Charlie Breitrose
Last year the Raiders made a run to the North Section Final, and this year the team is the top seed in Div. 3 North.
The Raiders are top of the heap in the Div. 3 North Section football bracket.
On Sunday, the MIAA released the state football brackets, and Watertown earned the top slot in the North Section Div. 3.
With a record of 6-1, the Raiders host eighth-seeded Austin Prep (2-5) at Victory Field in the section quarterfinals on Friday at 7 p.m. The winner takes on the victor of the Newburyport-Pentucket game the following week.
The second seed in the North is Triton, at 5-2, which was seeded ahead of 6-1 Bishop Fenwick because of their seeding score, which is based on the strength of schedule and how opponents fared in other games.
Being top seed in the North has been a mixed blessing. In the first three years of the expanded playoff format, the number 1 seed in this division (Div. 4 the first two years) has never won. Last year, Pentucket lost to Bedford in the first round. The two years prior the top seed (Winthrop in 2014 and Pentucket in 2013) made the section final, but lost.
Watertown has enjoyed more success as a lower seed. Last year, the Raiders made the section final, losing to Stoneham, as the sixth seed. The year before, however, Watertown was the second seed and fell to Swampscott. In 2013, the Raiders won the first game as the fifth seed, before losing to the top seed, Pentucket.