Week 9 serves as a bookend to the regular season and will be the last chance for high school football teams to make their case for postseason placement. Come Nov. 2, programs will officially know whether or not they will have an opportunity to embark on a run to Gillette.

The squads that have made the Herald’s Sweet 16 this week will almost certainly be participating in the postseason. Some will have a difficult road to get to Patriot Place in their respective divisions. Others could see things more clearly. That said, the path there is always daunting, regardless of how seedings shake out.

1. St. John’s Prep: The Eagles (7-0) are chasing a perfect season as they continued to close in with a convincing 37-15 win over Malden Catholic last week. Yet, Saturday’s matchup might as well be a p

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