Here are 10 things we know after the initial week of the 2009 high school football season:
■1. Super Bowl hangovers - What a difference nine months make. Seven teams that battled for Super Bowl supremacy in December came out of opening weekend 0-1. BC High, Duxbury, Tri-County, Amesbury, Martha’s Vineyard, Manchester-Essex, and either Marshfield or Dracut (late game) lost their season openers, shaking up the pecking order in EMass. With Gloucester, Norton, and Arlington Catholic all playing today, there could be as many as 10 Super Bowl participants winless after one week.
■2. Hornets still stinging - Thanks to a four-game MIAA-mandated suspension for playing an ineligible player last season, Mansfield coach Mike Redding was not on the sidelines during his team’s visit to defending Old Colony League champion Dartmouth Friday. Nonetheless, his Hornets torched the Indians for 34 points in a nonleague victory. Four days with Redding at practice was certainly enough to overcome one night without him.
■3. Like father, like son - Coaches talk of players as being extensions of themselves on the field. Well how about having your own kid calling the shots on offense? Everett’s Jonathan DiBiaso and Barnstable’s Doug Crook, Jr. each quarterbacked their fathers’ teams to wins in Week 1. DiBiaso threw for a touchdown in a 14-6 win over Leominster, and Crook ran for a pair of scores to topple Durfee, 35-6.
■4. Goodbye monkey, hello win - Norwell didn’t wait long to erase the memory of last year’s 0-11 season. The Clippers clipped Millis Friday night, 21-14, to ensure avoiding another goose egg in the W column come December. Down 14-6 with under four minutes to go, Norwell got touchdown runs by Paul Donovan and AJ DeBenedictis to complete the comeback. Norwell wasn’t alone. Sharon also won its first game on the field since 2007. Sharon, which had a forfeit win over Mansfield in ’08, took out its frustrations on Randolph, 48-13, and now has one more win than the 2008 Detroit Lions had all year.
■5. What else is new? - Perhaps first-year coach Barry Greener took lessons in writing out an injury report from Bill Belichick. Reigning two-time Division 2 Player of the Year Ryan Izzo looked like his old self, despite a shoulder injury that had fans guessing for weeks if he would play. Izzo scored three touchdowns and gained 163 yards on 28 carries in a 20-6 win over Framingham , and looked just fine doing it.
■6. Welcome to Bizzaro world - The phrase “That’s why the game isn’t played on paper’’ was personified in Danvers 20-0 win over defending Division 4 champion Manchester-Essex. Discovering if this game was a testament to Danvers’ climb or the Hornets’ decline will be known in the ensuing months. Regardless, it’s hard to dream up a better way to put a 1-10 season behind you.
■7. Division 1’s youth group - So much for those “rebuilding year’’ rumors circling around the Crimson Tide. Despite starting six underclassmen against CMass power Leominster, Everett toppled the Blue Devils at home. North of Everett, in a promising sign of things to come, sophomore sensation Nick LaSpada led Billerica to a 26-14 win over Burlington with his legs and his arm. Also, junior Brockton cornerback Albert Louis-Jean had his fingerprints all over the Boxers’ 27-3 win at BC High.
■8. What’s in a name? - Every Massachusetts high school football fan knows what Xaverian quarterback Alex Phelan, son of Boston College hero Gerard, brings to the table. While Phelan did lead his team to a 47-14 win over Malden Catholic Friday night, he wasn’t the only familiar name making an impact.
Brett Flutie, whose uncle had a little something to do with Gerard Phelan becoming immortalized in BC lore, scored a touchdown and kicked three extra-points to lead Natick’s 27-0 win over Newton North. Dana Duquette, son of former Red Sox general manager Dan, scored the opening touchdown in Acton-Boxboro’s 14-7 win over Woburn.
■9. Yes, they are that good - After a 7-4 season a year ago, Xaverian fans had high expectations coming into the ’09 season. The Globe’s No. 1 team did not disappoint, putting on perhaps the most impressive performance of the night as it dominated Catholic Conference opponent Malden Catholic . Phelan threw for a score, while running back Joe Colton took advantage of a mammoth offensive line to register four touchdowns.
■10. By the numbers - For those keeping track, Danvers now has the same amount of wins it did a year ago, while the team they beat, Manchester-Essex, has one more loss than it did a year ago . . . Izzo not only tore up Framingham’s defense, but is tearing up the record books as well. The UMass-bound running back is a mere 157 points away from becoming the state’s all-time leading scorer . . . BC High lost to Brockton by as many touchdowns (three) as starters it returned (three).
- MIKE CARRAGGI 
