LEWISTON – There’s as much riding on the Lewiston-Edward Little football game this weekend as ever, but the Blue Devils have earned the right to play an even more important game a week from now.

Those considerations and an iffy weather forecast for Saturday have prompted the two schools to move their annual “Battle of the Bridge” ahead one night.

Lewiston and EL will now kick off at 7 p.m. Friday. The game was originally scheduled for a 1 p.m. start Saturday.

“It doesn’t look good,” Lewiston athletic director Jason Fuller said of the extended forecast. “If the game had to be postponed Saturday and moved to Monday, it wouldn’t be a good situation for us, because we know we’re in the playoffs.”

The National Weather Service is predicting at least a 40 percent chance of rain Saturday, while partly cloudy conditions are expected Friday evening with temperatures around 50.

Lewiston (5-2) is guaranteed a spot in the Eastern Class A semifinals on Friday, Nov. 3. The Blue Devils will travel to meet either Lawrence or Bangor. Those two teams handed Lewiston its only defeats of the season.

If the Blue Devils win Friday, they will lock up the No. 3 seed in the four-team playoff. Even with a loss, Lewiston could only drop to fourth if Messalonskee and Bangor both win their games this weekend, or if Brunswick, EL and Oxford Hills each win.

In another scenario, Lewiston could end up tied for third with Messalonskee if the Devils lose to EL, the Eagles lose to Lawrence and Bangor beats Oxford Hills. That tie would be broken by a coin flip, with the winner of the toss traveling to Bangor and the loser going to Lawrence.

Edward Little (4-3) was eliminated from playoff contention after its 10-7 loss to Brunswick on Oct. 13 and subsequent wins by Lewiston and Messalonskee last weekend.