Carraggi's D1 preview

Mike Carraggi will cover Division 1 high school football for the Globe this fall. Here are his opening week notes:

School is starting. The leaves are changing. Red Sox fans around New England are getting ulcers thinking about this year's World Series chances.

Yep, it's high school football season, alright. And we're here to give you a sneak peek of the upcoming week that will kickoff the season. Check back here for regular updates about Division 1 football.

Keep an eye out for....

With most league games on hold for a little bit, some might feel tempted to wait until the "games count" to check in. But make no mistake, it is in the preceding nonleague action where coaches find out the true identities of their teams leading up to the league games.

Game of the week: Waltham at Everett, Friday 7 p.m.

Everett's seemingly never-ending defense of the Division 1 Super Bowl title officially resets when it hosts former Greater Boston League foe Waltham. But Waltham moved to the Dual County League (Large) following a bit of reshuffling over the offseason, so the two teams will meet only for pride this evening.

Others to watch:

(Nonleague) Masconomet at St. John's Prep., Saturday, 1:30 p.m.

Masconomet, who has been in the playoffs each of the previous two season, looks to start off a tough schedule with a win against consistently tough team, St. John's Prep. Both teams are dripping with returning players, but the wild card may be Prep's quarterback position, which has four talented signal-callers vying for the spot.

(Nonleague) Xaverian at Duxbury, Friday, 7 p.m.

A rare off year for Xaverian saw the former Catholic Conference power fall below .500. The Hawks will attempt to get back on track against a Duxbury team that finished 9-2, but missed out on the Division 2A playoff picture.

King (and the rest) of the hill

The season's first power rankings will be according to last year's placing and overall records (playoff teams occupying the first four spots.) After the first week, they will change based on performance.

1. Everett (13-0) – No surprise here. Look for the defending champs to occupy the top spot all year until someone can mark up its immaculate record.

2. Dartmouth (11-2) – Another shocker... or not. Dartmouth's epic heavyweight fight with Everett was stretched to overtime in the Super Bowl. Everett may have won, but it's hard to say Dartmouth lost.

3. BC High (11-1) – Winning what some think is the toughest league in Massachusetts (especially two years in a row), is nothing to sneeze at. The stiff defense showcased last year will need to stick around while the team transitions to a new coach.

4. Brockton (9-2) – Brockton was disappointed with last year's early playoff exit and looks to erase it from memory as quickly as possible. That may be easier said than done, however, taking into account the mass exodus of seniors (28).

5. Cambridge (7-4) – Cambridge is seemingly annually missing out on the postseason by thaaaaat much, which usually is a loss to Everett on Thanksgiving. The Falcons would love to make that game mean less, which means winning more before it.

6. Catholic Memorial (6-4) – Catholic Memorial hasn't quite shown that it has what it takes to run to the top of the Catholic Conference, but it also wouldn't be the season's biggest surprise if they did. An interesting team to watch for sure.

7. St. John's Prep (6-5) – If St. John's Prep can survive an early barrage of road games (Everett, Dracut and Brockton to name a few), they will certainly make a case for one of the league's top teams. But hey, the Miami Dolphins could probably say the same. Whether they do remains to be seen.

8. Attleboro (6-5) – Attleboro (and Cambridge) would probably be the favorites for a wild card spot if the league(s) had one. The team seems to have all the physical tools this season, but Mt. Dartmouth is a big one to climb.

9. Bridgewater-Raynham (5-5) – Bridgewater-Raynham has the experience factor going for it this year, with 15 returning seniors. It will unquestionably go as far as the upperclassmen of the team take it.

10. Somerville (5-5) – Without any game breakers on offense and a quarterback position that was in limbo early on, Somerville looks to be destined for another .500 finish, something they haven't strayed far from recently. But I've been wrong before.

11. Xaverian (5-6) – Don't worry, it shocks me as well to see Xaverian this far down the list. The good news is that Xaverian will be hungry and is unquestionably talented enough to satisfy that hunger.

12. Malden Catholic (4-7) – Another ambiguous Catholic Conference squad, Malden Catholic has a new coach who has been successful elsewhere. The defense should keep MC in its fair share of games.

13. Malden (4-7) – Malden might be the dark horse of dark horses. Its first five games are against teams who last year had a combined 15-40 record. After that, a date with Watertown and a GBL-palooza.

14. Taunton (4-7) – Taunton finished up on a high note last season, but whether or not it can maintain that success throughout a full schedule is yet to be seen.

15. Durfee (3-7) – Durfee is another team breaking in a new coach, so the first few weeks are vital. After that, we'll have a clearer picture of the kind of team it is.

16. Barnstable (2-8) – This is a Barnstable squad that would best be served by treating this year as a chance to get better and contend with Old Colony foes in coming years.

17. Medford (2-9) – A couple months from now, I will be crowning Medford my coveted Most Improved Team of the Year award. Very prestigious.

18. New Bedford (1-9) -New Bedford has two reasons for optimism. 1.) There's nowhere to go but up. 2.) Theoretically, it only take two wins to break into the postseason for any Big 3 team.