Our No. 1 stayed firmly in place. After weeks of coming close, St. John’s Prep grabbed the top spot in our poll from Catholic Memorial with all four first-place votes and a unanimous 100 points last week. The Eagles stayed firmly in place following a convincing 37-15 win at Malden Catholic last Friday night.

This is the final week of the regular season before a much-anticipated MIAA tournament, and teams across the commonwealth are staking their places in league standings and the statewide power rankings.

Kyle Grabowski (MetroWest Daily News), Jason Snow (The Patriot Ledger), Tim Whelan (Gannett New England) and Chris McDaniel (Gannett New England) will collectively rank the top teams in the state every week this season. These are the rankings heading into Week 8.

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MA high school football top 25 rankings

1. St. John’s Prep- 100 points (4 first-place votes)

2. Springfield Central – 96 points

3. Xaverian – 92 points

4. Catholic Memorial – 88 points

5. King Philip – 84 points

6. Natick – 79 points

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7. Methuen – 73 points

8. Central Catholic – 70 points

9. Bishop Feehan – 63 points

10. Tewksbury – 61 points

11. Barnstable – 60 points

12. Marshfield – 54 points

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13. Scituate – 53 points

14. Foxborough – 50 points

15. Mansfield – 49 points

16. Andover – 39 points

17. North Attleborough – 37 points

18. Shawsheen Valley Tech – 31 points

19. Milton – 30 points

20. Winchester – 23 points

21. Bridgewater-Raynham – 14 points

22. Abington – 9 points

23. Canton – 8 points

T-24. Hingham – 7 points

T-24. Hanover – 7 points

Other receiving votes: Leominster (6), Duxbury (6), Archbishop Williams (5), Wachusett (5), Bedford (1)

Who jumped into the top 25?

Hanover (5-2) moved into the poll after a 42-21 victory over Quincy, the Hawks’ fourth straight win.

Other notable activity

The top eight remained the same as last week, but Bishop Feehan moved up three spots to #9 after a 27-21 win over a tough Franklin team. North Attleborough, meanwhile, moved down seven spots from #10 to #17 after a 24-14 defeat to Mansfield. The Hornets moved from #20 to #15 with the Hockomock League Davenport triumph.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey’s office confirmed Wednesday morning that one of her staffers has been fired following his arrest.

“The Governor’s Office has been made aware of the arrest of an employee, Lamar Cook,” a spokesperson for Healey said in a statement. “The conduct that occurred here is unacceptable and represents a major breach of the public trust. Mr. Cook has been terminated from his position effective immediately. This criminal investigation is ongoing, and our administration will work with law enforcement to assist them in their work.”

The state’s website says Cook served as the governor’s western Massachusetts deputy director in Springfield. He has reportedly served in that role since April of 2023.

According to the Hampden District Attorney’s Office, Cook is charged with cocaine trafficking, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition and is expected to be arraigned in Springfield District Court on Wednesday.

Prosecutors said Cook was arrested Tuesday following an investigation conducted by state police, Homeland Security and other partner agencies. They said investigators have seized multiple parcels containing a total of 21 kilograms of suspected cocaine, including about 8 kilograms that were intercepted on Saturday during a controlled delivery operation in Springfield.

They said the controlled delivery took place at the Springfield State Office Building, where Cook worked. Investigators executed a search warrant of Cook’s former office within the office building on Monday night.

Prosecutors said the investigation that led to Cook’s arrest stemmed from two prior seizures conducted by law enforcement earlier this month. On Oct. 10, they intercepted and searched two suspicious packages at Hotel UMass in Amherst, which were found to contain approximately 13 kilograms of suspected cocaine.

“Evidence collected during that operation was consistent with the narcotics recovered during the most recent controlled delivery in Springfield,” the district attorney’s office said. “The investigation into the UMass seizure remains ongoing and may result in additional charges related to the prior shipments in Hampshire County.”

Two Massachusetts women recently lost a combined $6,700 to a “missed jury duty” phone scam that utilized Bitcoin ATMs, Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick McDermott said.

According to the sheriff, there’s been an increase in calls from scammers who claim to work for local law enforcement and demand money from residents who have supposedly missed jury duty. They threaten to arrest those who don’t agree to pay.

“The Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office never makes calls like this, and neither do local police departments,” McDermott said in a statement Wednesday. “Just hang up on anyone who is demanding money and acting like they are from our office, or another law enforcement agency, threatening you with arrest or detainment for things like ‘missed jury duty’ or an ‘outstanding warrant.’”

Scammers used Bitcoin ATMs

Both of the victims came to the sheriff’s office after sending money to the scammers. One was a woman from Sharon who paid $5,250 via a Bitcoin kiosk.

“She told our officer she was there to clear up an issue about missing jury duty after transferring the money as demanded,” the sheriff said. 

The woman said she saw a sign on the Bitcoin machine warning about scams, but the person on the phone told her should would be detained for 10-12 days if she didn’t pay.

Just 90 minutes later, the sheriff said a woman from Dedham came into the office to report that she paid a $1,450 “bond” through a Roslindale Bitcoin kiosk. The scammer reportedly sent her a “fraudulent court document to back up his claims,” the sheriff said, and threatened that she’d be arrested and detained for 72 hours unless she paid immediately.  

Scam warnings

The city of Gloucester recently banned Bitcoin ATMs, saying they’re concerned the machines could be used by scammers to prey on elderly victims. And in Waltham this summer, a police officer stopped an elderly man from sending $12,000 to scammers via a Bitcoin machine. 

In August, the Federal Trade Commission warned that scammers pretending to be police are calling up Americans and directing them to fake websites to pay a fine for missing jury duty. 

“It might ask you to pay up to $10,000 in fines on the site, or send you to a “government kiosk” (no such thing) to pay by cryptocurrency,” the FTC said. “But every bit of this is a scam.”