The poll was one thing -- Everett was a mainstay at or near the top -- but the weekly game predictions were another.
DiBiaso had a cordial relationship with former Globe high school sports editor Bob Holmes. But he noticed something peculiar every week he looked at the Globe's predictions.
"He used to tickle Everett all the time," DiBiaso said. "He never picked Everett. We'd be ranked No. 1, and we played a team who had five losses, right? And he knew we were going to beat them by five touchdowns, and he'd still pick them just to tickle the readers and Everett."
It became a running joke between the two. But DiBiaso found ways to use it in his locker room.
"For me, it always provided bulletin-board material when they picked against us," DiBiaso said.
Times change. Technology changes. So DiBiaso doesn't check as much.
"Since everything now is online, I haven't," he said.
Teams even change, but since DiBiaso arrived at Catholic Memorial, his team's spot in the Globe poll hasn't.
In the seven seasons since 2018, there have been 94 Globe polls. Catholic Memorial has appeared in all of them. The Knights haven't been ranked lower than 11th -- that was in DiBiaso's first year. Since then, CM hasn't fallen lower than fifth. The Knights have been ranked No. 1 54 times, by far the most of any program. They've been in the top three 73 times, and they've been in the top five 87 times.
Along with programs such as St. John's Prep (94 total appearances), Duxbury (88), King Philip (81), and Mansfield (80), CM has been a mainstay in the poll.
The Globe poll, a version of which first appeared in the newspaper in 1934, is compiled weekly from the preseason through the championship games by the Globe staff, led by high school sports editor Craig Larson and football reporter Nate Weitzer. The Globe reviews game results, common opponents and strength of schedule, statistics, and more in determining its rankings.
"The fact that we've been consistent, I'm proud of that," DiBiaso said. "We've never really had to say we're in a rebuilding stage, so to speak. So we take pride in that every year we're competitive and we want to do well every year. It's a standard for the next group coming up, whether it was at Everett and now Catholic Memorial, because they don't want to be the one that lets you down."
Games are won on the field, not in the polls. But to coaches, rankings have different meanings.
DiBiaso said he values the work it takes to be competitive week in and week out more than the praise once the work is done. But being recognized for having a history of success builds a sense of pride in the program that carries throughout the locker room, the school building and the community, and attracts the younger generation.
"We utilize that in the offseason as motivation," DiBiaso said. "The kids -- not that they need a lot of motivation -- but the history of a program generally drives your interest from the kids at the school. If you don't have a history, it's tough to get kids to come out for football."
Rankings can put a target on your back or a chip on your shoulder.
"I have to be honest that we've had a target on our back for a number of years," said Xaverian coach Al Fornaro, whose program has won three championships in the past decade. "As have many programs in the state -- St. John's Prep, Everett, Brockton, and Catholic Memorial. That comes with being a successful program. When the schedule comes out, they generally circle those teams that have been perennial winners or had great success. So I think that that's part of it -- and we know."
Xaverian is one of the teams that embraces being hunted. Since 2018, it has won 38 of 58 games as a ranked team.
"Historically, we play one of the toughest, if not the toughest, schedules in the state, year in and year out," Fornaro said. "And I do believe this: In high school football, whoever you face -- they may have been ranked 20th -- they might be able to go out and beat the No. 1 team because it's high school."
Andover coach EJ Perry prefers the comp. Since 2018, Andover has been one of high school football's most successful underdogs. Whether it was two years ago when it was ranked 10th and stunned No. 7 Central Catholic or last season when it upset Central Catholic again as an unranked team then toppled No. 11 Billerica the next week, Andover embraced the challenge.
"You want to play the best," Perry said. "Sometimes, when you play the best on that night, you can knock off teams that are supposedly unable to knock off."
Over 38 years as head coach at Mansfield, Mike Redding has seen both sides. Mansfield is typically a Globe poll mainstay, but the past two seasons, it has popped in and out of the Top 20.
"Over the years, we've been the team in the league, in the division, that people are trying to knock off," Redding said. "That's a tough position to be in to kind of hold your ground every week with people bringing their best because this is their shot.
"So this year and last year a little bit, it's been fun to be the underdog in some of these games, and to be people picking against us and not ranking us. It hasn't happened a whole lot in the last 20 years or so. It's a different mind-set."
Mansfield was ranked as high as 10th this season, but fell out of the poll in October after a loss to No. 19 North Attleborough.
"It's definitely a motivating factor," he said. "We're driven by adversity."
Redding's team lost heartbreakers to No. 8 Duxbury and No. 7 Marshfield along with the loss to North Attleborough.Otherwise, it's a 6-3 team that's played a strong schedule. But not being ranked does add fuel, especially as teams approach the playoffs.
"I think we're a little underrated right now, and I think we're playing good football," said Redding, whose Hornets will play Walpole in a Division 3 semifinal Friday night. "Sometimes not being ranked can be a good thing. It gets a chip on your shoulder. It gets you a little more motivated. Like, 'Hey, people don't respect us.' We're typical coaches. We'll use any form of motivation we can to kind of rally the troops."
Every Monday, Bryan Pinabell and his coaching staff at Bishop Feehan walk into the locker room and hold a 20-minute meeting with the team about their opponent that week. They go over all phases of the game, what their opponent did against other teams, possible injuries.
Pinabell typically doesn't like to mention polls.
"Honestly, rankings are nice for publicity, but I don't really talk about it with our kids unless we're playing a ranked opponent," he said.
Pinabell had to acknowledge it a few times in the past month. Bishop Feehan had Bishop Fenwick, which was 17th, and St. Mary's, which had a brief stint at 20th, lined up in back-to-back weeks.
His team was on the outside looking in at the poll, but he used the rankings to underscore a sense of urgency.
"I told them that our playoffs started mid-October because of those last two games," Pinabell said. "We have to treat these -- even though they're not -- we have to treat them like elimination games. And I think the theme I've been trying to get across to them the last few weeks is just stay in the moment."
Bishop Feehan won both games and made the Top 20.
"It doesn't matter if they're ranked, unranked," Pinabell said. "All you've got to do is win the game. That's all that matters. And if we happen to play our best and lose, and so be it. And if we happen to not play our best and lose, sometimes that's just what happens. But honestly, it's just finding a way, whatever that is, just find a way."
Polls ... aren't perfect.
In fact, since 2018, the only Globe preseason No. 1 to win a Super Bowl that season was Catholic Memorial in 2022.
As much as coaches use rankings for fuel, they understand it's an inexact science.
"Polls are subjective," Fornaro said. "Not every school is able to be viewed by the people who are making the polls. They sometimes go on history and schedule, and we understand that. So we try not to get too high or get too low, depending upon where we may or may not be ranked."
Fornaro respects and appreciates the polls, but he keeps them in perspective.