Week 4 Thoughts on the Weekend

- We are now finally sitting at the mid-way point of the regular season. This may not be the end, but it gives us a solid idea of what everybody has to do between now and then. While all but seven teams make the playoffs, positioning will have a part to play in the next few weeks.

- Congratulations to Old Orchard Beach’s Dean Plante on getting his 100th victory as a football coach on Saturday, doing so in his 202nd game coached. He becomes the 15th active coach to have reached the century mark in wins and the 10th to have coached 200 games.

- Sanford took full advantage of four Marshwood turnovers during their 42-6 victory on Friday. Two of those turnovers were on the ground while the other two were through the air. And while Marshwood had moderate success on the ground with 156 rushing yards, movement by the air was limited. Hawks quarterback Tyler Hussey was only able to complete 4 of 16 passes for 81 yards. He was on the passing end of Marshwood’s only score – a 39-yard touchdown pass to Brady Isabelle. They were only 4 for 12 on third downs, and were hit by seven penalties for 41 yards. Sanford meanwhile took a strong lead in the first quarter with two touchdowns by Jordan Bissonnette and a pick-six by Makai Bougie. Bissonnette finished the game with 62 rushing yards while Rhylen Avery ran for 141 yards and a touchdown on seven carries.

- An undefeated battle of the Rams took place in Kennebunk as they hosted Deering on Friday. And despite committing four turnovers, Kennebunk was able to contain Deering in a 28-6 victory. The game was fairly close though. Deering allowed only 14 points going into the fourth quarter. They would get themselves onto the board with the catalyst being a Colin Burke interception return to Kennebunk’s 20-yard line. Tavian Lauture would finish the drive with a quarterback keeper that narrowed the early fourth quarter deficit to 14-6. However, Kennebunk furthered that lead moments later on an Austin West kickoff return for a touchdown. Later in the fourth quarter Jonah Barstow scored his second touchdown that gave us the final score.

- The start of the 2023 Poland Knights season continued without a flaw with their victory over second-place Freeport on Friday. Well, without a flaw must be technically inaccurate as they allowed the smallest possible score in American football when Freeport blocked a Knights punt and the ball rolled out of the endzone for the safety. There were also three Poland turnovers in the first quarter that gave injury-ravaged Freeport opportunities to get onto the scoreboard. But Poland’s defense, which has shown a knack for making big stops, held back the Falcons each team. It was that same defense that put Poland’s first points on the board when Damon Martin intercepted an Alex Berry pass and went all the way to the end zone for a 6-0 advantage. Martin would come up big in the fourth quarter with his second interception of the game. Between those two picks were several length Poland drives and touchdown passes by quarterback Dylan Cook to Regan Cohen and Nick Aube. With two successful two-point conversions, that led to the final score of 22-2.

- The wins by Sanford, Kennebunk, and Poland further solidify their positions in first place in their respective regions. And despite the losses the rankings are positive for Marshwood (3rd in Southern Class B), Deering (2nd in Southern Class B), and Freeport (2nd in Southern Class D).

- Lewiston overcame an second-half deficit with touchdown passes from Lonnie Thomas Jr to Michael Caron, the first to tie it and the second to take the lead, to defeat Bangor 21-14 on Friday. This happened despite Lewiston struggling on third downs (0 for 7) and only converting once on four tries on fourth down. Bangor’s offense had the majority of the plays in the game (62 to 49) but the two late Blue Devils touchdowns negated a close-fought yardage battle for the 309 to 203 yard advantage at game’s end. Lewiston’s win bumps them up into fourth place, dropping Bangor into fifth.

- Thornton Academy moved their record to .500 with a dominating 37-6 victory over Windham on Friday. Utilizing a run-head game that accounted for all five touchdowns and 251 of their 330 offensive yards, the Golden Trojans got three rushing touchdowns from Mauricio Sunderland (2, 7, and 5 yard scores respectively). Windham’s long score came on a touchdown catch and run by Ezra Foster from Garrett Winslow for the 69-yard score. The win moved Thornton Academy in 2nd place in Southern Class A and sets up a 1-2 battle next Friday against Sanford.

- Edward Little twice saw leads evaporate before their eyes as Gardiner’s two touchdowns in the fourth quarter gave them a 35-26 victory on Friday. A 13-yard Chase Burgess to Evan Michaud touchdown in the first quarter gave Gardiner an early 7-0 lead. Edward Little had their first rally with two touchdowns from Kade Masselli to Bennett Dubois that gave the Red Eddies a 12-7 lead. Gardiner reclaimed that lead in the final seconds of the first half when Burgess threw a five-yard pass to Cody Dingwell for the score and a 14-12 lead. Gardiner furthered that lead in the third quarter when Chase Burgess run in a quarterback keeper for a 22-12 lead. Edward Little scored two touchdowns on their second rally of the game, a 65-yard touchdown from Masselli to Dubois for their third touchdown connection followed by a Masselli to Connor Irish touchdown pass, that gave the Red Eddies a 26-22 lead. In the fourth quarter Gardiner put the game out of reach for the final team on a 27-yard touchdown from Chase Burgess to Zach Kristan, followed by a 100-yard pick-six by Eli Farias.

- Lawrence’s 40-7 victory over Cony keeps the Bulldogs in 2nd place in Northern Class B over Gardiner on the second MPA tiebreaker. While the football bulletin uses the term “division record within the conference”, it boils down to their record within the region. Lawrence defeated regional rivals Falmouth, Mt. Blue, and Cony while Gardiner defeated Mt. Blue and Falmouth but lost to Messalonskee.

- The Wells and Cheverus game was a back-and-forth contest all the way to final seconds as the Stags held on for a 26-20 victory on Friday. Wells first quarter 7-0 lead was overcome in the second quarter back two Cheverus touchdowns for the 14-7 advantage. In the third quarter both teams exchanged touchdowns, with Cheverus holding a 20-14 edge going into the fourth and final quarter. Wells would tie things up when Brooks Fox completed an 8-yard touchdown pass to Riley Murphy. However, the extra point kick was no-good, resulting in a tied 20-20 score with eight minutes remaining. With 48 seconds left in the game Cheverus broken the tie with a seven-yard scoring run and a 26-20 lead. Wells would quickly storm downfield, but a Wells throw into the endzone was intercepted with 10 seconds remaining and gave the Stags the victory and their first uninterrupted 4-0 start since 2013.

- Few 8 man teams in Maine this season have been as prolific through the air as the Brunswick Dragons. During the 54-20 victory at home against Lake Region, it was a balanced Dragons offensive effort as running back Jimmy Cook ran for 145 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown. But as has been the case all season, Brunswick has used their air attack to great effort against the Lakers. Quarterback Cam Beal, who has put together a nice stat package this season, completed 21 of 30 passes for 169 yards and 5 touchdowns. This season he has completed 71 of 116 passes for 983 yards with 16 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Through the air Brunswick has scored 16 of their 25 offensive touchdowns. And although it is not limited to just one receiver, Trevor Gerrish has been on quite a number of those Beal passes. Trevor has catch 30 passes this season for 627 yards and 13 touchdowns. On Friday against Lake Region he caught 9 passes for 84 yards and 4 touchdowns.

- Camden Hills maintained their undefeated start, the best in the program’s history, with a 20-16 victory in Rumford over Mountain Valley. That win was far from secured though as they had to come from behind with a two-minute drive that ended in a William Haslam-to-Cameron Lawrence 22-yard touchdown pass, and a two-point conversion pass between the two, which gave the Windjammers the win. The game was noteworthy for multiple other reasons. Turnovers were an aspect of the game. The two teams combined for nine turnovers (a fumble and four interceptions for Camden Hills, three fumbles and an interception by Mountain Valley). Kaden Paaso had quite the day defensively with three interceptions and a forced fumble. Dylan Lowe recovered two fumbles for Camden Hills, one of which was returned 45 yards in the fourth quarter to give his team a 12-8 lead. Mountain Valley reclaimed their lead on a 10-yard Paaso touchdown run. The successful two-point conversion put the Falcons up 16-12. This eventually set the wheels in motion for the winning Haslam touchdown pass to Lawrence.

- Mt. Ararat’s climb to .500 was not without doubts on Friday, and likely plenty of anxieties, but the Eagles held on through a late Greely touchdown to win 34-28 on Friday. After a scoreless first quarter Mt. Ararat’s early 6-0 lead was wiped away by two Greely scores, the first a 60-yard touchdown run and the second a 61-yard touchdown pass, that gave the Rangers a 12-6 lead going into halftime. In the third quarter the Eagles tied things up 12-12, followed by an early fourth quarter 18-12 lead on a 12-yard touchdown run. Greely tied things up 18-18 shortly after on a 61-yard touchdown run. The Eagles reclaims leads of 24-18 and 30-18 with two touchdown runs. Greely would narrow things up with the lead touchdown but got no closer.

- The 8 man large school class is certainly a telling story of contrasts in the standings. The North features numerous positional battles for first through fifth. 3-1 Morse holds an 18-point Crabtree advantage over fellow 3-1 Mount Desert Island. Their lead is just a narrow 7-point Crabtree edge over 2-2 Mountain Valley. Mountain Valley meanwhile has a narrow 3.5-point Crabtree lead over 2-2 Waterville. In the Southern half of the class, lots of space exists between the top four places of Yarmouth, Brunswick, Mt. Ararat, and Greely.

- Stearns’ Caden Raymond had quite the ground game for himself on Friday during the Minutemen’s 62-28 victory in Houlton. Caden ran 26 times for 346 yards and four touchdowns, accounting for three-quarters of Stearns’ 474 rushing yards and half of their 674 total yards of offense on the day. Through the air Caleb Shearer completed 13 passes for 230 yards as he spread passes to Lucas Pelky (4 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown), Gavin Gagnon (3 for 68 and a touchdown), Cam Atkinson (3 for 19 and a touchdown), Sam Jacobs (2 for 42 and a touchdown), and Caden (1 for 7). While Houlton gains 324 yards on the day and was within two touchdowns in the second quarter, they were unable to keep pace with Stearns’ offensive effort as they only got 13 first downs while not getting much consistency on third down (2 for 8) and fourth down attempts (1 for 4). With the win this week and their win last week against Mattanawcook Academy, Stearns moves into 4th place in the 8 Man Small School North.

- In one of several battles of the unbeaten this weekend, Orono maintained a nine-game LTC winning streak with a 44-18 win over Bucksport on Friday. It was the Golden Bucks that put the first points on the board after they recovered an Orono fumble and scored shortly afterwards for a 6-0 lead only a 1:30 into their game. Orono did not let that early deficit rattle them as they scored twice in quick procession. Quarterback Jack Brewer threw a 22-yard touchdown to Pierce Walston, then after forcing a Bucksport punt they got a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown by Will Francis. Bucksport returned to the end zone with a six-yard run by Ayden Maguire. But an unsuccessful two-point Golden Bucks conversion kept Orono ahead 14-12. The Brewer-to-Walston passing game gave Orono a 20-12 lead just before halftime with a six-yard touchdown pass. After halting a lengthy Bucksport drive, Orono quickly scored three passes later as Brewer threw a third touchdown pass, a 43-yard strike, to Walston for a 28-12 lead. Bucksport would score one more time in the fourth quarter, but two Orono touchdowns and interceptions by Saladin Wise and Will Francis gave them the victory and first place. The loss bumped Bucksport into a two-way tie for second place with Dexter, who beat Valley 41-6 on Saturday.

- Behind as much as 20 points in the second quarter, Massabesic scored four of the final five touchdowns along with the final and successful PAT kick, to defeat Westbrook 34-33 and get their first victory of the season on Saturday morning. Relying heavily on the ground attack (289 of their 314 yards were rushing) the Mustangs got rushing touchdowns in the second half of 6, 9, and 1 to narrow the deficit and surpass Westbrook. The Blue Blazes had solid days by quarterback Giovanni Staples, who completed 10 of 20 for 190 yards and 3 touchdowns, and Gavin Tanner, who ran 20 times for 152 yards and 2 touchdowns. Despite the result, Westbrook holds a slight 3.125-point edge on Crabtree points for 4th in Southern Class B over Massabesic.

- After some back-and-forth scoring between Winslow and Belfast, the Lions quickly dashed a late Winslow touchdown and two-point conversion from Matt Quirion with a touchdown of their own only 20 seconds later for a 41-35 victory. After their 0-2 start, Belfast has won their last two games and leapfrogged Winslow into 3rd place in Northern Class D. Winslow on the other hand has dropped their last two games after starting out 2-0.

- Oak Hill’s 20-12 win over Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale, and Lisbon’s 41-20 loss to York, puts the three teams into a 4-5-6 position in Southern Class D. It has been a particularly tough start to the 2023 season for the three teams that often occupy higher positions in their region. After getting shut out twice in the season’s opening two games, the Raiders 20-12 win were the most points they have scored so far. The Greyhounds had dropped three straight after their season-opening win in Belfast. The Ramblers have now lost two straight after opening the season 1-1. Lisbon will meet the two teams with games in Winthrop on October 13th and home against Oak Hill on October 20th.

- Another week passed by and Old Orchard Beach remains the only team in Maine without a single point allowed, by way of their 60-0 victory over Telstar. In addition to helping coach Dean Plante earn his 100th coaching victory, the shutout victory gets Old Orchard Beach a fourth shutout. They have gone 17 consecutive quarters of football without giving up a point, a streak that runs all the way back to October 12th, 2022 when the Seagulls defeated Orono for the 8 man small school state championship. While this win or this run may not seem significant to many, keep this in mind. Since 2004, only one other team has reached the four-game mark of the season without allowing a point. That team, the 2006 Mountain Valley Falcons, had the following season schedule complete with opponents and scores;
Away vs Wells, 35-0
Home vs Poland, 48-0
Away vs Gray-New Gloucester, 42-0
Home vs Falmouth, 55-0
Away vs Greely, 35-7
Away vs York, 37-7
Home vs Fryeburg Academy, 42-0
Away vs Lake Region, 31-0
Home vs Cape Elizabeth, 18-6
Home vs Greely, 54-0
Home vs Cape Elizabeth, 47-6
State Championship vs Winslow, 24-16

- There were two games on Saturday night. But with all due respect to the homecoming game in Hermon between the Hawks and Medomak Valley, there was a significant focus on the game in Turner between undefeated Leavitt and undefeated Oxford Hills. In the past these sort of cross-class games never happened. You might see two teams in opposite regions of a class play one-another. That use to be the case for a period of time in the early 2000s when Eastern and Western Class C teams from the Little Ten Conference and Western Maine Conference would meet to round out their nine-game regular season. But with the recent advent of creative scheduling these cross-class match ups became more and more a reality. This has allowed some “dream games” to occur. One such game was Thornton Academy vs Marshwood I in 2019. However, when was there a game between two teams differing by two classes? We saw that sort of game last year when Leavitt laid down the gauntlet against Lewiston. It was the Hornets that celebrated at home with the 53-21 win over the Blue Devils.

When we saw the 2023 schedule we immediately noticed not one but three Leavitt games against Class A opponents and one against Class B Lawrence. And the hype leading into Saturday night’s homecoming contest in Turner against Oxford Hills was significant. Leavitt has played many different big-game contests. They have been in a number of state championships and closely contested regional finals. But this was a regular season battle against a defending and undefeated Class A opponent in the Vikings. And judging by the viewership on the two live streams, as well as the wall of humanity that occupied the bleachers and lined every inch of chain-linked fence surrounding Libby Field, this had all the makings of a must-see game.

It was a game of two different halves. In the first half Leavitt took an early lead on a Noah Carpenter 55-yard touchdown run, then expanded it in the second quarter with a Will Keach 17-yard touchdown run. Oxford Hills put their first points on the board with an 80-second, 6-play drive that culminated in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Brady Truman to Nicholas Binette. However, the 37.3 seconds remaining on the clock was just enough for Leavitt to midfield on a Keach kickoff return, followed by a 29-yard touchdown pass from Carpenter to Aiden Turcotte. The score gave Leavitt a two-touchdown halftime lead at 21-7.

In the second half the Vikings held Leavitt to just 9 yards of offense. However, Leavitt held the Vikings to just a third quarter touchdown. That touchdown, a 25-yard scoring pass from Truman to Brayden Murch, narrowed the Hornets lead to 21-14 and made it a one-score game. Carpenter’s third quarter interception halted a Vikings drive. He had one of three interceptions of Oxford Hills’s Truman on the day. But he played his biggest part of the game on the Vikings final drive in the fourth quarter. On fourth down in the Leavitt red zone, Oxford Hills went for the gamble with a Truman man that was knocked down by Truman for the turnover on downs with 1:25 left in the game. Leavitt proceeded to run out and then kneel down the ball to end the game and celebrate their win.

- There are four Maine vs New Hampshire border battle games this upcoming week. Our first two are Friday night when Bonny Eagle travels to Merrimack to play the Tomahawks in a 6:30 pm game and Edward Little host the winless Spaulding Red Raiders in a 7 pm game. The other two contests will be on Saturday with noontime kickoffs. Oxford Hills will host the unbeaten Portsmouth-Oyster River ClipperCats while Bangor will host the winless Winnacunnet Warriors.

- Some season halfway point numbers to chew on
Most points scored, 11 man – Foxcroft Academy (219), Leavitt (174), Messalonskee (172), Oceanside (170), Fryeburg Academy (153)
Most points scored, 8 man – Maranacook (253), Old Orchard Beach (246), Orono (195), Mountain Valley (182), Yarmouth (179)

Fewest points allowed, 11 man – Foxcroft Academy (6), Poland (8), Kennebunk (18), Messalonskee (29), Oxford Hills (35)
Fewest points allowed, 8 man – Old Orchard Beach (0), Maranacook (32), Orono (38), Camden Hills (40), Waterville (52)

Highest point differential, 11 man – Foxcroft Academy (+213), Messalonskee (+143), Oceanside (+134), Leavitt (+132), Bonny Eagle (+100)
Highest point differential, 8 man – Old Orchard Beach (+246), Maranacook (+221), Orono (+157), Yarmouth (+119), Mountain Valley (+90)

Highest strength of schedule to start – Cape Elizabeth (93.750), Falmouth (87.500), Scarborough (81.818), Edward Little (81.250), Thornton Academy (81.250), Traip Academy (81.250)
Lowest strength of schedule to start – Yarmouth (12.500), Lawrence (18.750), Poland (18.750), and eight teams with 25.000

- On Wednesday a statement went out from Falmouth High School indicating that the varsity football team had forfeited their Friday night contest against Portland. We are assuming that the majority of the Maine football community saw this statement as almost a quarter of a million people have viewed it. And if not on our site, then they more than likely saw it on Twitter (sorry, X…) or in the newspapers or on TV. There is not much more to be said on it. Coming into the season it was obvious the numbers and overall age was going to be quite low and young. A Forecaster pre-season preview by Michael Hoffer indicated that they were entering the 2023 season with only two seniors and four juniors. An August 26th Portland Press Herald article put their numbers at only 31 varsity players. According to the statement the team coaches met on September 17 and told players in a September 19 team meeting that they were not going to play Friday night. The statement also indicated it was “our hope and plan at this time that we will finish our regular season schedule.

We have since reached out to Mike Burnham, the interscholastic executive director at the Maine Principals Association for comment. He did confirm that representatives from the MPA have spoken with representatives from Falmouth and that conditions were given to Falmouth regarding their status for the rest of the season. However, it was not elaborated on what those conditions were. It was confirmed that there are by-laws that would give the MPA the power to cease the season for Falmouth. We also reached out to Falmouth principal Richard Gowers and Falmouth athletic director James Coffey but neither responded to our questions.

At this time nothing official has been said about Falmouth’s next scheduled game in Portland against Deering on Friday, September 29th. In the absence of a contrary statement from the school since last Wednesday, it is game on. What to expect beyond that feels like a week-to-week basis. We hope that the injured players are able to get healthy and the Falmouth team can complete the rest of the season. What happens after that is anybody’s guess.

- New Hampshire tracker
Bedford defeated Goffstown 61-0 on Friday. The 4-0 Bulldogs will host 3-1 Nashua North next Friday.
Bishop Guertin defeated Merrimack 28-7 on Saturday. The 2-2 Cardinals will host 2-2 Timberlane next Saturday.
Dover defeated Spaulding 42-14 on Friday. The 2-1 Green Wave will host 1-3 Manchester Memorial next Friday.
Merrimack loses to Bishop Guertin 28-7 on Saturday. The 1-3 Tomahawks will host 3-1 Bonny Eagle next Friday.
Portsmouth-Oyster River defeated Manchester Memorial 48-6 on Friday. The 4-0 ClipperCats will travel to 3-1 Oxford Hills next Saturday.
Spaulding lost to Dover 42-14 on Friday. The 0-4 Red Raiders will travel to 0-4 Edward Little next Friday.
Winnacunnet lost 23-7 to Exeter on Saturday. The 0-4 Warriors will travel to 2-2 Bangor next Saturday. 

- Quote of the week
"The message is, if somebody punches you in the mouth, you better punch them back or it’s going to be a long night. That’s basically what happened. It was embarrassing."
Alex Rotsko, Marshwood head coach

- Streak tracker
There are 15 unbeaten teams in Maine, down from last week’s 19.
1 team ended their winning streak of 4 or more games; Oxford Hills (14)
The longest active winning streaks belongs to Leavitt (15), Foxcroft Academy (12), Old Orchard Beach (11), and Yarmouth (7)
2 team ended their losing streak of 4 or more games; Oak Hill (7) and Telstar (5)
The longest active losing streaks belongs to Traip Academy (22), Madison (12), Valley (11), and Edward Little (10)

- First place teams after week four
Class A North – Oxford Hills (no change)
Class A South – Sanford (no change)
Class B North – Messalonskee (no change)
Class B South – Kennebunk (no change)
Class C North – Medomak Valley (no change)
Class C South – Leavitt (no change)
Class D North – Foxcroft Academy (no change)
Class D South – Poland (no change)
8 Man Large School North – Camden Hills (no change)
8 Man Large School South – Yarmouth (no change)
8 Man Small School North – Orono (no change)
8 Man Small School South – Old Orchard Beach (no change)

- Five games of interest to us in week five
Sanford vs Thornton Academy 
Lawrence vs Leavitt
Medomak Valley vs Foxcroft Academy 
Dirigo vs Maranacook
Oxford Hills vs Portsmouth-Oyster River

What are your thoughts on the weekend?