The New England Patriots appearance in Super Bowl LII marks the 10th for the franchise and the 8th in the Brady-Belichick era. The Pats are heading to Minnesota to face off against the Philadelphia Eagles after coming from behind to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Championship on Sunday.

The Patriots were heavy favorites to beat Jacksonville until the cut heard around the football world occurred Wednesday. After Tom Brady sliced his right hand at practice, he missed Thursday and was limited on Friday. When news got out, many started picking the Jaguars to win the game. In his press conference Friday, Brady was optimistic about playing on Sunday, answering “ we’ll see.” With a Jaguars pass rush that can hit Brady and a great pass defense, Brady’s hand was up for a fight on Sunday.  But the hand was not a factor in the game. Brady finished 26/38 for 290 yards and two TD’s, while Danny “Playoff” Amendola had seven catches for 84 yards and two huge TD’s. 

On the first drive, Brady completed all 6 of his passes for 57 yards, leading  to a 31-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski. But then Jacksonville drove right down the field to score a touchdown and go up 7-3. The next possession stalled for the Patriots, forcing them to punt and give up the ball. That led to a Leonard Fournette touchdown and a 14-3 Jacksonville lead in the second quarter. The Patriots then got the ball with two and half minutes left in the second quarter and were looking for a touchdown to close out a sluggish first half. They did just that with a James White rushing TD with just under a minute left. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of Rob Gronkowski leaving the game due to a concussion.

To start the second half, the Jags got the ball and took it down the field but the Patriots defense held them to a field goal to make it 17-10. But while the Patriots defense tightened up in the second, their offense couldn’t get going and was stopped on its first two drives. Jacksonville once again had a great drive going, but the Pats defense stepped up and held them to yet another field goal to make the score 20-10 with 14:52 left in the fourth.

Just as the Patriots looked to gain momentum, the Jags defense recovered a Dion Lewis fumble on a trick play. But Jacksonville went 3 and out and gave the ball back to Brady and the offense. The Pats suffered a sack and an incompletion, leaving them in a desperate 3rd down and 18. That is when Brady connected with Amendola for the first down, a pivotal point in the game  that kept the drive alive and led to a nine-yard yard TD pass from Brady to Amendola. That brought the score to 20-17.

After that, Jacksonville got nothing going and punted it back to the Pats with about four minutes to go in the game. Brady drove them down the field and threw a four yard TD pass to – who else? – Danny Amendola. Amendola just got two feet down in the end zone to secure the score, putting the Patriots up 24-20 with 2:52 left in the game.  The Jags drove it down to the Patriots 43-yard line on 4th and 13 and Bortles threw a deep pass down the field, but Stephon Gilmore came soaring through the air and batted it down. The game was over after the Patriots ran out the clock. Brady took the final knee, sending the Patriots off to the Super Bowl for the third time in four years.

The past year brought nothing but success to the sports teams of Hanover High School. It was a strong follow up to 2016, in which HHS won two state championships: football’s first since 1976 and boys hockey.

HHS kicked off the year with three Patriot league titles in boys basketball, girls basketball, and boys ice hockey.

Boys basketball went on to win the MIAA Division III State Championship for the first time in school history. Led by Patriot League MVP Matt Delahunt, the team finished the regular season with an overall record of 17-3.

Girls basketball finished with a regular season record  of 18-2. Patriot League MVP Meaghan Raab led the team to the South Sectional finals for the second year in a row. The team graduated three college-bound players, Megan Dixon, Meaghan Raab, and Hayley Wardwell, two of whom went on to play Division I basketball.

Boys hockey still proved itself to be a tough contender despite graduating many talented seniors from the previous state championship team. Captains Mike McGlame, Connor Morris, and Ryan Phillips led the Indians to the South Division III quarterfinals. The team ended with an overall record of 16-2-3.   

Wrestling also had a successful season with several athletes reaching the milestone of 100 personal wins. Led by captains Damien Galotti, Hunter Gillis, Coleman Lambert, and Danny Ryan, the team finished with a record of 24-4.  Damien and Hunter finished with a total of 107 wins, while Danny  set the school record with 109.

Following the winter season, spring athletes were hungry for more success.

Boys lacrosse finished with a regular season record of 12-4, claiming the Patriot League Championship title. The team went on to win the MIAA Division III South Sectional Championship, led by captains Mike McGlame, Tim Mullane, Abdullah Nassif, and Mike Nimeskern.

Girls softball also took home the Patriot League Championship title, led by Patriot League MVP Lindsey North. The team finished with an impressive record of 17-3.

Rugby had been a club sport at HHS for 2 years prior to becoming a varsity team in 2017. Captains Aidan Curtis, Coleman Lambert, and Jeff Wheeler led the team to a 2-3-1 season and ended with the inaugural MIAA Division II State Championship.

This past fall brought a Patriot League-Fisher Division Championship for Cheerleading. The team was led by captains Cammie Porzio and Jaclyn Mignosa.

For me, witnessing Hanover High School win four state championships in two years is indescribable. Coming into high school, I would have never guessed that I would have the opportunity to see some of its most successful teams in school history. With games at the TD Garden, Gillette Stadium, and beyond, it was so amazing to see a small town like Hanover come together to support a team competing for a state title.

Seeing my friends, peers, and classmates hoist up the state championship trophies is something I will never forget for as long as I live and it gives me chills to think about. I am so lucky to have been part of it all.

To 2017, thank you for making it an unforgettable year for Hanover High School Athletics. To 2018, I hope you bring more success and more championship titles.

Tom Brady should win the NFL MVP award and there should be no debate about it. The 40-year-old quarterback put up great numbers this year and led his team to a 13-3 record on the season. He led the league in passing with 4,577 yards and threw for 32 touchdowns to only 8 interceptions. No quarterback over the age of 40 has ever thrown over 30 touchdowns and more than 4,000 yards in a season and Brady did both. After losing Julian Edelman to a torn ACL in the preseason, many expected Brady’s number to decrease but Brady tore it up in the first 8 weeks of the season and he looked like he was playing the best football of his career. Then he continued to excel down the stretch of the season and lead his team to a first round bye in the playoffs and home field advantage throughout.

Over in Philadelphia, Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz was having just as good a season, if not better. But Wentz tore his ACL in week 14 and couldn’t continue his very successful second year in the league. He threw 33 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions with 3,296 yards and he played three fewer games than Brady. You can argue that Wentz could be the MVP, but he didn’t finish the season. If Wentz had continued to play the rest of the season, he probably would have won the MVP. But since he didn’t, I don’t think he will win.

The only other MVP candidate in my opinion is Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley. In his third season, he put up monster numbers out of the backfield for an explosive Rams offense. He had 13 rushing touchdowns along with 6 receiving, and he ran for over 1,300 yards and 788 receiving yards. These are crazy numbers out of a running back and Gurley deserves to be in the discussion for MVP. He led the Rams to a winning record for the first time since 2003. Gurley will be in the conversation for MVP, but ultimately it’s really hard for a running back to win the award. Since 2000, only five running backs have won the award and the others were all quarterbacks.

After looking at all three candidates, Brady’s numbers and his impact on his team make him first in line for MVP. The award stands for Most Valuable Player and Brady is just that. Although Brady doesn’t need the award,  I’m sure he will gladly add it to his collection. More important to him, though, is the Lombardi Trophy given out on February 4th in Minnesota.         

The New England Patriots have reached the AFC championship game for the 7th consecutive year and are playing the Jaguars on Sunday. This may come as a surprise to many this year who expected a rematch between the Steelers and Patriots, who battled it out for league title last season. But in the divisional round, the Jaguars shocked the Steelers and beat them 45-43. The Patriots took care of business against the Titans, beating them 35-14.

The matchup will showcase a young Jaguars team with a stout defense consisting of a great pass rush led by Calais Campbell and a strong secondary with rookie Jalen Ramsey leading the way with 4 interceptions on the year.  Jacksonville’s ground-and-pound offense is led by rookie running back Leonard Fournette and quarterback Blake Bortles. Bortles has been very inconsistent in his career but is 2-0 in the playoffs and competing for a trip to the Super Bowl.

Everyone knows what the Patriots bring to the game on Sunday, an explosive offense that scores a lot and a defense that can stop teams in the red zone. The Patriots will face their toughest opponent all year, according to the players. Brady and the offense will look to do what Pittsburgh did and score a lot of points, but the Jaguars’ pass rush could affect Brady and the offense. The Patriots defense will have to put up with a great run attack and try and force Bortles to make a mistake. When Bortles throws an interception, the Jags have a losing record, so it will be key for the Patriots to try and get the ball on defense.

This should be a great matchup on Sunday, but the game is in Foxboro and the Patriots are virtually unbeatable there in January. Jacksonville will have to play the perfect game and its defense will have to shut down Gronkowski and sack Brady multiple times. But when the game is over, I believe the Patriots will be on their way to there 8th Super Bowl in the Brady-Belichick era and will be playing in Minnesota for their 6th ring together as a duo.

During the last off-season, Celtics general  manager Danny Ainge made a deal that, at the time, seemed questionable. He traded the Celtics first overall draft pick – which would have almost certainly been Washington’s guard Markelle Fultz – for the 76ers’ number 3 overall pick and another pick. Now this is where it gets interesting.

The additional draft pick included in that trade will be the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2018 pick, if it falls between the 2nd and 5th picks. If not, the Celtics will receive the Sacramento Kings’ 2019 first-round pick unprotected.

Many didn’t see this as an amazing trade until all of the pieces started fitting in perfectly. And that’s just what usually happens with Danny Ainge. Markelle Fultz was injured early in the season,putting  his future jump-shooting abilities in jeopardy. Then the Celtics’ 3rd overall pick, Jayson Tatum, started to show that he could be a dominant scorer in the league. And to top it all off, the Lakers – the team that was supposed to have a turnaround year with the addition of UCLA guard Lonzo Ball – now owns the second worst record in the NBA.  They currently are a game and a half higher than the 11-30 Atlanta Hawks.

The trade for the number one pick last off-season currently has the high potential of ultimately being Markelle Fultz (PHI) for Jayson Tatum and one of the top prospects such as Arizona’s Deandre Ayton, Duke’s Marvin Bagley, or Real Madrid’s Luka Doncic.  And to heap further praise on Ainge, the Brooklyn Nets pick that was included in the trade with Isaiah Thomas and Kyrie Irving is now projected to be the 9th overall pick in the draft.