The MIAA Football Committee has approved a new Super 8 playoff format for Massachusetts high school football, set to begin in 2027. Xaverian coach Al Fornaro opposes the change, citing concerns over its fairness and implications for Catholic schools.
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WESTWOOD – The Super 8 tournament format inched one step closer to high school football in Massachusetts on Thursday, and not all coaches view it as progress.
The MIAA Football Committee approved a new playoff format at Thursday's meeting that included a Division 1A tournament, colloquially the "Super 8," as well as adding one regular season game to the schedule and cutting the playoff field from 16 to eight teams to begin in 2027,.
Super 8 proposals for boys and girls hockey and baseball were fully approved by the Board of Directors on Wednesday. The football model still needs to pass the Tournament Management Committee, which next meets May 20, and the Board of Directors.
"I'm opposed right now. It's not in the best interests of everybody," said Xaverian football coach Al Fornaro, who has led the Hawks to three consecutive Division 1 state championships. "My question to the MIAA is, is there going to be a Division 3 and 4 together? Why Division 1 and 2? I think everybody knows why."
The proposal will put the top eight power ranked teams in both Division 1 and 2 into a separate state bracket. Catholic Conference teams occupied two of the top three seeds in last year's Division 1 bracket, and two met in the Super Bowl, and added the No. 1 seed in Division 2 in 2025.
"This is an anti-Catholic (Conference) movement to get us out of the tournament," Fornaro said. "I knew it was going to happen at some point, and we'll work with it. My fear always is, just from a Catholic (Conference) perspective is this: once they get that, what's to prevent them in a few years from saying, 'Now you have to have your own tournament.'"
The Super 8 format includes a Division 1A tournament, adds one regular season game, and reduces the playoff field from 16 to eight teams starting in 2027.
Coach Al Fornaro opposes the proposal because he believes it is not in the best interests of all teams and questions the exclusion of Divisions 3 and 4.
The Super 8 football format is set to be implemented in 2027.
Concerns include that the format may disproportionately affect Catholic Conference teams, which have historically performed well in the playoffs.
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Xaverian football coach Al Fornaro converses at the Catholic Conference Showcase on Thursday at Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood.
He also questioned what befalls the Division 1 and Division 2 tournaments if the top seeds in those brackets are removed.
"I just don't know if it's the best thing for the sport," Fornaro said. "I'm sure I'm the outlier because there are people saying 'you guys win too much.' You're going to punish the players in successful programs. What are we going to do, lay down for you? Get better."
St. John's Prep coach Brian St. Pierre noted that not much will change for the Eagles, since they always try to assemble a challenging schedule and will always be in whatever the top division is in the current format.
"It probably allows Catholic Memorial to play up a level, so it probably affects them more than anyone," St. Pierre said.
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Catholic Memorial has won four of the past five Division 2 Super Bowls after competing in Division 1 prior to 2020.
St. Pierre did voice concern about filling the schedule with a ninth regular-season game.
"We're always scrapping to find one or two," he said.
But that does eliminate a consolation game for teams that don't qualify for the playoffs, a common complaint for opponents of the statewide tournament given how much earlier the regular season ends than Thanksgiving.
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"Some of those things are better than what's being done now. Making the playoffs more competitive is always good," BC High coach Paul Zukauskas said.
The Super 8 also provides an additional carrot for a program like St. John's (Shrewsbury) that finished above .500 in 2025 and qualified for the Division 1 tournament.
"It's going to open up another Super Bowl, so it allows more teams to compete for a championship at the end of the year," Pioneers coach Gary Senecal said. "We're excited to try and compete for a Super 8 Super Bowl."
Contact Kyle Grabowski at kgrabowski@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kylegrbwsk.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Catholic Conference coaches react to MIAA football Super 8 proposal