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MANCHESTER | Joseph M. Hyland Field is now closed! Unfortunately for host Manchester Essex, Georgetown saw to it that it was closed on a depressing note.

Commonwealth Conference Small champion Manchester Essex will enter the playoffs with a loss fresh in its memory bank. Georgetown (5-5) will enter the offseason with a good feeling about how it battled through adversity throughout the year and finished the campaign with a memorable upset on the road.

DANVERS | The difference between a win or a loss is not the number of yards or first downs a team racks up, but how many points are on the board.

Visiting Central Catholic marched up and down the field in the first half, but never had a lead against St. John's Prep at Cronin Stadium. The Eagles relied on their defense for some big stops in the red zone to take the battle of Groveland, where both Prep's Jim O'Leary and Raider coach Chuck Adamopoulos reside, 27-17. It marked the third straight win for St. John's and overall the series is now 20-10-1 in its favor.

DRACUT | If a game could have been won on the first drive of the game, Andover would have gone to bed very happy last night.

Unfortunately, an entire four quarters had to be played, and the Golden Warriors struggled to keep up with the fast-paced Dracut offense on their way to falling to the Middies, 36-21.

ANDOVER | With a little deja vu at the start, a couple of big plays from quarterback Mike Pierce and some clutch stops from an unappreciated defense, Andover whipped up the recipe for a joyous holiday yesterday morning.

HAVERHILL | Andover nose guard Joel Israel didn't want to take much credit for the Golden Warriors' crushing 37-14 defeat of previously unbeaten Haverhill before more than 1,600 fans at Haverhill Stadium last night, but head coach Ken Maglio knew better.

WEST NEWBURY | The future certainly looks bright for the youthful Amesbury Indians, but in order to get there, they'll need to exorcise past demons.

The Pentucket Sachems, who've beaten the Indians seven consecutive times, would qualify as one of those demons. After the Sachems graduated 18 seniors and looked vulnerable in season-opening losses to Hamilton Wenham and Ipswich, this year appeared to be the one for Amesbury to end the losing streak.

AMESBURY | After playing an inspired game against cross town rival and Merrimack Valley League power Central Catholic last week, Lawrence coach Mike Yameen was more than a little disappointed with his team's effort in last night's 26-6 loss to Amesbury.