Tough schedules, new quarterbacks: Top 10 questions leading into the 2022 football season

TAUNTON— The four Taunton area high school teams were eager to receive their pads and helmets on Friday for the official start of another football season.

Taunton, Bridgewater-Raynham, Bristol-Plymouth and Dighton-Rehoboth each took to the practice fields with the ultimate goal of a December trip to Foxborough to play for a Super Bowl title.

The Tiger and Trojans jointly had the area's best records last year at 5-6, while the Falcons finished 4-6 and the Craftsmen ended their season with a record of 3-6.

The Taunton Daily Gazette dives into the top 10 questions heading into a brand new season.

10. Will COVID-19 protocols come back at any point?

Last fall, masking and other protocols for ongoing coronavirus pandemic were mostly lifted for outdoor high school sports. Indoor sports like volleyball required masks to be worn and as did bus rides and trips into locker rooms for all sports — but that was basically it for restrictions. This school year, athletic directors, coaches and players are excited to not have to worry about COVID-19 modifications.

9. What else do we have to worry about in the world?

Remember Triple E? Yeah, mosquitoes were bothersome in the fall of 2019, and some teams were forced to move games from Friday nights to early morning on Saturdays to avoid the threat of EEE or West Nile Virus. Hopefully those worries are put to rest so that coaches and players can focus on the game and not what’s flying around in the air — other than a football.

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8. Will the new MIAA playoff system hold up?

Last year, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) adopted a new playoff system for most high school sports. Long gone were sectional winners as a statewide format was born. Some complained about the new system but for the most part, most ADs, coaches and players liked the overall new playoff format. For now, the current MIAA playoff system is here to stay.

7. Do we have enough referees?

High school sports lately are suffering from a lack of umpires and referees. This has left athletics directors scrambling to just schedule and reschedule games and many junior varsity and freshman teams playing their games with the one official.

The cause of the dearth of game officials? Taunton Athletic Director Mark Ottavianelli, who himself is a former baseball, basketball and field hockey official. "It’s crazy. There’s just not enough people, every sport,” he said, noting issues officials have had with fans. "Now the responsibility is on us as adults. We’ve got to act the right way, too. We need to do a better job with the game management piece." So finding enough people to work the other jobs that make high school sports happen is worth monitoring.

Hopefully local football schedules will remain intact this season.

6. Will we have all eight Super Bowls at Gillette Stadium?

Gillette Stadium hosted high school Super Bowls for the 14th time last fall in Foxborough. And for the fourth time, Gillette welcomed all of the state championship games — although stadium operators had to get a little creative to do so. So is there any way we can guarantee a weekend for all eight games? Friday and Saturday? Good news is the Patriots host the Bills on Thursday, Dec. 1 before not playing again for 11 days.

5. Can teams survive their tough schedules?

The four Greater Taunton area teams finished with just 17 wins in 41 games (.415 winning percentage) combined. With the formula of the new MIAA playoff format rewarding teams for playing more difficult schedules, did football squads beef up their slates on purpose this fall?

Taunton has one of the toughest league schedules once again as they'll look to contend with one of the state's toughest divisions in the Hockomock Kelley-Rex and will face last year's Division III runner-up North Attleboro for the first time since 2015 as they move up to the Kelley-Rex while Mansfield goes down to the Hockomock Davenport. B-R has a pair of Division I heavyweights on the schedule including Xaverian and SEC rivals Brockton as well as 2021 Division II semifinalists Milford and Marshfield as well as Barnstable. B-P will again tussle on Thanksgiving with the defending Small School Vocational Super Bowl champions Blue Hills as well as Mayflower Small champions Old Colony in Week 1 while D-R host Austin Prep in their first season since leaving the MIAA for the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC).

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4. Who will surprise us this season?

After a 0-4 start last year, the Trojans went on a three game win streak and finishing the season out 5-2, going 3-1 in the Southeast Conference with their only league loss coming to Brockton on Thanksgiving. Many of their starters were sophomores and juniors, meaning the team will be led by experienced upperclassmen looking to show that B-R means business. The Tigers looked strong in non-league play but went winless in the Hockomock Kelley-Rex and will look to make more of an impact on the league this year. The Falcons will hope to score an upset again like last year's 30-6 road win over Apponequet that snapped both the Lakers' three game winning streak and their own five game losing skid while the Craftsmen will look to make an bigger impact on the MAC Large.

3. New signal callers for teams

Quarterbacks are the heart and soul of any football team and makes the offense runs. Both B-P and D-R graduated their top signal caller from 2021. They will look toward their bench and establish a quarterback for the season gets underway. As for Taunton, 2021 Taunton Daily Gazette Football Player of the Year Jacob Leonard is back under center for senior year while Declan Byrne will look to build on his strong sophomore season as he leads the B-R offense.

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2. Who will replace Trent Santos in Taunton?

The 2021-22 Taunton High School Boys Athlete of the Year and both a 2021 Taunton Daily Gazette Football All-Scholastic and 2021-22 Boys Basketball Player of the Year was Leonard's top target at wide receiver, bringing in 49 catches for 734 yards and eight touchdowns. Jose Touron, who brought in 36 receptions for 568 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore, looks set to have an even bigger junior campaign while Troy Santos will look to have a true breakout junior campaign after a solid sophomore performance and fellow junior Dmitrius Shearrion, the 2022 Taunton Daily Gazette Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year, has built up some serious speed and performed well at the Hilltopper 7 on 7 Invitational back in July. On the ground, senior running back Bryan Batista will look to bounce back strong after missing most of his junior campaign with an injury.

1. Can any of our teams win a Super Bowl?

The last time a Greater Taunton area football team made a Super Bowl appearance was when D-R reached the Division IV final in 2018. Coached by former head coach Dave Moura, the Falcons entered Gillette Stadium with a 9-2 record but saw their season end in disappointment as they fell 31-0 to Nashoba. The last local team to win it all was B-R in 2000 when they defeated Waltham 7-0 for the Division IA EMass title. Only Taunton was able to punch a spot in last season's state playoff tournament, bowing out to No. 7 St. John's Shrewsbury 35-28 in a hard fought first round contest. So could this be the year? Which team is set to break a four year drought?

MetroWest Daily News' Tommy Cassell and The Herald News' Steven Sanchez contributed to this story.

Taunton Daily Gazette sports reporter Cameron Merritt can be reached at cmerritt@tauntongazette.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @CamMerritt_News. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to the Taunton Daily Gazette today.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Top questions for Greater Taunton high school football 2022 season