There is always something old going on in Central Mass. football. The latest is Auburn’s 15-15 tie with Swampscott last weekend, overtime being canceled due to lightning.
It was the first tie involving a Central Mass. team in 20 years, or since Leominster and Brockton played a 22-22 game on Oct. 31, 2003. It was Auburn’s first tie since a 6-6 game with Grafton on Sept. 29, 1990. With the Swampscott deadlock, Auburn coach Jeff Cormier joined Ken LaChapelle and Sean Mahoney as the only active Central Mass. coaches with a tie on their records.
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The game featured three field goals by Rockets kicker A.J. Oliveira, which appropriately ties the known record in Central Mass. It has been done at least six times now, most recently by P.J. Barry of St. Peter-Marian. He did it twice in 2016, the last time on Oct. 15. That put him on his way to the regional record of 11 for the season.
? Central Mass. teams did not fare well in out-of-region games to start the year. They went 3-8-1 in 12 meetings with foreign schools. Central Mass. was 1-7-1 against the East, 2-1 against the West. Auburn had the tie, while Blackstone-Millville beat Bellingham in eastern games. Quaboag beat Ludlow and Lunenburg triumphed over Frontier in the west.
? Rookie coaches broke even on the weekend. The eight newcomers combined to go 4-4. John Vassar at St. John’s, Zac Attaway at Hudson, Casey McDonnell at Lunenburg and James Royster at Nipmuc posted victories. Nick Clark at Southbridge, Paul DiGeronimo at Fitchburg, Steve Ide at Shepherd Hill and Chris Simoneau at Worcester Tech suffered defeats.
? The Northbridge Rams are hoping that lightning only strikes twice when they play. They were beaten by West Boylston Friday night in a game delayed twice by lightning. The only other lightning game they have had to endure was on Oct. 8, 1982, a 19-0 loss at David Prouty that was called after three periods. The defeat ended the Rams’ 38-game SWCL winning streak, and their bus broke down as they headed home.
Northbridge takes on a strong St. Bernard’s team this weekend while hoping to snap a seven-game losing streak going back to last season. Northbridge has not lost eight straight since a 10-game dip that lasted from 1933 into 1935.
? North and Abby Kelley have played five times through the years, Abby Kelley winning thrice. Two games went into overtime; one was a 3-0 Abby Kelley victory; and last weekend’s was another close one with North prevailing, 24-20. The Polar Bears’ victory was their first opening-game triumph since 2016.
? Doherty seeks its 300th all-time victory when it plays Leominster. The Highlanders are 299-257-8 starting with their first season in 1966. Doherty has employed only four head coaches in 58 years — Jackie Whalen, Ralph Raymond, Bill Erven and Sean Mulcahy. The Highlanders won their inaugural game on Sept. 24, 1966, by beating North, 20-0.
Leominster leads Doherty all time, 20-6-1, but the Highlanders have won five of the last six meetings.
? Opening weekend featured a blast from the past when Murdock played Athol for the first time since 1950. The neighboring schools first met in 1894 in an on-and-mostly-off rivalry. Athol’s 34-0 victory last weekend improved its record in the series to 9-0.
? Narragansett and Ware play this weekend for the first time. However, 'Gansett’s ancestor school, Templeton, played against Ware three times in the 1930s. The last meeting was a 13-0 Ware victory on Oct. 30, 1937.
? Nipmuc takes on Assabet with a chance to record its 100th football victory. The school commenced football in 2003 under coach Dan Provost, opening with a 14-7 loss to Tantasqua, and is 99-116-0 overall.
? A sure sign of the changing landscape of Central Mass. football is that West Boylston is playing Fitchburg for the first time this weekend; with about 225 seasons of football between them, Wachusett and Lawrence play for the first time ever this weekend; St. John’s is playing LaSalle Academy of Providence for the ninth time, but the first time since 1944, and LaSalle leads the series, 7-1-0.
? Congratulations to Grafton’s Chris McMahon for joining the 100 Club in games coached; to Millbury’s Ray Richards for winning his 70th game and becoming the winningest coach in school history; and a nod towards Leicester’s Tim Griffiths, who will coach his 300th game when the Wolverines play Bay Path.
—Contact Bill Ballou at sports@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @BillBallouTG.