automatic berth in the football playoffs.
Everett hosts Lowell Friday night.