Old Rochester gets a Friday home date with Bay Path, putting three South Coast playoff games on Nov. 6
Three of the South Coast's four playoff games kick off Friday, Nov. 6. New Bedford's trip to Springfield Central is still to be announced, and 11 more South Coast teams have Week 9 games.
MATTAPOISETT Old Rochester will open its state tournament run at home on Friday, Nov. 6, at 6:30 p.m., when the seventh-seeded Bulldogs host No. 10 Bay Path RVT at David S. Hagan Stadium, according to the MIAA's Division 6 bracket and the schedule Old Rochester posts. That puts three of the South Coast's four MIAA playoff games on the same Friday night, all kicking off within half an hour of each other.
New Bedford's first-round game at Springfield Central is the one South Coast playoff pairing with no date, time or field yet on the Division 1 bracket or on New Bedford's schedule. The MIAA said the tournament can start as early as Thursday, Nov. 5, and every Round of 16 and Round of 8 game is played at the higher seed's home site.
The playoff pairings
Seeds and records are as the MIAA lists them on its brackets.
- Division 5: No. 10 Apponequet (8-0) at No. 7 Foxborough (4-4), Friday, Nov. 6, 6 p.m., Ahern Middle School, Foxborough
- Division 6: No. 10 Bay Path RVT (4-4) at No. 7 Old Rochester (7-1), Friday, Nov. 6, 6:30 p.m., David S. Hagan Stadium, Mattapoisett
- Division 6: No. 11 Joseph Case (6-2) at No. 6 Fairhaven (8-0), Friday, Nov. 6, 6:30 p.m., Fairhaven High School
- Division 1: No. 12 New Bedford (7-1) at No. 5 Springfield Central (7-1), date, time and field to be announced
A common opponent in Foxborough
Foxborough handed Old Rochester its only loss of the season, 35-14 on Oct. 2 at Hagan Stadium, and Apponequet now has to go to Foxborough to keep its unbeaten season going. Old Rochester has not lost since, winning four straight by a combined 151-45, including a 53-18 win over Bishop Fenwick on Oct. 16. Fenwick is the No. 15 seed in the same corner of the Division 6 bracket and plays at No. 2 Hudson on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 6:30 p.m., so a win over Bay Path would send Old Rochester to the winner of that game in the Round of 8.
Apponequet won all eight of its games by at least eight points and scored 261 points while allowing 125, by the results the school posts, with its biggest night a 48-21 win over Greater New Bedford on Oct. 9. Old Rochester scored 247 and allowed 119. New Bedford, which scored 50 or more twice, put up 292 points in its seven wins and one loss, closing with a 52-20 win at Dartmouth on Oct. 30.
Fairhaven and Case meet for the second time this season after a 45-37 Fairhaven win on Oct. 16. The seeds, the rating formula behind them and the players to watch are in our bracket story.
The rest of the South Coast's Week 9 games
Most South Coast teams outside the tournament still have a game this week. The MIAA's South non-playoff scheduling committee posted its Week 9 pairings on Sunday, and four of those South Coast games have kickoff times on the schools' own schedules, all on Friday, Nov. 6:
- Durfee at Newton North, 4:30 p.m., Dickinson Stadium, Newton
- Old Colony at Martha's Vineyard, 5:30 p.m., McCarthy Stadium Field
- Greater New Bedford at Bishop Stang, 6 p.m., Hugh Carney Stadium, Dartmouth
- Diman at Somerset Berkley, 6:30 p.m., Hanson Memorial Stadium, Somerset
Durfee, 6-2 and 21st in the final Division 1 rankings, draws Newton North, 7-1 and 19th in the same division. Diman, which hosts Greater New Bedford on Thanksgiving, finished the regular season 5-3. The committee also set five more South Coast pairings: Taunton at Braintree, Wareham at East Bridgewater, Sandwich at Bristol-Plymouth, Falmouth at Seekonk and Middleborough at Whitman-Hanson.
After Friday
The MIAA's scheduling committees will set the Week 10 games on Sunday, Nov. 8, for teams outside the tournament and for teams knocked out of it, and teams in every section can also play on Thanksgiving as their final game. The state semifinals and finals are at sites the MIAA picks, on dates it has not yet set.
Holiday games already on the schools' schedules include:
- Wednesday, Nov. 25, 4 p.m.: Durfee vs. New Bedford at Fenway Park
- Wednesday, Nov. 25, 6 p.m.: Bishop Stang at Bishop Feehan, McGrath Stadium, Attleboro
- Thursday, Nov. 26, 10 a.m.: Apponequet at Old Rochester, Hagan Stadium
- Thursday, Nov. 26, 10 a.m.: Dartmouth at Fairhaven
- Thursday, Nov. 26, 10 a.m.: Case at Somerset Berkley
- Thursday, Nov. 26, 10 a.m.: Dighton-Rehoboth at Seekonk
- Thursday, Nov. 26, 10 a.m.: Greater New Bedford at Diman, played at Durfee High School
- Thursday, Nov. 26, 10 a.m.: Bristol-Plymouth at Blue Hills
Every South Coast final from Friday night goes on the Friday Night Scoreboard.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every seed, record, pairing and playoff kickoff time comes from the MIAA's brackets, final power rankings and South Week 9 pairings list, read again at 10:40 p.m. Sunday. Stadium names the MIAA does not list, the Week 9 times, the Thanksgiving games and every season score come from the schedules the schools post on Arbiter Live, and season point totals are added from those posted scores. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar. New Bedford's game stays listed as to be announced until the MIAA or the school posts it.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (7)
- Arbiter Live: Old Rochester Regional High School Varsity Football scheduleFri Nov 6, 6:30 PM, vs Bay Path Reg Voc/Tech High School, Old Rochester Regional High School, David S Hagan Stadium; Thu Nov 26, 10:00 AM, vs Apponequet; every 2026 result. Read Nov. 1, 2026, 9:45 p.m. and 10:40 p.m.
- MIAA: Football 2026 Division 1, 5 and 6 State Tournament (live bracket pages)Division 6: Fairhaven vs. Joseph Case 11/06/26 6:30 PM, Fairhaven High School; Hudson vs. Bishop Fenwick 11/05/26 6:30 PM, Hudson High School; Old Rochester Reg. vs. Bay Path RVT 11/06/26 6:30 PM, Old Rochester Regional. Division 5: Foxborough vs. Apponequet Regional H.S. 11/06/26 6:00 PM, Ahern Middle School, Foxboro. Division 1: Springfield Central vs. New Bedford with no date or site. Seeds and records on each page. Read Nov. 1, 2026, 10:40 p.m.
- MIAA: "Fall 2026 Football Tournament Brackets Released"Release posted Nov. 1, 2026: tournament begins as early as Thursday, Nov. 5; higher seed hosts the Round of 16 and Round of 8. Read Nov. 1, 2026, 1:11 p.m. and about 6:10 p.m.
- MIAA: South Week 9 Non Playoff gamesThe South committee pairings, away at home, no dates or times. Read Nov. 1, 2026, 7:58 p.m. and again 9:45 p.m.
- MIAA 2026 Football Power Rankings, FINALFinal records and ranks: Durfee 6-2, 21st, and Newton North 7-1, 19th, in Division 1; Diman 5-3 in Division 4. Read Nov. 1, 2026, 1:27 p.m.
- MIAA: Football Tournament Format 2026Week 10 non-playoff games set Sunday, Nov. 8; Thanksgiving games allowed in every section; semifinal and final sites set by the MIAA, finals TBD. Read Nov. 1, 2026, 1:44 p.m.
- Arbiter Live: varsity football schedules of Apponequet, New Bedford (7674300), Fairhaven (7653405), Joseph Case (9316661), Durfee (7653367), Greater New Bedford (9281884), Bishop Stang (7650601), Diman (7653356), Somerset Berkley (7680116), Old Colony (7675655), Wareham (7675947), Seekonk (7673770) and Bristol-Plymouth (7651540)Week 9 kickoff times and fields, Thanksgiving dates, times and fields, and 2026 results. Read Nov. 1, 2026, 9:45 to 9:46 p.m.