For the first time since the statewide tournament format went into place in 2021, neither Franklin County or Hampshire County had a football team qualify for the state playoffs. 

Entering the final week of the regular season last week, Franklin Tech was ranked No. 15 in the Div. 8 field while Athol was right behind it at No. 16. 

The Eagles rolled to a 48-14 victory over Mahar last Friday to finish 7-1 on the season. The Bears on the other hand suffered a last-minute loss to Greenfield that knocked Athol out of the tournament. 

Franklin Tech, however, was also left on the outside looking in. Despite the victory, the Eagles dropped to No. 17 in the rankings. Tech Boston (6-2), Lynn Vocational (4-3), Hoosac Valley (6-2) and Quaboag (4-4) were the final four teams in. 

It wasn’t by a wide margin. Franklin Tech’s rating — a combination of average margin of victory and opponent rating — was minus-8.54. Hoosac’s rating was minus-8.13 while Quaboag’s was minus-8.15, showing just how little separation in the ratings there was for those final few spots. 

Quaboag got in despite a loss to Palmer earlier in the season, a Panthers team the Eagles beat. It was opponent rating that separated the two in the end. Franklin Tech had a 9.0 rating in average margin of victory but its opponent rating was minus-17.54. Quaboag on the other hand had a margin of victory of 2.62 but its opponent rating was minus-10.77. 

It’s not all lost for the Eagles, which know they can turn their focus to the state vocational tournament before their Turkey Day showdown against Smith Vocational. 

How did the other Franklin County schools finish in the rankings? Athol (5-3) fell to No. 22 following the loss to the Wave, Greenfield (3-5) came in at No. 32, Frontier (2-6) finished at No. 39 while Mahar (2-6) finished ranked No. 41 in Div. 8. 

Intercounty League North opponent Ware (6-2) closed with the No. 25 ranking while Palmer (5-3) came in at No. 21, both in Div. 8. 

The Intercounty League South got two teams in the dance. Lee, the league winner, went an unblemished 8-0 during the regular season to earn the No. 7 seed in the Div. 8 tournament. Previously mentioned Hoosac is the No. 15 seed. 

Easthampton (3-5) finished ranked No. 32 in Div. 7 while Commerce (1-7) closed at No. 35. In Div. 5, Belchertown (0-8) finished ranked No. 35. 

Rounding out the Hampshire County schools, Amherst (4-4) ranked No. 23 while Northampton (3-5) finished ranked No. 37 in Div. 3. South Hadley (4-4) finished ranked No. 23 in Div. 7. 

All in all, there were just five Western Mass. schools that reached the postseason. 

Springfield Central earned the No. 7 seed in the Div. 1 tournament and will host No. 10 Natick in the first round. West Springfield’s unbeaten season earned it the No. 5 seed in the Div. 3 field, and the Terriers will host No. 12 Westborough in the Round of 16. 

Down in Div. 7, Wahconah is the No. 12 seed and is on the road to face No. 5 Millbury on Friday.