Team Spotlight: Everett Crimson Tide

Location: Everett, Massachusetts

Group: Massachusetts Eastern Mass

By Andre Coles

Michael Matarazzo, web administrator for the Everett High football team, understands exactly what high school football means to the community of Everett, Massachusetts. It’s bigger than touchdowns and tackles and Matarazzo displays the message loud and clear and for everyone to see on the team’s homepage.

“The history of Everett High School’s Crimson Tide Football Team is the story of more than just football. It is the story of a working-class community and its pride in the achievements of its youth. It is the story of the sons and grandsons of immigrants who rose to levels of prominence in the world of high school football and in life.”

On the field, those achievements have been felt for multiple generations as the Everett football program has attained an elite status in the state of Massachusetts – and around the nation – for more than a century. It’s easy to see why the Everett community takes such great pride in its football team.

Not only has the Crimson Tide won a multitude of Suburban League titles and Greater Boston league Championships, but the historic program has produced seven Eastern Massachusetts Super Bowl winners in the past eleven seasons, including the last two.

Adding to the history of Everett is the great talent the program has produced from working class roots. Perhaps most familiar is the late Dan Ross, an eight-year veteran of the National Football League, who is best known for his record setting performance in Super Bowl XVI with the Cincinnati Bengals. The former tight end set a record with 11 receptions for 104 yards and two touchdowns, which was the most for a tight end in Super Bowl history.

Ross and fellow Everett alum Swede Oberlander are members of the College Football Hall of Fame.

The program has also produced arguably one of the best high school teams in history.  The 1914 squad not only finished the season undefeated at 13-0, but no opponent found a way to score on the team either. The state and National Champions outscored opponents 600-0.

Meanwhile, Everett’s history and success strongly correlates with its togetherness as a community. In a city with 36,000 people Everett boasts two Pop Warner football programs. These youth programs have been integral in building the foundation for the Everett High teams of today. 

The Crimson Tide won three straight Super Bowls from ‘01-‘03, with the members of these teams all playing together on the Pop Warner Squads.

The success of Everett’s past is still prevalent today. The ’08 version of the Crimson Tide is already off to a 3-0 start with its recent 48-26 win over Dracut (State PR: 85.00). All the while, the Tide is currently the top rated school in the SportsPower Massachusetts rankings with a mark of 95.00. 

Indeed, for over 100 years, Everett has produced winners on and off the football field. If the past is any indication, they will likely do so for another century.

Now, that’s certainly something for a community to get behind.

Next Up: Friday, September 26 vs. St. John's Prep (State PR: 91.00, Rank: 11).