A Brief History

We played as part of The Westborough Red Devils Pop Warner program for a number of years, in the old Merrimack Valley League, which is now a part of the Eastern Massachusetts Pop Warner League. In 1995 we formed our own Mitey Mite, Junior Pee Wee, Pee Wee and Junior Midget teams with roughly 87 kids, playing under Westborough in the Eastern Massachusetts Pop Warner League.

 

We petitioned the Eastern League to move to Central Massachusetts in 1996 and were granted the right to move. That was our first full year as our own entity, in what is now Central Massachusetts Pop Warner, even though our four teams were ineligible for the playoffs in 1996.

 

Upon moving back to Shrewsbury we were made welcome by Shrewsbury High School, and from 1996 to 2002 we played our home games at Bergstrom Field, the home of the Shrewsbury High School Colonials. We hold our pre-season practice at Coolidge Elementary School and then practice at Dean Park during the season.

 

In 1997

 

We added a second Junior Pee Wee team and our first Midget team, who made it to the Central Massachusetts playoffs. In 1998 the Junior Midget Team qualified for the playoffs.

 

In 1999

 

We added a third Junior Pee Wee team and had a regular season record of 27 wins, 29 losses and 2 ties. Three of our seven teams made the playoffs:

• The Junior Midget Team lost in the 1^st round to Tantasqua (0-14)

• The Pee Wee Team lost in the 1^st round to Charlton (19-26)

• The Junior Pee Wee Blue Team defeated Millbury 1 (38-12), Tantasqua (6-0) and Southbridge (25-6) to make our first Super bowl appearance a win.

 In 2000

 

We had eight teams (2 Mighty Mites, 2 Junior Pee Wee, 2 Pee Wee, 1 Junior Midget and 1 Midget). Our regular season record improved to impressive 37 wins, 25 losses and 5 ties, with four teams qualifying for the playoffs:

• The Midget team lost in the 1^st round to Tantasqua (6-26)

• The Junior Midget team defeated South County (14-0), then lost to Charlton (20-27)

• The Pee Wee Blue team defeated Worcester Cowboys (20-6), but lost to Millbury (8-22) in the 2^nd round

• The Junior Pee Wee Gold team lost to South County 1 (12-18)

In 2001

 

We added a second Junior Midget team to make nine teams altogether, posting a regular season record of 28 wins, 42 losses and 5 ties. We again sent four teams to the playoffs:

•  The Midget team lost to Charlton (13-33)

• The Junior Midget Blue team was defeated in the 1^st round by Tantasqua (6-7)

• The Pee Wee Gold team defeated Worcester Cowboys (27-12) and West Boylston (13-12), before losing to Millbury (6-12) in a tight Super bowl game

• The Junior Pee Wee Blue team was defeated by Southbridge (0-32)

In 2002

 

The number of teams was reduced to seven (1 Mighty Mites, 2 Junior Pee Wee, 1 Pee Wee, 2 Junior Midget and 1 Midget), finishing with a regular season record of 38 wins, 31 losses and 3 ties. Four teams qualified for the Central Massachusetts playoffs and the Junior Midget Gold team became the first Shrewsbury team to qualify for the New England Regional playoffs.

 

In the Central Massachusetts playoffs:

• The Midgets lost to Leicester/Spencer (0-37)

• The Junior Midget Blue team lost to Wachusett (7-14)

• The Pee Wee squad lost to Charlton (7-20)

• The Junior Pee Wee Blue team defeated West Boylston (19-12) and Auburn (33-0) before losing a tough Super bowl game to Southbridge (7-19)

In the New England Regional playoffs:

• The Junior Midget Gold team defeated Chicopee (36-6) & Lawrence (24-13) before beating Hopkinton (12-2) to become Massachusetts State Champions

•  A week later they lost to Ansonia, CT (6-22) in the New England Regional Championship game

In 2003

 

We had seven teams (2 Mighty Mites,2 Junior Peewee, 1 Peewee, 1 junior Midget and 1 Midget), finishing with a regular season record of 36 wins 19 losses and 5 ties. Three teams qualified for Central Mass Playoffs and the Junior Peewee Blue team became Shrewsbury's 2nd State Championship winning team. Further qualifying for the regional championships.

 

In the Central Massachusetts playoffs:

• The midget team defeated Millbury/Sutton  (20-0) and Tantasqua (26-20) to capture Shrewsbury's second Super bowl victory over Charlton (12 - 8).

• The Junior Midget blue team was defeated in the first round by the Worcester Cowboys.

• The Pee Wee blue team defeated the Worcester Cowboys (18-0) and Northborough/Southborough in overtime (13 - 6) before losing to Tantasqua (0-12) in a tough Super bowl game.

In the New England Regional playoffs:

• The Junior Pee Wee  blue team defeated Greenfield  (36 - 0) and Medford (25 - 7) before beating Weymouth (33 - 13) to become Massachusetts State Champions

• A week later they lost to Newington CT. (6 - 26) in a tough contest at Stellos Stadium in Nashua New Hampshire. The Newington team went on to capture the Pop Warner national championship, as an undefeated and not scored upon Pee Wee team. Congratulations Newington!!!

In 2004

 

We had nine teams again as we did in 2001. The season brought us our best regular season record of 49 wins, 26 losses and 4 ties. Four teams qualified for for the Central Mass Playoffs and the Junior Pee Wee blue team became Shrewsbury's first back to back state championship team and third consecutive program state champions.

• The Junior Midget B team lost a first round heartbreaker in overtime (12 - 14) to Millbury/Sutton on a sudden death extra-point attempt.

• The Pee Wee C1 team defeated Southbridge (19-18) before loosing a hard fought snow battle to South County (8 - 14).

• The Pee Wee C2 team defeated Millbury/Sutton (20 - 0) before losing a tough second round to Northborough/Southborough (6 - 13).

• The Junior Pee Wee D2 team lost to in the first round to South County 1  (6 - 34). South County 1 went on to win the Super Bowl!!!

In The New England Regional Playoffs:

 

• The Junior Pee Wee Blue Team defeated a very tough South County Team to win the right to play for Regional Selection 25-18 in a battle at windy Nashoba Regional High School.
• They then defeated Western Mass Champion Greenfield 33-7, Eastern Mass Champion Saugus 13-0 in a foot of snow in Lawrence Massachusetts, and won their second consecutive State Championship at Chelsea High School by soundly defeating Charlestown 25-0.
• The following week in Portsmouth Rhode Island, the team lost a tough contest after a 0-0 halftime score 13-0 to the New England Champion CLCF Chiefs from Cranston Rhode Island, to finish as New England Finalists for 2004.

 

 

In 2005

 

We added a second Midget Team to have 8 Teams for our program’s first Division 1 entry. We finished the year with great success with a combined regular season record of 36 wins, 32 losses, and 1 tie. We sent 5 teams to the post season, including our first year with two regional qualifying teams. The Junior Midget Team defeated Attleboro in Triple Overtime to become Shrewsbury’s first Division 1 State Champion team and The Program’s fourth consecutive State Champion!

 

• The A1 Midget Team defeated Southbridge 19-6 to win the Southern Divisional Crown. They then lost to State finalist North Middlesex for the Regional Qualifier in a closer than indicating 24-12 score. In the first round of the CMPW Playoffs, they defeated Fitchburg 16-14 in a well-played first round game, and then lost a tough second round battle with The Worcester Vikings who were CMPW Super Bowl Finalists 26-6.
• The D1 Junior Pee Wee Team fought bravely but were defeated by a tough Fitchburg Team 31-6
• The D2 Junior Pee Wee Team defeated (Leominster 3) 37-0, (Wachusett 2) 27-0, and in The Super Bowl defeated The Worcester Vikings 2 Team 18-6 to capture The Division 3 JPW Super Bowl and become Shrewsbury’s third Super Bowl Champion.

 

In The New England Regional Playoffs:

 

• The C1 Pee Wee Team captured the Southern Divisional Crown by defeating South County 21-8. They then captured the Regional Qualifier and CMPW Championship by defeating the Northern Divisional Champion Worcester Vikings in a classic battle in Webster by a score of 14-6.
• The quest for a third consecutive State Championship fell short as the team battled a well disciplined and National Finalist Boston Raider team. After a 6-6 tie nearing the end of the third quarter, the Raiders were able to score and then control the ball through much of the fourth quarter eventually putting up another score to defeat the State Finalist Shrewsbury Colonials 18-6.

 

• The B1 Junior Midget Team had a “Cinderella Season”. After a third game regular season slugfest defeat by a score of 29-20 at the hands of the Worcester Vikings; The boys in Navy and Blue ran the table by winning the Southern Divisional Championship by soundly defeating nemesis South County 30-7. They then shocked Northern Divisional Champion Fitchburg by battling back from a 26-6 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to win 39-26 and represent CMPW in their first Regional Qualifier and CMPW Championship.

 

• In the First Round of Regional play, the Junior Midget Team was able to defeat a very good Boston Raider Team at Harry Della Russo Stadium in Revere by a score of 8-0

 

• The team then defeated an excellent Attleboro team in North Attleboro after an unbelievable finish. The game was a battle all day ending in a 0-0 tie. In the first OT, Shrewsbury scored on 4^th and goal and kicked the Extra Point to take an 8-0 lead. Attleboro answered back scoring on their possession and banking the extra point off the left cross bar to make it 8-8. Second OT Attleboro scored first and missed the extra point to take a 14-8 lead. Shrewsbury answered scoring on 4^th and goal and also missed the extra point attempt, 14-14. In the third and final OT, Shrewsbury started but was shut down at the goal line on 4^th and goal from the 1 yard line. Attleboro took over and three plays later had 4^th and goal from the 1 yard line. After a roll-out right by the Attleboro QB he fired the ball to the middle of the end zone on the right sideline. Miguel Africa for Shrewsbury in coverage intercepted the ball three yards deep and returned it 103 yards after leaping over the QB’s tackle around the ten yard line to seal a dramatic State Championship win 20-14.

 

• The following week the Shrewsbury boys would finally play home again at Worcester State College against The Bridgeport CT Raiders. After an impressive 18-0 start by Shrewsbury, the Raiders found an answer in the form of some excellent offensive play and were able to creep back into the game. Shrewsbury led at the half 18-12. The Raiders in the second half found an answer in neutralizing the power of the Junior Midgets Offense, while displaying some impressive athletic prowess of their own, and were able to defeat our New England Finalist team 38-18.

 

 

In 2006

 

The Colonials will add our first ever Tiny Mite (ages 5 & 6) Team and bring back the team count to 9 Teams. We anticipate a strong season with excellent competition.