Football, soccer news

NorthWest area football and soccer teams went up and down in the final Globe Top 20 Eastern Massachusetts poll. The biggest jump came in boys' soccer, where Stoneham (20-3-1) vaulted all the way from No. 12 to No. 1 for the second straight season after successfully defending its state title, although this time in Division 2. A lot of folks wrote the Spartans off after they finished third in the rugged Middlesex League, but they peaked at the right time and roared through the Sectional, EMass, and State tournaments behind the play of All-Scholastic Mark DeSantis. Acton-Boxborough (19-3-3) was ranked No. 2, up four slots from No. 6, and Lexington (16-2-3) fell from No. 3 to No. 4. Others ranked in the Top 20 included Medford (15-2-3) at No. 11 and Concord-Carlisle (16-6) at No. 16. In the girls' poll, Acton-Boxborough (16-2-2) checked in at No. 7, Andover (12-4-5) at No. 12, North Reading (16-1-4) at No. 13, and Westford (14-2-5) at No. 17. Division 1A Super Bowl winner Woburn (12-1-0) was the biggest climber in the football poll, going all the way from No. 13 to No. 5. Billerica (9-3) was No. 12, North Andover (11-1) No. 14. Westford (8-4) No. 15, and Acton-Boxborough (9-2) No. 16. Acton-Boxborough was the only team in EMass ranked in all three polls.

Golf charity tour

The Bank of America Championship has once again been a financial boost to area charities. The Champions Tour, which plays at Nashawtuc Country Club in Concord, in conjunction with Nashawtuc Charities Inc., disbursed $364,774, bringing its charitable donations to $4,089,052 over its 25-year history. Among area organizations receiving funds were the Boys and Girls Club of Assabet Valley, Emerson Hospital, Cam Neeley Foundation for Cancer Care, Hanscom Air Force Base -- Project Concord, and the Concord-Carlisle and Lincoln-Sudbury Boosters Clubs. These donations helped the PGA Tour top $1 billion in charitable giving since 1938, when it recorded its first gift. The 26th edition of the Bank of America Championship is scheduled for June 5 through 11, 2006, at Nashawtuc.

All-scholastics

The Boston Globe All-Scholastic teams for the fall of 2005 have been released for public scrutiny, and there is much reason for joy in the NorthWest suburbs. Every team -- and there were nine of them -- had NorthWest representatives, and one of them -- girls' swimming -- had a slew of NW competitors. In addition, four coaches were honored as Coach of the Year and six athletes as Player of the Year in in their respective sports. The All-Scholastics:

Swimming: Amanda Cecere, Katelyn Martin, and Rachel Martinez, Chelmsford; Ellen Cody, Caitlin Doherty, Kristi Korsberg, Candice Peak, and Tiffany Petzold, Andover; Laura Moriarty, Methuen; Alicia Negrotti, Central Catholic; Amy O'Brien, Lexington.

Swimmer of the Year: Doherty, Division 1; Negrotti, Division 2.

Coach of the Year: Lois Margeson, Reading.

Volleyball: Jennifer Byrne, Chelmsford; Samantha Kerivan, Andover.

Football: Greg Abelli, James McCluskey, Billerica; Andrew Foote, North Andover; Tom Hart, Woburn; Joe Herra, Wilmington; John Lleewellyn, Dracut; Joe Parise, Westford; Nathan Sherr, Austin Prep.

Players of the Year: Hart, Division 1A; Sherr, Division 3.

Coach of the Year: Rocky Nelson, Woburn, Division 1A.

Boys' Cross-Country: Josh Andrews, Chelmsford; Jesse Faller, Burlington.

Girls' cross-country: Katharina Eidmann, Winchester; Kirsten Kasper, North Andover; Stephanie Pancoast, Westford.

Runner of the Year: Kasper, Division 1.

Boys' soccer: Jay Hayward, Acton-Boxborough; Jared Joaquin, North Andover; Mark DeSantis, Stoneham.

Player of the Year: DeSantis, Division 2.

Coach of the Year: David Baumritter, Acton-Boxborough, Division 1; Jim Carino, Stoneham, Division 2.

Girls' soccer: Kate Dunn, Westford; Emily Pallotta, Andover; Danielle Tenaglia, North Reading.

Golf: Colin Brennan, Andover.

Field hockey: Jennifer Raftery, Acton-Boxborough; Jennifer Sachs, North Andover.

The New England Prep, Independent School, and Eastern Independent Leagues named their MVPs and they, too, are recognized as Boston Globe All-Scholastics. They include: Barry Gallup, Belmont Hill, football; Mike Crane, Belmont Hill, boys' soccer; John Nordin, Concord Academy, boys' cross-country; Eva Luderowskiing, Concord Academy, girls' cross-country; Dana Bergstrom, Lexington Christian, girls' soccer; TJ Thompson, Phillips Andover, boys' soccer.

Odds 'n' ends

North Reading's Danielle Tenaglia is the Eastern Massachusets Soccer Coaches Association Division 3 Player of the Year. Tenaglia scored 35 goals this season and helped propel North Reading deep into the MIAA Sectional Tournament. . . . Big honors for Belmont Hill's Barry Gallup. The Notre Dame-bound senior is the Gatorade Massachusetts Player of the Year after leading the Independent School league with 26 touchdowns and 160 points. He has also been named to play in the Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 7 in San Antonio. He is one of 39 players on the East squad and the first from New England to be chosen since 2002, when Jim Unis of Gloucester and Will Blackmon of Cranston, R.I., both Boston College seniors, were selected. . . . The Association of New England Football Officials has awarded Phillips Academy football coach Leon Modeste with its annual Mark T. Crehan Memorial Award. It is presented to a coach ''who has maintained high ethical standards and who has taught the game of football to boys so that they become men who exemplify the finest traits of sportsmanship." . . . Buckingham Browne & Nichols junior running back and linebacker Mike Paladino of Arlington was named to the All-ISL team. Teammate Derek Papagianopolous, an eighth-grade offensive guard and linebacker from Burlington, earned honorable mention.

Campus corner

University of Massachusetts at Lowell juniors Andrew Doherty of Malden, Christian Figueroa of North Andover, and Michael Cafeteiro of Dracut, along with freshman Matias Pietropinto of Leominster, all gained spots on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division 2 All-New England team. The quartet helped UMass post a 10-5-4 record and to the semifinals of the Northeast-10 Conference playoffs, in which it lost to eventual NCAA finalist Franklin Pierce, 5-4, on penalty kicks. . . .

CN8 and ESPNU will telecast a pair of Merrimack hockey games next year. CN8 will air live Merrimack's home game against Boston College on Jan. 14 and ESPNU will do the game Feb. 25 at Maine on a tape delay. . . .

Tufts has a Division 3 soccer All-America in senior Ariel Samuelson of Newton. She earned first-team honors on the NSCAA/Adidas Division 3 team after a season in which she scored 14 goals and assisted on four others for 32 points. Four of her goals were game winners -- three during the regular season and another in the NCAA Tournament. Samuelson, along with teammates Lydia Claudio of Woburn, Martha Furtek of East Falmouth, and Joelle Emery of Bedford, N.H., was also named to the NSCAA All-New England team. . . .

Peter Vetri of Windham, N.H., stopped 53 of 57 shots in the University of Massachusetts at Lowell's 4-1 loss to New Hampshire last weekend. Less than 24 hours later, he turned back 37 of 39 shots in a 3-2 win over Dartmouth. Those Herculean efforts earned him Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honors. . . .

Merrimack senior Bobby Murgo averaged 21.5 points, 5 rebounds, and 3.5 steals in wins over Bentley, and AIC and was named the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week.

Send Sports Notebook ideas or items to vellante@globe.com.