Sports

Is Beverly-Salem the Best Football Rivalry in the State?

See if USA Today picked your school as part of what they consider the top five rivalries in Massachusetts.

By Patrick Luce and Chris Helms

The Panthers-Witches Thanksgiving Day matchup on the gridiron is one of 10 Bay State high schools that are also partnering with those same football enemies in a contest away from the gridiron.

Five annual grudge matches have been chosen to compete in the Best High School Football Rivalry competition conducted by USA Today:

Find out what's happening in Beverlywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

  • Salem vs. Beverly
  • Needham vs. Wellesley
  • Boston Latin vs. Boston English
  • St. John's Prep vs. Xaverian
  • Leominster vs. Fitchburg

The newspaper selected the competitors in each state and Washington, D.C. after more than a month of conversations with local media and other state/school officials with high school football expertise. 

Now, it's up to the fans to decide who has the greatest rivalry in high school sports. This year's contest starts with a list of 255 - more than 100 more rivalries than a year ago. This year's best rivalry competition will end Dec. 18 after three rounds of voting. The 51 state winners advance to one of eight regionals. The winners of the eight regions, along with two wild cards, move onto a final round of 10.

Find out what's happening in Beverlywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The winner receives $5,000 to be split evenly between the two schools, with other prizes going to all of the national finalists.

The first round of voting is now open and continues through Nov. 27. The Regional round runs Dec. 2-10, and the national finals run Dec. 11-18. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here