Two Class A regional championship games. Two different stories.
If you’ve followed high school football in Maine for the last two decades, tonight’s matchup for the Eastern championship comes as at least a mild surprise. Unless you’ve spent the last dozen weeks in a cave, Saturday’s confrontation for the Western crown shouldn’t even make you blink.
Brunswick High School hadn’t enjoyed a winning season on the gridiron since 1983, the last time it played for a Pine Tree Conference championship, until this fall. The Dragons carry a nine-game winning streak into Cameron Stadium tonight for their shot at perennial power Bangor.
To the south, it’ll be the matchup everyone’s been talking about since two-a-days, when Deering and Biddeford wage their battle of unbeatens at Waterhouse Field.
The Class B finals have a similar feel. In the East, two schools that have made a habit of winning football titles will settle the issue when Belfast visits Winslow on Saturday. Gorham, meanwhile, appears in its first-ever Western title tilt this evening at Wells in the Campbell Conference championship.
Here’s a closer look at the four contests:
To track Brunswick’s improvement throughout the season, it’s as simple as looking at the two home games against Gardiner at the beginning and end of the Dragons’ schedule.
Brunswick christened the season with a worthy effort but a familiar result: a 21-0 loss. Nine weeks later, the Dragons reversed that fate with a 28-20 victory in a playoff rematch they controlled from the opening kickoff.
Phillip Warren has been a two-way
terror for Brunswick. He has rushed for 1,643 yards, averaging nearly 10 yards per carry. In addition to topping the century mark last week, the 240-pound Warren added a catch-and-run from Ralph Mims that provided the clinching touchdown and sacked Gardiner QB Seth Wilkins three times.
Mims, the basketball star who has been offered Division I hoop scholarships by the likes of Florida State and Providence, is one of the state’s best double-threat quarterbacks. Three of his four completions against Gardiner went for scores. Garrett Masse is a reliable receiver.
Devin Shepard, who easily could be forgotten in the Brunswick backfield mix, has accumulated more than 700 yards. He adds strength to an offense that had its way with a Gardiner ‘D’ that previously permitted only 36 points all season.
Bangor’s hopes rest squarely on the shoulders of Mike Prentiss, the converted flanker who regularly rushes 30 to 40 times per game and typically gets stronger as the night wears on. Prentiss put up 201 of his 273 yards in the second half of a 40-21 win over Mt. Blue.
Prentiss scored three TDs and also returned a fumble for a score.
FB Nick Payson provides the change of pace behind an accomplished offensive line that features Trevor Lagrange, Eric Andrews, Kyle Oliver, Danny Day, P.J. Dowe and tight end Kevin Flynn.
Bangor won the state championship in 2001 before falling in last year’s quarterfinals. Brunswick’s last appearance in the PTC final came when it was considered the Class B state game in 1983. The Dragons fell to Lawrence, 20-14.
New tradition meets a resurrected one as the teams who were one-two in Western A from the get-go seek sectional honors. Home field was decided by the Crabtree points, with the Tigers’ cross-over and inter-divisional opponents sporting better records than the Rams’ foes.
Neither team has allowed a point in the playoffs. Chris Gagne is the heart of the defense at safety for the Tigers, while DE Rob Sampson and DB Joe Marsh lead the Rams. Marsh picked off two passes in the semifinal against Portland.
Biddeford’s Phil Bourassa has thrown for 15 TDs and rushed for 11. He’s also a dangerous kick and punt returner. Bourassa hooked up with Mike Thibault for scoring plays of 75 and 24 yards in last week’s win over Noble.
Marsh has rushed for 1,582 yards for Deering. FB Ryan Reid is equally dangerous, and QB Ryan Flaherty has racked up over 1,100 yards through the air.
The Tigers boast 11 state titles, all between 1967 and 1994. Deering won its only Class A crown in 1959.
Wells won the regular-season meeting in Gorham, 35-28, on the strength of 205 yards and four TDs by senior halfback Luke Sibley. Last week, it was Sibley again who bailed out the Warriors, helping them rally from a 22-point deficit for a 26-22 semifinal victory over fourth-seeded Lake Region.
QB Taylor Sholler is a passing threat for Wells, even though the Warriors prefer to hammer the ball straight ahead out of the Wing-T.
Defensively, Wells looks to DT Pat Casten to lead a defense that must deal with the mis-direction and clock-killing effectiveness of the Rams’ double-wing attack. HBs Andy Oldenburg and Tyson Nason and FB Andrew Hutton lead Gorham, which ended its regular season and kicked off the playoffs with consecutive wins over Mountain Valley (50-20 and 15-6) since the previous loss to the Warriors.
Belfast traditionally is a late-bloomer that enjoys avenging regular-season losses in the playoffs, so Winslow must beware. The Lions, who returned only four starters from the team that won the conference title in 2002, have already turned around one of their two defeats with a convincing 32-0 semifinal rout of Brewer.
TB Josh Aldus and QB Nick Arthers lead the Belfast offense behind bookend tackles Ronnie Morse (290 pounds) and Chris Hubbard (230).
Winslow’s closest game of the season was a 28-14 victory in Belfast. Derek Runnells and Justin Shorey each registered three sacks for the Black Raiders, who tackled Arthers for a loss seven times in all. Runnells, a fullback, is also the team’s leading rusher. QB Josh LaPointe and WR Eric Lopez are a dangerous duo.
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