Gridbits: In pursuit of 13-0, West Boylston, Uxbridge are playing for potent perfection

Here are some Gridbits winding up the regular season, and some looking ahead to this week's Super Bowls:

∎ Both Central Mass. teams in the state Super Bowls, West Boylston and Uxbridge, head into their games at 12-0. The last Central Mass. team to put together a perfect season was St. John’s. The Pioneers were 13-0 in 2017. They also set the regional record for most points scored in a season with 588.

The last time the region had two perfect teams was in 2012. Auburn and Nashoba were 13-0 that season. Thirteen wins is the Central Mass. record, and it has been done many times, including by Gardner in 1899 and Leominster in 1910.

West Boylston has scored 533 points going into the Super game against Carver. That is, unofficially, tied for ninth-most in Massachusetts state history and is fourth in Central Mass.

Statewide, Everett scored 600 over 13 games in 1914. Locally, Littleton scored 543 in 2013, Oakmont 537 in 2009. Uxbridge has 497 points through 12 games. Central Mass. has never had two 500-point teams in the same year.

Neither West Boylston or Uxbridge have ever lost a Super Bowl. The Lions are 3-0 and have allowed exactly six points in all three victories. The Spartans are 2-0. This is their first Super Bowl since they beat Bay Path back to back in 1991 and ’92.

∎ Close calls? Oxford finished 5-6 and was outscored by 301-300. Shrewsbury finished at 6-5 and was outscored by 239-238.

∎ This year’s biggest improvement was by Westborough. The Rangers went from 1-10 in 2022 to 8-3. They were a combined 7-31 over the previous four seasons, one of them the COVID year. Westborough swept the Battle of the Boroughs, beating both Marlborough and Algonquin of Northborough, for the first time since 2008.

∎ Thanksgiving leftovers? Bartlett beat Southbridge by the margin of  a safety, and Tantasqua beat Shepherd Hill by a field goal. Bartlett’s 10 points were the fewest by a winner in that series since Bartlett won, 9-6, in 1988. Gardner snapped an eight-game Thanksgiving losing streak by beating Quabbin. Clinton beat Nashoba for the first time since 2004, snapping a 15-game losing streak, the last five of those on Thanksgiving.

∎ Sutton went 6-5 for the third time. That makes it a three-way tie for the best seasons the Sammies have ever had. Blackstone-Millville set a school record for most victories in a year with nine. Unless we find some more during offseason research, Leicester heads into 2024 with 398 all-time wins. Auburn coach Jeff Cormier goes into next year with 198 all-time career victories.

∎ Heading into this week’s Large School Vocational championship game with Blackstone Valley Tech, Bay Path has 299 since starting varsity football in 1972.

∎ Fitchburg went winless for the first time since 1965 when it was 0-8-1. The Red Raiders still need three victories to reach 700 all time. Nashoba was 1-10, its worst record ever in terms of percentage. The school also won just one game in 1990 when it was 1-9. Northbridge (5-6) has had consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1966-67, when the Rams were a combined 4-13-1.

This does it for Gridbits for 2023. See you next year.

—Contact Bill Ballou at sports@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @BillBallouTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Gridbits: West Boylston, Uxbridge are playing for potent perfection