Week 9 Thoughts on the Weekend

- You know the regular season has passed you by and the playoffs are ready to get underway when the calendar says it is November 1st. It is both a warming feel to know what is approaching, while also a bit of a chilly feeling that the end of soon upon us – and I don’t just mean the temperatures!

- The decision to go for a two-point conversion in a close game is one of sports biggest double-edged swords. That is not to say that opting to take the three-point shot in basketball isn’t similar. But more often that not in basketball there will be more opportunities to score. Football doesn’t always have that luxury. A touchdown might be the only points for a very long time. Take Thursday night’s game in Sanford between the Spartans and Massabesic in the Battle of the Ridge. Nolan Pomerleau’s first quarter touchdown, combined with Cameron Bourque’s successful PAT kick, put the Mustangs up 7-0. That score remained unchanged until the early minutes of the fourth quarter. Sanford’s Jayden Franco would break the deadlock with his touchdown. The decision was made to go for the two-point conversion. Had the conversion been successful, Sanford would take the 8-7 lead and force Massabesic to score in order to win. The attempt would be stopped, keeping Massabesic in front by a narrow 7-6 lead. That stop would be the deciding factor as Sanford was unable to get any more points the rest of the way.

- Like Thornton Academy’s game plan the prior week, they found their greatest success in a ground game anchored by Connor Ayoob that helped lead to the 27-14 Golden Trojans victory over Noble. Ayoob’s scoreboard numbers began in the second half following a tied 7-7 halftime score. His two touchdown runs, along with a stopped two-point conversion attempt, gave Thornton Academy a 19-7 lead that held into the fourth quarter. A Noble touchdown pass from Mark Lapointe to Aiden Keefe made it a one-score game at 19-14. Shortly afterwards Ayoob got his third touchdown of the game, and 23rd of the season, to put Thornton Academy back into the drivers seat at 27-14. That was a lead that held the rest of the way as the Golden Trojans celebrated the win and first place in Southern Class A.

- The playoff game between Mount Desert Island and Houlton was delayed due to Houlton’s bus breaking down. That was the first Shiretowners setback in a night filled with them as Mount Desert Island quite literally ran to a 46-8 victory. The Trojans outran Houlton by almost a 10-to-1 margin (370 yards to 38). Their ground success forced Houlton to rely on the air attack to catch up. That aerial game struggled at best as Houlton had three turnovers and punted more often than not out of their own half of the field. Mount Desert Island’s Lincoln Gray had 16 of the team’s 39 carries, rushing for 218 yards and a touchdown on the night. His backfield partner Kenneth Stillwell had at carries for 86 yards and led the team with two touchdowns.

- Just like the Battle of Bridge games numbered 105 through 108, it was another Portland win as the Bulldogs defeated their cross-bay rival South Portland 27-14 on Friday night. Three of the Bulldogs touchdowns came through Cordell Jones, two in the first half alongside an Alex McKusick touchdown catch from Jones that put Portland up 20-6. The two teams exchanged a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter when McKusick recovered a fumble off a Charlie Abramson-Thompson interception, and returned it the final few yards a the Bulldogs fourth touchdown of the game. The touchdown was McKusick’s second of the night. The interception was South Portland’s third of the game. They would get a measure of revenge on the ensuing drive as Shea Healy’s pass to Darius Johnson resulted in an 80-yard touchdown. That would be the final points of the game as Portland ended the night with first place in Northern Class A. Despite the result, South Portland continues to hold a 56-50 (with three ties) lead in the 109-game history.

- Games between Bangor and Oxford Hills have a way of changing playoff fates. In 2023, a 6-2 Oxford Hills team was a heavy favorite against 4-4 Bangor. The Rams had a tentative hold on the fourth and final playoff spot in Northern Class A. That hold would disintegrate with an Oxford Hills win and a Lewiston win. The Vikings beat the Rams 39-14, which was the first shoe to drop. Lewiston would go on to defeat Edward Little 34-18 and was the other shoe to drop. Bangor ended the season with 90.598 Crabtree points, while Lewiston finished with 92.496. In 2024, 3-5 Bangor squared off with 4-4 Oxford Hills. Bangor was in fourth place and Oxford Hills was in fifth place. The winner would get into the playoffs, making the contest a win-and-your-in sort of thing. The Rams, likely remembering what happened a year ago, returned the knockout favor with a 20-6 victory. Their win, combined with Windham’s 30-28 loss to Bonny Eagle, nudged Bangor into third place while leaving Oxford Hills out in the cold. Perhaps some of the Oxford Hills players and coaches remembered what happened a year ago. Perhaps not. This time around there was no harsh playoff exhile for the losing team as both teams were guaranteed a playoff spot. However, a win would give the team home field in the following week’s regional semifinal. The Vikings would start out behind as Bangor’s Trey Tennett caught a 44-yard touchdown catch to put the Rams up 7-0 in the first quarter. After that it was all Vikings as they scored 34 consecutive points for the 34-7 victory. Quarterback Dylan Truman completed 20 of 29 passes for 203 yards with touchdowns to Jackson Stack and Cameron Pulkkinen. Pulkkinen would combine with Cameron Roy and Keegan Ridley for touchdown runs of 16 yards, 32 yards, and 17 yards on the night. Bangor, who were without quarterback Kyle Johnson in the second half due to what appeared to be injury, had four turnovers. Oxford Hills’ win moved them up to second place, while dropping Bangor into third place.

- Unlike Marshwood’s 23-22 come-from-behind victory over Cheverus in week four of the regular season, the playoff re-match on Friday anything but close as the Hawks celebrated the 43-23 regional quarterfinal victory. After a quick Cheverus touchdown, Marshwood got three straight touchdowns early in the second quarter. Cole Goodwin’s touchdown run tied the game 7-7, then Gregory Castoras caught two touchdown passes from Michael Sbrizza that helped put the Hawks up 19-7. That lead increased as Castoras ran for two more touchdowns in the third quarter. The Stags tried to keep pace as they got two second half touchdowns to narrow the gap to 37-23. The first was when AJ Lauture ran for a nine-yard touchdown. The second happened when Lauture scored on a 77-yard catch-and-run from Colton Jewett. However, fumbles were the Stags ultimate undoing as they turned the ball over seven times on the night. That, and Castoras’ third rushing touchdown and fifth overall score of the game put the contest out of reach.

- Following a roller-coaster start to the season, defending Class B state champions the Falmouth Navigators have been quietly putting together an impressive run that included Friday’s 33-0 shutout of Gorham in the Southern Class B regional quarterfinal. And like last year’s team, it starts out with staunch defensive play. It is a defensive that has twice had shutouts to go with a state-best 3 points allowed in the last three games. The Falmouth offense meanwhile spread the wealth around as they got touchdowns from Tres Walker, Brandon Welch, TJ Saulter, a Luke Roy touchdown catch from Walker, and Wesley Howard for the final score of the game. Falmouth’s win will pit them against Kennebunk next week. The Rams won their last match 14-10 at the start of the regular season on September 5th.

- If you are a Mt. Blue player, coach, or fan it would be permissible if you let out an exasperated sigh when you looked the playoff brackets and saw Lawrence as your regional quarterfinal opponent. The Bulldogs have been a very, very difficult opponent for the Cougars. Since a 34-13 regular season victory in 2018, the next seven games have ended in a Lawrence victory. After Friday that would be eight games as Lawrence beat Mt. Blue 40-14 to get a ticket to the regional semifinal. Lawrence has now outscored Mt. Blue 358 to 102. The Bulldogs relied upon a committee-like ground game that saw three players (Garrett Leclerc, Keegan Littlefield, and Jaiden Hebert) each run for over 100 yards on a combined 40 carries. Littlefield finished the night with five touchdowns on just 14 carries. In fact he accounted for the first three touchdowns of the game that helped give Lawrence a 20-0 halftime advantage. He added two more in the second half, along with a rushing touchdown by Leclerc that accounted for all the Bulldogs scoring. Mt. Blue got onto the scoreboard in the second half with a Gary Harkins touchdown pass to Roman Galkowski to go along with a Reed Cousineau touchdown run.

- You can find lots of football motivational posters saying that a team is family. In Messalonskee that is literal statement for the Doucette family. And on the game-winning touchdown it was definitely a family thing as quarterback Tatum threw an 18-yard strike to younger brother Parker in the back of the end zone for what would be the go-ahead touchdown and the 35-28 lead, the final score when the remaining 1:43 ran off the clock. It was a back-and-forth game as each matched the other touchdown for touchdown for most of the night. Tatum’s first, second, and third touchdown passes were equalized by Skowhegan’s Ayden Mulcahy, who ran for 256 yards and scored three touchdowns. It was Mulcahy’s third touchdown in the fourth quarter that tied the game 28-28. However, the Eagles had the time and the momentum to move downfield, leading to the Doucette-to-Doucette game-winning touchdown pass.

- The last time Foxcroft Academy played York it involved a trip South to New Hampshire. This time around they got to play in their own backyard and have the Wildcats travel North for the game. The game didn’t come close to the 46 points scored back in September. But the game ended with a Foxcroft Academy 14-0 victory. Quarterback Evan Seavey had a role in both Ponies touchdowns. The first was a second quarter touchdown pass to Lucas Sands and the other was a quarterback keeper in the third quarter. Their next game is against a Leavitt opponent that they are likely familiar with through the news, but not so much on the gridiron. The last time they met was in a 2019 regular season game that Leavitt won 42-19. Beyond that, well, it goes well beyond our records. If at all.

- The Mattanawcook Academy win against Mountain Valley and the Maranacook loss to Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale was enough to move the Lynx ahead of the Black Bears at the end of the regular season. It was also enough to give the Lynx the home field against the Black Bears in the Northern Class D regional quarterfinal. The last time the two teams met it was the traveling Lynx that pulled off the 16-6 victory back in week two. This time around it was Maranacook that played the better football for the 26-12 win. Maranacook’s Kaden Neptune ran for 134 yards and two touchdowns. However, some of the team’s better achievements came on defense. Neptune had 12 tackles, 3 for losses, and forced a fumble. Ethan Chilton picks in with 9 tackles while forcing & recovery a fumble along with getting a touchdown on a pick-six.

- Mt. Ararat defeated Yarmouth 44-20 to start the regular season. On Friday they defeated Yarmouth to start the post-season, picking up a 44-14 win on Friday. It was exactly an easy win for the Eagle, but they certainly made it look that way on both sides of the ball. They ran the ball 58 times and averaged almost 6 yards a carry, paced by Nick Doughty’s 197 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively they stymied the best passing team in Maine’s 8 man football ranks, holding Ignatius McGrath to just 80 passing yards and a 33% completion percentage in the first half. McGrath would turn things around in the second half, throwing for 160 yards and completing 9 of 14 passes with touchdowns to Adam Pelotte and Jackson Jabar. However, Mt. Ararat showed off their passing game in the second half as Will Davis threw touchdowns to Micah Westbrooks and Adrian Reyes to keep the Eagles in the lead. They would also further distance themselves from the Clippers with rushing touchdowns by Aidan Ramsay and Joshua Merriman late in the game. The win puts Mt. Ararat into a regional final (or state semifinal, depending on your perspective) for the fifth time in their six-year history of playing 8 man football.

- The Dexter Tigers did everything they could in the fourth quarter to keep their narrow lead over Orono in their regional semifinal game. Up 24-22, Dexter’s touchdown and two-point conversion gave them a 32-22 lead in the opening minute or so of the quarter. Despite Orono drawing to within 32-28 a minute later, the Tigers next drive ate almost six minutes off the clock, including a first down pick-up on a fourth and two, that lead to another touchdown that gave them back a ten-point 38-28 lead. It only took Orono a little over a minute to respond, turning a fourth and four situation into a 50-yard touchdown that brought them within four points. However, once the ball got back into Dexter’s hands they killed off the remaining 2:19 off the clock to win the game 38-34.

- Bucksport tried, much like they have been doing all season long, but in their regional semifinal game against Stearns they struggled to convert their opportunities into points while Stearns had no such problem. The Golden Bucks suffered three turnovers on downs on the Stearns half of the field, one of those was a goal line stop near the end of the first half. They also conceded a safety due to a high snap on a punt. That does not include two drive-killing interceptions. Stearns meanwhile suffered minimal setbacks as Lucas Pelkey and Cohen Raymond ground game helped build a 28-0 Minutemen lead at the half. Raymond ran for 215 yards and three touchdowns, while Pelkey ran for 97 yards and two touchdowns. Stearns’ win puts them in the very familiar territory of their fifth consecutive regional final game. Last year’s 62-20 victory over Houlton was their first regional victory after falling in the previous three tries.

- With no chance at the playoffs, there were still games this weekend that were held for the basic element of school and community pride. That was the Saturday setting in Lewiston for the long-time Battle of the Bridge rivals Lewiston and Edward Little. Lewiston came in winless, while Edward Little had one win to their name. But that was all irrelevant during the 183rd Battle of the Bridge. The only thing that mattered here was the bragging rights for the victor. It was Edward Little that got onto the scoreboard first on a Evan Madigan touchdown. Dawson Breton’s touchdown run minutes later in the second quarter put the Red Eddies up 14-0. Madigan’s third quarter touchdown, followed by Tanner Melanson’s touchdown, put them up 28-0. Madigan’s third and final touchdown of the day happened in the fourth quarter to force running time and a hastening to the end of the game. Edward Little’s win snaps a five-game winning streak by Lewiston in the rivalry and is the first since they won the regular season and playoff match-up in 2018. Despite the loss, Lewiston still leads the all-time series 98-73, with 12 ties.

- So many people contributed in Medomak Valley’s 62-6 victory over Old Town, we think that the team water boy even had a rushing attempt in the final box score. The Panthers had little in the way to stop them as they scored six touchdowns at the half, with two more happening before the end of the game. Quarterback Wyatt Simmons threw two touchdowns to Owen Dostie. Shamus Pease had three rushing touchdowns, Jaydiin Ruiz had two, and Will Trainor had one. Jack Simmons and Trent Wallace combined with Pease and Ruiz for seven two-point conversions. Defensively Jack combined with Max McCabe and Jacoby Achorn to force three Old Town turnovers.

- The recent history says that Oak Hill and Freeport games will go to the wire. In 2023, Oak Hill started the season 0-3. After beating Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale for their first win of the season, they came into their week five battle against a Freeport team that had dropped their second straight game after winning their first two games. Things were close at the end, but it was Oak Hill that picked up the 24-16 win. The teams did not play in the 2024 regular season. However, 5-3 Freeport finished ahead of 5-3 Oak Hill in the standings, putting the Falcons into fourth and the Raiders into fifth and setting up a playoff match-up. The back-and-forth game came down to the last minute as Oak Hill’s Braden Dubuc threw the touchdown pass to Isaac Graham. With Dubuc’s successful two-point pass to Kaiden Delano, The Raiders took the 22-21 lead. Graham’s interception of a Teddy Peters pass would go on to seal the deal and send the Raiders on to the regional semifinal game. On Saturday Freeport took a 10-0 halftime lead, only to watch it slip away as Oak Hill’s two touchdowns gave them the 12-10 victory.

- The craziest part of the Morse 14-12 victory over Poland happened in the last two minutes of their game. Nevermind that Morse took the early 8-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, or that they held a 14-6 lead at halftime. We’ll skip a scoreless third quarter. In the final quarter the two teams would exchange possessions with neither being able to take the all-deciding next touchdown. Poland got their opportunity late in the game. First they stopped Morse on a fourth and one on their own 48 yard line with 2:55 remaining in the game. It was not lost on us that Linkin Park’s “In The End” was played during the preceding timeout. Two plays later Damon Martin took a snap out of the shotgun and someone found space through the line that enabled him to outrun two Morse defenders before diving at the goal line for a 56 yard touchdown run. On the two-point conversion the Poland ball-carrier tried to go up the middle and was instead met by a wall of Morse defenders and was stopped. With 2:04 to go and Morse leading by two, Poland went for the desperation on-side kick attempt that was corralled by a Morse player. The game was not finished though. Morse would get 12 yards on the next play, but would go four-and-out as the Poland defense forced the turnover on downs to get the ball back on their own 34 with 58.7 seconds to go. However, Martin would get sacked on first down and his three passes would sail over his intended receivers deep downfield. Turnover on downs and Morse ball. All the Shipbuilders had to go was kneel down and celebrate the win.

- You would need to go back seven years to the 2018 season, which was the last time Madison won a playoff game. That season the 4-4 Bulldogs finished in sixth place in the eight-team Southern Class D. That year all eight teams made the regional playoffs. Madison would make the trip to Rumford to take on the 4-4 Mountain Valley Falcons. The Bulldogs pulled off the seeding upset with a 40-12 road victory. They would fall in the regional semifinals in a close-fought 34-33 overtime loss to Oak Hill. This time around Madison was in a much strong position, hosting a playoff football game at Rudman Field for the first time since the 2017 regional semifinal. On Saturday afternoon it was all Bulldogs as they dispatched Maine Central Institute 46-6. The win was the largest playoff margin of victory for Madison since well before 2004.

- The euphoria in Waterville following their win-and-you’re-in victory over Ellsworth last week was quickly tempered against a Camden Hills team that quickly and efficiently took advantage of their opportunities during the Windjammers 46-0 win on Saturday. Camden Hills’ Braden Beveridge ran for a touchdown and also returned an interception for a touchdown. Justin Batty ran for a touchdown. However, his defensive efforts were even more noteworthy as he finished with 20 total tackles and three interceptions. The team also got scoring assistance from the ground game by Ben Hoffman (2 touchdowns), Ethan Dingle (1 touchdown), and Judah Burgess. The team as a whole finished with 26 carries for 379 yards – averaging almost 15 yards per carry. The win puts Camden Hills into their third consecutive regional final/state semifinal game. The Windjammers will be hoping their third time is a charm to get to their first ever state football championship game. In 2023 they lost 26-6 to Mount Desert Island. In 2024 they lost 48-12 to Mt. Ararat.

- The Dylan Jewett & Owen Kelvey show was on full display in Jay on Saturday night as part of a solid team effort during Spruce Mountain’s 44-8 victory over Lake Region. The two combined for 245 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on 38 carries. Jewett completed two of his five passes to Kelvey for 67 yards. On defense the two combined for 16 tackles, 12 solo, with Kelvey hauling in an interception. That pick-off was one of four turnovers by the Lakers. For the Phoenix, it was the fifth time they have held an opponent to single-digits points. That is the fewest of any 8 man team in Maine. They will be going to their first regional final since 2013, a 48-21 loss to Leavitt.

- Head coach Timothy O’Connor of Telstar is certainly getting one heck of a send-off party by his team. After announcing that he will be stepping down as head coach at the end of this season, his Rebels have won three straight games to include their 60-30 victory on Saturday over Sacopee Valley. The victory is certainly noteworthy as it was their first playoff victory since their football team re-formed in 2011. While they did play an JV schedule and an independent schedule for years, one might need to go back to the 70s or 80s to find the last time Telstar won a football playoff game. We welcome the research to find out how long it has been. Running back Alex Dougherty featured prominently for Telstar as he scored six touchdowns – five rushing one receiving.

- Out of state tracker
Bedford defeated Keene 49-0 on Friday. The 9-0 Bulldogs finished in first in Division I West and first overall in Division I
Exeter lost 28-21 to Manchester Memorial on Friday. The 5-4 Blue Hawks finished in third in Division I East and ninth overall in Division I
Keene lost 49-0 to Bedford on Friday. The 1-8 Blackbirds finished in sixth in Division I West and twentieth overall in Division I
Laconia defeated Inter Lakes-Moultonborough 21-12 on Friday. The 7-2 Sachems finished in first in Division III East and second overall in Division III 
Monadnock defeated Campbell 46-12 on Saturday. The 9-0 Huskies finished in first in Division III West and first overall in Division III
Winnacunnet lost 21-14 to Bishop Guertin on Friday. The 6-3 Warriors finished in second in Division I East and eighth overall in Division I

Bedford, Exeter, and Winnacunnet qualified for the NHIAA Division I playoffs.
Laconia and Monadnock qualified for the NHIAA Division III playoffs.

- Quote of the week
"When they come in, we say, ‘You want to leave your mark on the program, leave it better then when you came in,’ and this group, like most of our groups do, they take that to heart. We’ve got 24 seniors, and it’s a great group of kids that have worked really hard and have a lot of pride in the program and played their hearts out, played a lot of football for us."
Kevin Kezal, Thornton Academy head coach

- Streak tracker
There are 5 unbeaten teams in Maine, which is unchanged from last week
3 teams ended their winning streaks of 4 or more games: Yarmouth (7), Orono (6), and South Portland (4)
The longest active winning streaks belong to Old Orchard Beach (19), Greely (17), Cony (8), John Bapst (8), and Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale (8)
1 team ended their losing streak of 4 or more games: Edward Little (7)
The longest active losing streaks belong to Mount View (28), Belfast (18), Mountain Valley 912), Hampden Academy (10), and Lewiston (10)

- With the playoffs in progress we are not noting our games of interest, as we are interested in all the games!

What are your thoughts on the weekend?