On Monday evening, the Saugus High School Administration informed Gloucester that due to safety concerns and current roster availability, they would be unable to play in Friday’s scheduled football game against the Fishermen.
Saugus becomes the second school this week to make that decision due to low numbers and safety concerns, with Lexington also forfeiting this Thursday’s game at Winchester.
Gloucester will receive a forfeit win, which will go down as a 14-0 score for MIAA power ranking purposes. That will give the Fishermen the winning margin threshold needed for a boost in the average margin of victory portion of the ranking system. It’s unclear at this time how the opponent rating will factor or in (Saugus is 0-6), or if that will even be considered at all.
Furthermore, with the win Gloucester officially clinches the Northeastern Conference Lynch Division title, moving to 4-0 in league play. The Fishermen now sit at 6-1 overall and will have a “bye” week before heading to Beverly on Saturday, Oct. 31 for an 11 a.m. battle.
Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.