VanDeGiesen was an outstanding quarterback at North Attleboro High School. He was named a Boston Globe All-Scholastic in December of 1997 after leading the Red Rockets to the Super Bowl.

The Globe's Milton Valencia has the story on VanDeGiesen's untimely death.

But there's more than just money here. Both schools have mentioned a communications problem and neither is happy with the other. MV coach Don Herman said he found out about the cancelation via a third party on Aug. 8. Though the game was canceled long before that, Herman said no one bothered to tell him. Now he's desperately looking for another game. His last home game right now is Oct. 8 against Bishop Feehan. For the record, the series ends with Nantucket leading, 35-24-3.

The 32d annual Massachusetts High School All-Star games will be held Tuesday at Fraser Field in Lynn. At 3 p.m., the North Stars will play the Western Mass.All-Stars, followed at 6:30 with the South playing Central Mass. Eight EMass players will join eight from the West/Central stars to play the Connecticut high school all-stars on June 28 at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Conn. Game time is 1 p.m.

The North will be coached by North Andover’s Todd Dulin and Lynn English’s Joe Caponigro. The team consists of Swampscott’s Hunter Gordon, Lawrence’s Mike Calzetta, North Shore’s Ryan Mahan, Reading’s Ben O’Shea, Weston’s Sahil Bloom, Beverly’s Peter Kalas, Central Catholic’s Tim Wheeler, Pentucket’s Jordan Silva, St. Mary’s Joe Kasabuski, Lincoln-Sudbury’s Justin Quinn, Cambridge’s Shayne McDonald, St. John’s Chas Carmain, Malden Catholic’s Dario Pizzano and Tony Serino, North Reading’s Darren Hartwell, Saugus’s Tyler Calla, and Masconomet’s Chris Splinter.

The South coaches are Westwood’s Brian Whelan and Bob Hoffer. The team consists of Plymouth North’s Joe Flynn and Tom McInnes, Bridgewater-Raynham’s Drew Larson and Eddie Campbell, Silver Lake’s Zach Smith, Dartmouth’s Dennis Medeiros and Frank Vilacha, Abinton’s Steve Perakslis, Duxbury’s Phil Sciretta, King Philip’s Alex Palioca, BC High’s Tyler Horan, Fairhaven’s Keane Costa, Coyle & Cassidy’s Andrew Lalli, Walpole’s Chris Ferro, Medfield’s Chris Warren, and Cohasset’s Brendan Doonan.

And it's appropriate that the first award goes to one of Solomon's teammates at Central Catholic, first baseman Kaleigh Kfoury. Kfoury and all the MVC All-Conference and All-Star players will receive certificates and plaques prior to Tuesday's all-star game at Martin Field in Lowell at 7 p.m.

On the day the MIAA announced its volleyball pairings, athletic director John McDonough was hoping there is some way to keep his team in the tournament. Latin is scheduled to face Lawrence on Thursday in the first round of the North tournament. But Latin athletes aren't allowed to practice or play other teams and that news leaves McDonough fearing MIAA officials will be forced to go on without the Wolfpack. McDonough expects a decision about his volleyball team Wednesday.

In addition to volleyball, Latin runners were scheduled to compete in the Dual County League track championships Wednesday and the state rowing championships Sunday. Tennis, baseball, softball, and sailing were also put on hold.

(Update - May 7, 2009 - The meeting has been postponed as the two sides have reached a preliminary agreement. Read more HERE.)

The long dispute between the MIAA and Mansfield High School should come to an end Thursday at 1:30 p.m. when football coach Mike Redding's appeal will be heard by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Council (MIAC).

Mansfield is appealing the MIAA Board of Directors' January vote to suspend Redding for the first five games of the 2009 football season, as well as the MIAA ruling that Mansfield must reimburse the association for all legal expenses.

Mansfield admitted to using an ineligible player for two games last fall and forfeited those games, as well as the Hockomock League title. The MIAA Board of Directors ordered Mansfield to punish Redding because it took him five days to report the violation. But Mansfield has refused and the school will state its case Thursday.

The MIAC, which meets twice a year, is the final rule-making and appeals body of the MIAA. They are expected to issue a decision Thursday afternoon, although they could delay their decision.

Some fans are reluctant to acknowledge Dartmouth as the No. 1 team, questioning their schedule. I'm not a big fan of punishing a team for winning the games they're supposed to win. Also, I'm not all that convinced that the Indians have had such an easy schedule. Opening up on the road with a victory over Mansfield is no easy feat. But don't take my word for it, just ask Marshfield. The Rams were sky-high after a season-opening win at Beverly Hills before returning to the Bay State and getting drubbed, 22-0, at Mansfield.

Dartmouth has been able to prevail despite an injury to starting quarterback Sean Sylvia. The Indians have Sylvia back, and look poised to finish out the regular season on a strong note. They'll have an interesting matchup this weekend when they host Attleboro, which started out 7-0 before losing last week to Bishop Feehan. The winner has the inside track to the Old Colony League title.

The Hornets bounced back from their loss to Dartmouth to win seven in a row. They'll be playing for the Hockomock crown when they travel to North Attleboro tonight. The Red Rocketeers are 6-1, the lone setback from a nonleague clash against Feehan.

Another interesting battle looms in Weymouth, as the Wildcats will host Natick (8-0). Given their recent success, with a pair of playoff appearances the last two years, this has been a down year for Weymouth (4-4). However, they still have talented running back Royce Terrell, and played Natick tough in each of the last two seasons, losing at home 21-14 two years ago, and winning at Natick last year. With a showdown looming next week against 8-0 Walpole, Natick will try not to look past the Wildcats.

If anyone has a handle on the Catolic Conference, clue me in. St. John's Prep dominated Everett to hand the Crimson Tide their only loss, but has looked shaky since, losing four in a row. Everett bounced back by smoking previously undefeated BC High, 26-0, then went on the road again to Xaverian and escaped with a 13-10 win. Xaverian lost at St. John's Shrewsbury last week to drop to 5-3.

The Hawks are very much alive for the league title though, and will host BC High tomorrow. That will set up a frantic final twoo weeks of the season, in which Xaverian is at undefeated Catholic Memorial, and BC High hosts St. John's Prep next week. All four teams are back in league action on Thanksgiving, with CM and BC High squaring off, and St. John's prep travelling to Xaverian, in what is shaping up as a November to remember.

"It's going to be a big challenge for us," said Acton-Boxboro coach Bill Maver. "We've scrimmaged them the last few years, so we know they have good size, but we've played teams that were bigger than us before."

The Colonials are coming off a thrilling 26-20 win at Chelmsford, and feature a deep rushing attack. Akeem Mercury and Trevor Jeanson are a talented duo in the backfield, while Jack Souza has also been able to grind out some yardage to set up Jeanson and Mercury. Linemen Ben Fitzer and Robby Ruggiero have been solid on both sides of the ball.

While Maver looks forward to the challenge, he knows there can be cons to loading up the schedule before play begins in the Dual County League.

"I think it really helps your program to have these games early on," said Maver. "It gives the kids perspective on what's going on outside of the league. You just don't want to get beat up, but we tell our kids if you play hard, you won't get hurt."

BC High also opened up with a pair of impressive wins. In Week 1, they trudged through the rain for a 28-7 win at Brockton. The Eagles dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, anchored by Nnamdi Obukwelu. The offensive line is almost entirely new, save for Obukwelu and guard Pat Moynahan.

"We all worked together in the offseason, lifting weights," said Obukwelu. "We have confidence in each other and trust each other."

It was a sweet win for Obukwelu, a talented senior from Brockton who will most likely be playing in the Ivy League next fall.

"I played against a lot of my friends," said Obukwelu. "It was nice to get the win back home."

BC High also has a potent rushing attack, with Tyler Horan and Kyle Ewanouski leading the way, while quarterback Bill Kiley won't be afraid to air it out if the situation calls for it. In last week's 38-14 win over Andover, Kiley connected with Conor Flaherty for a 14-yard touchdown pass.

"I'm fine with handing the ball off to these guys (Horan and Ewanouski) if that's what it takes for us to win," said Kiley.

The Eagles went 11-1 last season under coach Ron St. George, but in the offseason St. George decided to move on to Cardinal Spellman. The players have had to adjust to a new coaching staff and system, as St. George ran the Wing-T on offense, but the players seem to be handling it well. Making the transition easier was the fact that AD Jon Bartlett took over the coaching reigns. Bartlett served as the freshman coach in the fall of 2005 and coached many of this year's seniors.

"The kids have really handled the adjustment," said Bartlett, who runs a Multiple I formation. "Sometimes we have two backs, other times we'll have three backs, and if we go to the spread, we just have one back out there."

When the coaching job opened up, Bartlett was interested right away. He knew this might be his only shot as there was the possibility that if a young coach was hired, the job might not available for decades.

"That was one of the things I considered," said Bartlett. "Really, what it took was sitting down with my family. I didn't want to feel guilty about the time commitment to the job, but my family was more than 100 percent supportive, so we decided to try it now."

After the win over Brockton, the coaching staff gave Bartlett the game ball for his first varsity win. While appreciative, Bartlett almost seem embarrassed by the gesture, and later that weekend, presented a game ball to former coach Jim Cotter, who was on campus to watch his son play for the freshmen team.

"He's been around so long," said Horan of Cotter. "He's so dedicated to the school, and he always tries to come to our games."

The sight of Cotter around campus has always been a welcome one. Less than two years after he retired, Cotter was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's diseas, or ALS [Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis], in 2006.

Cotter and his family have established a website to keep his friends, former players, and coaches in touch with him and with each other. Click HERE to check it out.