The Independent School League, as we knew it, no longer exists.
Realignment has come to the New England Prep School Athletic Council, and it has split the ISL into two groups. The council has shifted to three classes, A, B and C, and Massachusetts has programs represented in all three, with the ISL having members in B and C.
Class A consists of two groups, with Group 1 comprising six Connecticut schools from the Founders Conference and Dexter-Southfield, an independent program based in Brookline. Class A Group 2 consists of the eight members of the Northeast Prep League, including Phillips Andover, Deerfield Academy and Williston Northampton in Massachusetts.
Class B includes five ISL members: Belmont Hill, Buckingham Browne & Nichols, Milton Academy, St. Sebastian’s and Tabor Academy. The schools are also joined by St. Paul’s (N.H.) and Trinity-Pawling (N.Y.), which are independent members in Class B but will effectively be league rivals with the five ISL schools.
Group C is also divided into two groups, with the Evergreen Conference making up Group 1 while the rest of the ISL is in Group 2. Austin Prep, Berkshire, Pingree and Worcester Academy are the Massachusetts representatives in Group 1, while Brooks, Governor’s Academy, Groton, Lawrence Academy, Middlesex, Nobles, Rivers, Roxbury Latin, St. George’s (RI), St. Marks and Thayer Academy make up Group 2.
The goal of the alignment is to create fairer competition, but teams are mainly focused on ignoring the noise and playing their respective styles of football. Belmont Hill is coming off a 6-3 season in which it won the Bob Souza Bowl. Head coach Anthony Fucillo said his squad has lofty goals again this season, but a difficult schedule and many players finding new roles will make it an interesting year.
“We’re trying to find out who ‘the guys’ are,” Fucillo said. “We graduated 16 seniors and 13 starters last year, and we have a lot of young guys who haven’t played a lot of football for us. My biggest goal for this team is to make sure we are competing and playing tough. This is the toughest schedule Belmont Hill has ever had. The outcomes take care of themselves. I just want to see the guys go out and compete.”
Some key players for Belmont Hill are quarterback Reis Little (Amherst College) and left tackle Nick Fiumara (UNC).
Middlesex School went through a significant turnaround in 2024, improving from a 2-6 season in 2023 to a 7-2 record with a Joe Lang Bowl victory. This is the second year for head coach Scott Woodward and he expects the team to be led by its veterans and a strong defense.
“We have some great senior leadership,” Woodward said. “We have 15 seniors, and the majority of them could have been picked as captain. Our offensive line has the potential to be good. We will hang our hat on our defense and then hope the offense scores some points.”
A key contributor will be running back Frankie Forrest, who Woodwards referred to as the team’s “bell cow.”
Buckingham Browne & Nichols went undefeated in ISL play and won the league before falling to St. Paul’s in a tight battle in the John Pappas Bowl. The Knights will need to replace star running back Bo MacCormack, who finished his career as Massachusetts’ all-time leader in rushing yards (6,699), was a two-time ISL MVP, and is now competing for Boston College.
Knights head coach Mike Willey said replacing MacCormack will be a daunting task but he trusts his current players to attack the task with enthusiasm.
“Replacing Bo will be like the Herald trying to replace Danny Ventura; it’s not happening,” Willey said, paying homage to former Herald high school sports editor Danny Ventura. “You don’t replace them, you just go different directions. You have to move forward and figure out what’s best for the team in this particular year.”
Willey said the schedule is daunting but that the program is used to having intense games every week.
“The schedule that we have it play, it truly is eight Super Bowls,” Willey said. “I think our guys will be focused and will really want to show who they are and how hard they work every week.”
Some players to watch for BB&N are quarterback Damon Taylor, athlete Sam Kelley (Brown) and defensive back/wide receiver Ethan Ortega.
Another program that had a strong 2024 was Tabor Academy, which went 8-1 and won the Kevin MacDonald Bowl. Tabor is the only ISL team that has played in 2025, securing a 37-6 victory over Williston Northampton.
“Our kids really play for each other,” head coach Jeff Moore said. “On defense, we play fast and physical, which is something we preach here. On offense, we are extremely explosive and things can happen really quickly. We have some guys in the program that we are really excited about. When adversity strikes, our kids don’t flinch.”
Some players to watch for Tabor are quarterback Peter Bourque (Michigan), Brendan Farhat (Temple), Carter Gooden (UCLA), Brady Scott, Xander Odenyo, Trey Grant (UNH) and Kaiden Drinkwater.
