You can tell it’s mid-October in Maine without even looking at the calendar. It’s always the time when the leaves begin to fall and tensions begin to rise in high school football.
The end of the regular season is in sight, which means for some teams, the post-season is fading further and further from view. A number of teams, including Edward Little, Oak Hill and Livermore Falls, could lose sight of the playoffs altogether without a win this weekend. Others, such as Oxford Hills and Lewiston and Lisbon and Jay will be hooking up for intense contests with far-reaching playoff implications.
Yet the most emotional game of the weekend may be an engagement between an undefeated defending state champion and a winless challenger that has faced more adversity this week than all of the other teams in the state combined.
Here’s a closer look at the region’s top matchups for this weekend:
Oxford Hills (3-2) at Lewiston (3-2), today, 7 p.m.
Both teams propelled themselves back into the PTC playoff hunt with victories last week. The winner tonight improves their position, while the loser reverts to .500 and puts their playoff hopes in serious jeopardy.
The Vikings showcased a balanced offense in last week’s win over Edward Little, pounding senior tailback Jim Bower up the gut, then catching the defense on its heels for several long completions by QB Ben Ryerson. The Blue Devils enthusiastically welcomed the return of junior tailback Jared Turcotte, who showed no ill effects from the knee injury he suffered against Skowhegan in their win over Mt. Ararat
Lisbon (5-1) at Jay (5-1), today, 7 p.m.
This tilt pitting the last two Campbell Conference champions could end up deciding home field in the playoffs. The Greyhound defense has tossed three shutouts this year and has given up just 14 points in the last three games. The offense sputtered a bit early in last week’s 30-6 win over Boothbay, then exploded for 24 points in the fourth quarter on TD runs by Levi Ervin and Dan Willis. The Tigers also caught fire in the second half of their 19-14 win over Old Orchard Beach last week when QB Mike Nemi ran for a pair of scores.
Livermore Falls (3-3) at Old Orchard (4-2), today, 7 p.m.
While Lisbon and Jay could be fighting for playoff luxuries, the Andies and Seagulls will be fighting for their playoff lives. Livermore has won three straight, while OOB saw Jay snap its four-game winning streak last week. Both run defenses will be tested. Livermore running backs Ryan Webster (185 yards) and Karlton Jones (148) both went over the century mark against Dirigo last week. OOB tailback Dustin Bouchard has scored a pair of rushing TDs each of the last two weeks.
Mountain Valley (6-0) at Fryeburg (0-6), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Certainly this is a mismatch on paper, but the Raiders will be charged up because 1) this is their homecoming and 2) because of the fire that destroyed their gymnasium and locker room on Wednesday. Falcons coach Jim Aylward was the first to offer help to his Raiders contemporary, Jim “Fuzzy” Thurston, and some Fryeburg players, who lost all of their uniforms and equipment in the blaze, may have the Mountain Valley colors mixed in with their hodgepodge uniforms.
Elsewhere in the region
Tonight, Messalonskee will try to knock Mt. Blue from the ranks of the unbeaten at Caldwell Field…Edward Little needs to bounce back and beat Brunswick to keep its playoff hopes alive…Leavitt, coming off perhaps its biggest win of the season against Waterville, hosts another PTC Class B newbie in Gardiner…5-1 Winthrop will try to keep pace with the winner of the Lisbon/Jay game when it travels to Madison…On Saturday, Oak Hill looks to bounce back from a tough loss to Gardiner last week when it hosts winless Maranacook…Poland could post a school record third straight win if they knock off Lake Region, whom the Knights beat for the first win in the program’s history last year…Dirigo put up its first point of the season last week and will try to improve on that milestone against Boothbay.
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