Gridbits: North-Bartlett clash hits century mark; Westborough QB ties mark

Week 7 of the Central Mass. high school football season is upon us, so here are our latest Gridbits:

∎ In perhaps what was the wildest game in either school’s long history, North beat Bartlett in two overtimes, 52-50, last weekend. It was 38-38 after regulation. It was the first 100-plus game involving two Central Mass. teams since St. Bernard’s beat Blackstone-Millville, 61-42, on Oct.. 26, 2019, and just the 15th 100-plus game in the region’s documented history.

The record for one game is 115 points, also set in 2019, when St. John’s beat Shepherd Hill, 63-52. The documented state record of 119 points was established in September 2021, when Central Catholic of Lawrence beat Springfield Central, 67-52.

∎ Add Andrew Pisciotta's name to the Central Mass. record book thanks to his performance in Westborough’s 43-6 victory over Fitchburg. He threw six touchdown passes in that game, tying the regional mark which has been done at least 15 times.

Nobody did it until 1966, when it was done twice in two weeks, first by Ted Smith of Nashoba then by Terry Sullivan of North Middlesex. Then it did not happen again until 1999.

The state record is seven, done several times.

∎ With North Middlesex having lost last weekend, Uxbridge and West Boylston own the longest winning streaks in the region at seven. The Spartans have outscored the opposition, 329-74, in their streak. The Lions’ numbers are 313-65.

∎ Monty Tech and Worcester Tech play for the 51st time this weekend, with the Worcester school holding a 36-12-2 advantage in the series. The schools first played on Oct. 14, 1972 — the first game in Monty Tech history — with Monty Tech winning, 24-14. They have played every season since then, save for the COVID break in 2020.

∎ Quabbin began last season by losing four of its first five games. Since then the Panthers are 8-2. They play Narragansett this weekend and have never beaten the Warriors in 12 games going back to 2000.

∎ Shepherd Hill, in the midst of a good season at 4-2, plays Marlborough this weekend, and the Panthers have a 5-1 record. The schools have played just four times going back to 1977, and Marlborough has won them all, scoring exactly 27 points in each of the last three encounters.

∎ The Sutton-Nipmuc matchup features a pair of teams at 4-2, both on the rebound after a series of down years. The Sammies have not won more than four games in a season since going 6-5 in 2016 and have never beaten the Warriors in nine tries. Four of those losses have been by a touchdown or less.

∎ Millbury and Uxbridge will be meeting for the 80th time, with the Spartans holding a 43-34-2 edge in the series. The Woolies have won the last five in a row, however. The last two games were wild ones — 40-34 in 2021 and 42-41 last year.

∎ The revitalized Inter-High plays within itself this weekend. Burncoat takes on South. North meets Doherty. The first game Burncoat High ever played was against South, a 20-18 loss on Sept. 24, 1965. The Patriots lead the series, 36-18-2, but the Colonels have won the last three meetings via shutouts. The 2018 game was a shutout, too, but Burncoat won it.

North has not beaten the Highlanders since 1995, a span of 20 games, and Doherty leads the series, 46-4-1.

∎ Westborough’s five-game winning streak is the school’s longest since a seven-gamer that extended from 2001 into 2002. The Rangers play Groton-Dunstable this weekend. ... Leicester’s upset victory over Millbury snapped the Wolverines’ losing streak at nine games, their longest since an 11-game skid in 2005 and ’06.

∎ Gardner is 6-0, Murdock 0-6. The Wildcats will be favored in this weekend’s game, which will be a tiebreaker. The teams first played in 1893 and have gotten together 27 times total, with the series standing at 13-13-1. The Blue Devils, however, have won the last six.

The schools played the first game in their histories against each other with Murdock winning, 22-6, on Oct. 7, 1893 (thanks Mike Richard). Their next game was a 12-12 tie on Oct. 28. The week before, Murdock had posted a 9-6 victory over the Winchendon Scums.

That team must have had an interesting logo.

—Contact Bill Ballou at sports@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillBallouTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Gridbits: North-Bartlett clash hits century mark; Westborough QB ties mark