A look at some of the key numbers and information you’ll need to know for the 2012 high school football season:
By the numbers
1: With a 25-game win streak, defending Division 1A Super Bowl champion Everett begins the season as it ended 2011, ranked No. 1 in the Globe Top 20.
3: With the departure of Taunton to the Hockomock, the Old Colony League becomes a three-team league with Barnstable, Bridgewater-Raynham, and Dartmouth. The OCL had eight schools as recent as 2003.
6: For the sixth time since 2000, Duxbury finished the regular season unbeaten last fall. The defending Division 2 champion Green Dragons own a state-best win streak of 26 heading into their opener Saturday against B-R.
26: It may not be Romney vs. Obama but the vote Fri., Oct. 26 on the new football playoff proposal is as big as it gets in Massachusetts high school sports. The MIAA’s 373 member schools will vote at Assabet Regional in Marlboro.
54: With 54 career touchdowns and 392 points, Blue Hills running back Vincent Burton is on pace to become just the fifth player in state history to score 500 or more points.
150: The Oneida Football Club was the first organized high school football team, formed by its captain Gerrit Smith Miller in 1862. And these guys were good. But don’t take our word for it. Next time you’re walking across the Common, check out the monument dedicated in their honor in 1925.
296: With four wins, Northbridge’s Ken LaChapelle will become one of three football coaches in state history to win 300 or more games, joining Armond Colombo (323) and Bill Broderick (304).
One man’s opinion
Three reasons schools should vote yes Oct. 26 on the new football playoff proposal.
1. Don’t be a fraidy cat. The proposal is a two-year experiment so if it bombs, the format can revert to present form. What’s the harm?
2. If your field hockey team goes 6-5, it goes to the MIAA tournament. Your football team at 6-5 . . . they go home. How is that fair?
3. Six state champions, all crowned at Gillette, just makes sense. Try arguing against that one.
Gillette lineup
Western and Central Mass. teams will again get to play title games at Gillette Stadium. The Foxborough lineup on Dec. 1 will include the Division 2 WMass and CMass Super Bowls along with EMass Divisions 1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A.
Interactive quiz
Seven of the past 10 years the leading scorer in EMass has come from the same conference. Can you name that conference? Answer, including the players who finished on top, at Boston.com/schools.
More information about concussions
The concussion discussion continues as schools head into Year 2 of the state’s concussion law. Need help? For information go to www.mass.gov/dph/injury