Lee vs. Longmeadow: Two top Western Mass. teams wanted a challenge

There’s nothing particularly unusual about a Division IV football team playing a Division VIII opponent in Western Massachusetts. What is unusual is having two of the region’s best teams — regardless of division — intentionally seek each other out for a nonconference game. That’s what makes Friday night’s matchup between No. 2 Lee and No. 6 Longmeadow particularly intriguing. The Wildcats are 2-0 and coming off an emotional 18-14 victory over Wahconah, while the Lancers are 0-2 after opening the season against two strong out-of-region opponents. Instead, both saw value in making the other one a challenge. The teams will meet at 7 p.m. Friday at Longmeadow High School, with Lee looking to test itself against a significantly larger program and Longmeadow hoping to measure its new-look team against one of Western Massachusetts’ top small-school programs. “What we really wanted — and this was a conversation between me, the staff and Keith (Thomson), the AD — was to find a challenging game against a bigger school on the road,” Lee coach Tom Salinetti said. “We wanted a situation similar to what we might find ourselves in in the state semifinals, or what we found ourselves in last year there: Go on the road and take on someone big, strong and a team that executes well. We need a gut check.” Lee is coming off a win in Week 2 that provided plenty of emotion of its own.

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