MIAA football playoffs score a financial touchdown

Calling it “a very successful year for football across the board,’’ Bill Gaine, the MIAA’s deputy director, presented a bottom line that included a record net of $368,174. “Clearly that is positive news.’’

And not just for football. The money from football, along with sports such as basketball and hockey, help pay for the remainder of the MIAA-sponsored tournaments.

Football playoff attendance in the state’s three regions increased by more than 10,000 overall, with Gillette Stadium leading the way at 16,932 paid fans. That number was down from the previous year, but not unexpected because of that day’s inclement weather.

But there were areas of concern, including the Marian vs. Northeast semifinal game in Arlington that attracted just 415 fans, yet generated almost $4,000 in expenses. By comparison, Franklin had the highest attendance for its two semifinal games, drawing 3,753 fans for games between Natick and Franklin and Brighton vs. Tri-County, with expenses of $6,842. Because of the escalating costs, the MIAA is reconsidering whether to use Arlington as a host site next fall.

The committee also heard about two sportsmanship issues, the first of which involved alcohol found the following morning in a Bridgewater-Raynham locker room used by game officials.

“Two bottles of alcohol were found left behind,’’ according to a letter to the MIAA by B-R principal Angela Watson. “One was a nip of peppermint schnapps and the other a larger bottle of the same type of alcohol.’’

Gaine called it “a pretty serious charge,’’ and shared the letter with the football committee as well as his letter to Watson, which concluded, “toleration of such occurrences is unacceptable.’’ The game officials responded by e-mail to an MIAA inquiry that they had no knowledge of any alcohol in the locker room.

The other issue centered around an incident between Ware and Pioneer Valley during the postgame handshake. The two sides disagree on exactly what happened, and in response a sportsmanship subcommittee was formed to meet with the schools.

St. John’s Prep (9-7-1) knew it had its work cut out, with its last win over CM coming in 2003.

“For us it was the biggest win of the year. We have a lot of respect for this team, they’re the best in the state,’’ said Prep coach Kristian Hanson, a 1994 graduate of St. John’s Prep.

The Eagles and Knights meet twice every season. CM (12-3-1) convincingly won the first meeting weeks ago, 9-3, but this time the Eagles put on early pressure that proved to be too much to overcome. St. John’s outshot the Knights, 15-6, in the first period, giving them an early 3-0 lead.

The Eagles clinched a playoff berth with a 1-0 win Sunday over Xaverian. With a 7-2 record the past nine games, Hanson hopes to keep his team focused.

“At one point we started the season 2-5-1 and got off to a real difficult start, we’ve certainly picked up the pace, but we have to be focused and can’t be satisfied,’’ Hanson said. “[Last night] we played well, but just for one night we’re satisfied.’’

Globe correspondent Lorenzo Recupero contributed to this report.