The remnants of Hurricane Noel did little to dampen the excitement of Week 9 of the 2007 high school football season. From a record-setting Friday night slate (113 games across the state) to an upset-laden Sunday, it was a memorable weekend on the gridiron.

What's more, with only three weeks remaining in the regular season, the action is really heating up with only three teams having clinched postseason berths (Dartmouth and Seekonk joined Weymouth this past weekend). Twenty-five league berths remain up for grabs.

The album for Week 9? Bruce Springsteen's latest release, Magic. What's the connection to the No. 9, you ask? Well, we've been reading the reviews for The Boss's latest tour and it seems he's playing nine of the album's 11 tracks in concert, as was the case during his stops in Chicago, San Francisco, and Minneapolis.

Trying to bring as much energy as Springsteen does at one his shows, we dive into Week 9:

First down and the Top 10

1. Everett (9-0) -- Seven touchdown passes over the past three games for Joe Conti. Only Cambridge's Ray Doucette has more TD passes in Division 1 this season.

2. Mansfield (8-1) -- Gutsy win over North Attleboro Friday. Mike Abany gets the glory with two fourth-quarter touchdowns, but, by all accounts, David Westhaver's clutch diving grab to set up the final score in a 21-14 victory was the highlight of the night.

3. BC High (9-0) -- Speaking of big catches, how about the late-game, third-down reception by Tom Conley that led to the only touchdown of the game as BC High topped rival Xaverian, 7-3, Friday. More on that in the Play of the Week.

4. Brockton (8-1) -- A week off lets the Boxers rest up a bit as they prepare to lock up the Big 3 title and a postseason berth. One leftover note from last week, courtesy of USA Today:

Rod Wotton of St. Thomas Aquinas (Dover, N.H.) became the winningest high school football coach in New England on Saturday after his Saints defeated Fall Mountain, 26-16, for Wotton's 323rd career victory.

He began coaching at South Berwick (Maine) in 1964 and won 231 games there. He passed former Brockton and Archbishop Williams coach Armond Colombo.

5. Gloucester (9-0) -- All that stands between the Fishermen and an undefeated regular season are two opponents with a combined 4-13 record.

6. Dartmouth (8-1) -- One goal down with another Old Colony League crown secured. Indians can confidently turn their attention to Brockton (should the Boxers prevail this week).

7. Weymouth (9-0) -- On a Sunday in which a number of highly touted squads stumbled, Weymouth found a way to emerge with a 10-7 overtime win over upset-minded Needham.

8. Chelmsford (8-1) -- Regardless of the conditions, the Lions were downright dominating in allowing Central Catholic a mere 11 yards of total offense in the second half of a 12-0 victory Saturday.

9. Wayland (8-1) -- Wayland looks to have turned a four-team race for the Dual County League crown into a three-way sprint with a thrashing of once-beaten Westford Academy.

10. Woburn (7-2) -- Tanners need a little help from Reading and/or Wakefield after being unable to take care of Melrose on their own.

A few thoughts on the rest of the latest Top 20: Holliston tumbles to No. 19 with its loss to Bellingham, but the Panthers remain in the driver's seat in the Tri-Valley League. A Turkey Day showdown with Westwood should ultimately decide who's moving on as Medfield has finished the tougher portion of its schedule and needs help from the Wolverines... Swampscott muscles its way onto the top 20. With a lone loss to undefeated Gloucester, the Big Blue have proven they belong amongst the region's brass... Marshfield slips back a bit after falling to Plymouth North, but could rise again if they can rebound in this week's Atlantic Coast League showdown against undefeated Dennis-Yarmouth.

Play of the Week

 Click here to watch the Week 9 Play of the Week

A short field gave BC High an opportunity during the fourth quarter of Friday's battle with Catholic Conference rival Xaverian. Tom Conley gave the Eagles a chance.

Let's set the table: Trailing 3-0, the Eagles took over at the Xaverian 36 following a shanked punt with 9:44 remaining in the game. A fumbled exchange led to a third-and-9 situation, but Conley made a spectacular grab to move the chains and set up a 9-yard touchdown run by Kyle Ewanouski.

Here's how we described it Friday: Facing third and 9 from the Xaverian 35, (quarterback Billy) Kiley faked to running back Brian Sullivan (who then picked up a blitzing backer from the left) before rolling to his right and finding tight end Conley on a drag route from the opposite side of the field. Conley managed to get behind Robert Crossen in zone coverage, while Paul Asack couldn't peel off his man fast enough to stop the 16-yard hook-up to the Xaverian 19.

A clutch play by both quarterback and receiver that allowed BC High to put its lone points on the board and emerge with the program's biggest win in recent years.

Magic

We can't say we're die-hard Bruce Springsteen fans, but we have incredible respect for The Boss for one particular reason: longevity.

Not only has Springsteen stood the test of time (remember, he was on the cover of Time Magazine in 1975 as "Rock's New Sensation") but three decades later he's still rocking harder than ever.

And nothing impresses the crew at Further Review more than someone who puts on a lengthy and enjoyable live show. It's one thing to play a three-hour show. It's another to rock for three hours. And by all accounts Springsteen, even at age 58, continues to rock harder than most bands half his age (most of which struggle to put together 90 serviceable minutes on stage).

We haven't taken in a Springsteen show yet, but it's on our list of things to do. Born in the USA remains one of the most endearing albums from our childhood (did you know it was the first album ever printed on a CD?) and we smile every time "Glory Days" plays following a Patriots win, or any time we see Courtney Cox pulled onstage during the "Dancing in the Dark" video.

But the album we're focusing on here is Magic. Springsteen and his E Street Band drop by with a copy of The Boss's 15th studio recording to help us recap Week 9:

As usual, check out the Globe's Stars of the Week for more top performances from Week 9.

1. Radio Nowhere -- The catchy lead single from the new album includes the lines, "I was driving through the misty rain, Yeah, searching for a mystery train, Bopping through the wild blue, Trying to make a connection with you." Sounds exactly like what Chelmsford was doing Saturday night at rain-soaked Veterans Memorial Stadium in Lawrence. Quarterback Tim Rich guided his squad on a late first-half drive that concluded with a 19-yard touchdown connection with Mike Murphy that fueled a 12-0 triumph over host Central Catholic. Combined with Billerica's loss Sunday, the Lions are the conductors of the MVC Express.

2. You'll Be Comin' Down -- This track includes the lines, "Like a thief on Sunday morning, It all falls apart with no warning." We're looking at you, Frank Mogavero. The South Shore standout burst through the line and dropped Blue Hills quarterback Dave Shea before he could even hand the ball off on a potential game-tying, 2-point conversion late in the Vikings' 16-14 triumph that knocked the Warriors from the ranks of the unbeatens. Mogavero rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, while also reeling in a 33-yard touchdown pass in the win.

3. Livin' in the Future -- We'll go ahead and bestow this one upon Chris Hanoian after Seekonk's 220-pound bowling ball of a running back rushed for three scores in a 26-0 win over Old Rochester. Now the Warriors are "livin' in the future" as they wrapped up the South Coast Conference title and the school's first-ever playoff berth.

4. Your Own Worst Enemy -- The song includes the lines, "You can't sleep at night, You can't dream your dream, Your fingerprints on file, Left clumsily at the scene." Okay, so he wasn't his own worst enemy, but Nick Schwieger sure left his prints all over the scene of Bishop Feehan's 36-7 triumph over Durfee as he rushed for 240 yards and four touchdowns. Not surprisingly,when he interecepted a pass during the game, he also returned that for a score.

5. Gypsy Biker -- Springsteen includes the lyric, "And now I'm out counting white lines." He wasn't talking about the type on a football field, but Canton sophomore Jordan Guyton certainly saw plenty of them passing below him Friday while rushing for 230 yards and three touchdowns as the Bulldogs topped Sharon, 28-18.

6. Girls in Their Summertime Clothes -- This track includes the lines, "Fluorescent lights, Flicker above Bob's Grill." Up in Peabody, the lights in the Bishop Fenwick scoreboard seem to flicker every time Bobby Tarr touches the ball. The senior back eclipsed 5,000 yards for his career with a prototypical performance Saturday night: 221 yards and four touchdowns in a 37-16 win over Archbishop Williams.

7. I'll Work for Your Love -- In Wilmington, they worked hard to stay on top of the Cape Ann Large. Kyle Moon tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Corey Groves before Stephen Stewart's 27-yard field goal propelled the Wildcats to a 10-7 triumph over North Andover. Wilmington holds a half-game lead over three other squads atop the conference. All squads have one league loss.

8. Magic -- The folks at Plymouth North had a little magic in them Sunday as the Eagles rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to stun Marshfield, 14-13. Little Tommy Carr (he estimates his height at 5 feet, 2 inches) came up with the big score: a 2-yard touchdown run with 3:29 remaining. Joe Flynn's pivotal PAT proved to be the winning point.

9. Last to Die -- This song includes the line, "We took the highway till the road went black." Sorta sounds like the mere 10 remaining teams on our 2007 undefeated bus. Kudos to Weymouth, which endured a nail-biter against Needham, but Royce Terrell came up with the big defensive play (a forced fumble and recovery in OT) that led to Peter Gosselin's winning field goal in a 10-7 victory.

10. Long Walk Home -- The folks in Tewksbury made it a very long bus ride home for Billerica. The Redmen looked like the Greatest Show on Grass as they piled up nearly 300 yards of total offense before the intermission and ultimately scored on six drives in a 41-14 thrashing of Billerica. We'll spotlight Justin Torname, who set the tone with a 57-yard reception on the game's first play from scrimmage (it would have been an 80-yard touchdown pass if not for an illegal block). Torname later hauled in touchdown passes of 59 and 13 yards from quarterback Chris Texiera.

11. Devil's Arcade -- Up in Burlington, the Red Devils probably would have preferred a trip to the arcarde over the 34-27 upset handed to them by Stoneham Friday. The Spartans watched quarterback Richie Abkarian pass for a trio of scores (including the winner: a 65-yard bomb to Chris Richmond in the fourth quarter), while adding another on the ground. Stoneham, which endured seven consecutive losses to start the season, has now won two in a row.

Your turn

First, a look back at last week's results:

Which of these top 20 teams is next to fall?

One week after being voted the most likely undefeated to fall next, Dennis-Yarmouth earns another dubious distinction by reeling in 44.4 percent of the votes in this week's poll. The Dolphins continue to defy the pundits as, not only do they remain undefeated at 9-0, but escalated in the top 20 this past week. Hingham drew in 13.3 percent to finish second, while three others (Acton-Boxboro, Masconomet, and Walpole tied with 11.1 percent). Only Masco fell this past week.

Who will earn the Merrimack Valley Conference's postseason berth?

Even before things shook down a bit in the MVC during Week 9, 51.5 percent of the pollsters thought Chelmsford would wear the conference crown. Billerica finished second with 36.4 percent of the votes, but a tough loss to Tewksbury leaves the Indians needing some serious help to get back in the race.

This week's poll questions: