Massachusetts high school sports playoff highlights for Nov. 6

Third-seeded Nipmuc (16-7) is the first Division 4 squad to reach the semifinals, besting Greater Lawrence, 3-1. Nipmuc will face the winner of No. 3 East Bridgewater and No. 7 West Bridgewater, who play Friday (4 p.m.).

Thursday also featured 20-plus nonplayoff football games ahead of Friday’s first-round action. Find our 10 games to watch and Nate Weitzer’s picks here, and his deep dive into undefeated Burlington and how a new offensive scheme elevated the program.

As always, the scoreboard lives here.

▪ In a 60-38 win over Haverhill, Arlington senior Ori Forest ran wild, churning up 226 yards and four scores. The win also featured a 106-yard pick-6 from Matt Grande.

▪ Newton North rode Freddy Torcasio’s five total touchdowns ― four passing, one rushing ― to a 35-19 win over Stoughton. Nico Atwood and Jacob Goodwin both caught two TD passes.

▪ Nauset quarterback Brendan Peno threw a trio of touchdown passes, two of which went to Jack Peno, and added a rushing score in a 36-0 victory against Sharon.

▪ Both sides of Watertown’s 45-26 win over Malden saw big rushing performances. Watertown senior Gabe Oliveira ran for 200 yards and three scores on 16 carries, while Malden sophomore Jayden McGuffie piled up 234 rushing yards and three TDs on 20 carries, adding a 2-point conversion.

▪ Falmouth sophomore Max Peterkin did it all in a 40-6 win over Dighton-Rehoboth, rushing for 107 yards and two scores, while adding 11 tackles, a sack, a pick-6, and a forced fumble.

It wasn’t quite as wild as Tuesday, but a couple of top seeds faltered.

▪ In the first round of the Division 1 boys’ soccer bracket, No. 28 Winchester stunned fifth-seeded New Bedford, 2-1, on goals from Cole Queenan and Tom Duval, followed by a long stretch of stingy defense.

▪ In the second round of the Division 2 field hockey tournament, undefeated and seventh-seeded Masconomet was bounced by No. 10 Westwood, 1-0, just 22 seconds into overtime on Ellie Harrington’s goal. It was quite a day for the Wolverines, who also won 1-0 in a girls’ soccer shootout over Whitman-Hanson. Westwood took the shootout, 4-3, with freshman Cassidy McGovern landing the winning tally.

▪ King Philip field hockey senior Lauren Griffin not only helped the Warriors defeat Dartmouth, 6-2, in the Division 2 second round, but she eclipsed 200 career saves in the process.

▪ With two goals and two assists in an 8-0 St. John Paul II win over Old Colony in the first round of the Division 5 girls’ soccer tournament, senior Michaela Enright surpassed 100 career points.

▪ Lawrence Academy senior Alex Egbuonu, who grew up in Nashua, N.H. after moving from Arkansas when he was 5, had some fun at his signing announcement Thursday, faking out the crowd by grabbing hats for Villanova, Auburn, and Boston College before unzipping his sweatshirt to reveal he’ll be playing men’s basketball at Marquette.

Egbuonu, who plays for BABC, is a 6-foot-6-inch, 220-pound four-star forward who is ranked 51st in the ESPN SCNEXT 100. He also had offers from Stanford, Providence, and Albany.

▪ Reason Prep senior Jazyre Wilder Works, who previously played at Latin Academy, has committed to play men’s basketball at Division 2 Franklin Pierce.

▪ Nantucket announced the hiring of two coaches Thursday. Angela Paterson will take over the Whalers’ girls’ basketball program, while cross-country coach Matthew Phipps was also named indoor track coach.

Paterson was a 1,000-point scorer for Nantucket who re-joined the program as an assistant coach last season. She serves as a school resource officer. Phipps, who hails from Vermont and ran for Grinnell, took over the cross-country team this fall.

▪ Bruce Higgins, a former 1,000-point scorer and assistant coach at Catholic Memorial, died Sunday after a six-year abattle with melanoma. He was 51. A 1993 CM graduate, he was a Globe All-Scholastic and was inducted into the CM Hall of Fame.

He went on to play at Bridgewater State, finishing as the program’s third-leading scorer with 1,727 points. He went on to serve as a Boston police officer and detective and helped coach JV and varsity basketball at CM. A funeral mass will be held Monday (10 a.m.) at St. Theresa of Avila Church in West Roxbury.

Westfield State field hockey junior Kaleigh Murphy, a Pembroke graduate, notched her 100th collegiate point with an assist to Durfee grad Kacey Curran, who scored twice in a 2-0 win over Framingham State in the MASCAC semifinals. Murphy is the fourth Owl to reach the mark.

The MIAA held its annual Sportsmanship Summit at Gillette Stadium Thursday. The district sportsmanship awards went to: Agawam, Whitinsville Christian, Westborough, Billerica, Chelsea, Roxbury Prep, Sharon, New Bedford, and Hanover. St. Mary’s hockey player Avery Sico was the sportsmanship essay winner. Here’s a few looks:

Devin Crofford, St. John Paul II, 3

Raegan Dillon, St. John Paul II, 3

McKenna Carpenter, Hopedale, 2

Michaela Enright, St. John Paul II, 2

Sydney Kalaw, Needham, 2

Frankie Scinicariello, Douglas, 2

Sahana Zauls, Milton, 2

Cordelia Zwirek, Tewksbury, 2

Michaela Enright, St. John Paul II, 6

Cordelia Zwirek, Tewksbury, 5

Shayne Dugan, King Philip, 12

Jessie Wang, Andover, 11

Maria Rosario, Greater Lawrence, 9

Cece Kilroy, King Philip, 7

Naomi Vajda, Andover, 6

Asmeily Anziani, Greater Lawrence, 15

Ilaisha Taveras, Greater Lawrence, 25

Caleigh Shore, King Philip, 16

Cece Kilroy, King Philip, 12

Naomi Vajda, Andover, 3

Jessie Wang, Andover, 6

Cece Mullin, King Philip, 5

Mya McCormick, King Philip, 4

Cece Kilroy, King Philip, 3

Maria Rosario, Greater Lawrence, 3

Freddy Torcasio, Newton North, 4

Brendan Peno, Nauset, 3

Jacoby Castinelli-Tarasuik, Essex Tech, 2

Jayden McGuffie, Malden, 234

Ori Forest, Arlington, 226

Charlie Lussier, Essex Tech, 155

Ori Forest, Arlington, 4

Jayden McGuffie, Malden, 3

Charlie Lussier, Essex Tech, 2

Nico Atwood, Newton North, 2

Jacob Goodwin, Newton North, 2

Jack Peno, Nauset, 2

Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie.