We’re at the halfway point of the high school football season, but this isn’t the All-Star break (I still don’t understand why the MPA won’t adopt my idea of having the Lobster Bowl determine home field advantage in the state championships).

There aren’t any breaks or bye weeks in high school football — Camden Hills’ presence in the PTC Class B schedule notwithstanding. The bumps and bruises and fatigue are mounting. The fields are getting chewed up. There’s enough of a nip in the air and enough leaves on the ground that it’s actually beginning to feel and look like football season.

It’s October, after all, and things are just starting to get interesting. Usually, it’s the first half of the season that is the most unpredictable in high school football, but all you need to do is look to your right and see the inordinate success my colleague Kalle Oakes and I have had picking games this year to know that hasn’t been the case this season. There are only a few things we didn’t know heading into this season that have become apparent in the first four weeks:

1. Dirigo is for real: The Cougars have not only beaten Lisbon, Jay and Boothbay, they have beaten them all fairly convincingly. They face another good test Friday night at Livermore Falls and still have fellow unbeaten Winthrop on the horizon.

2. Somebody with five wins is getting frozen out of the Western C playoffs again: Dirigo and Lisbon know what that feels like after last year and would like to avoid such disappointment again. In many ways, the playoffs have already started in the Campbell Conference. If Livermore Falls, Lisbon and Old Orchard want to save themselves a lot of trouble worrying about Heal Points on Halloween, they should at least try to duplicate their 3-1 September records this month.

3. Edward Little wants to play Bangor again: It was clear following Friday night’s 21-13 loss to the Rams that the Red Eddies felt like they let one slip away. They may get their wish in November, Meanwhile, methinks they’ll take out their frustrations on the Cony Rams Friday night.

4. Offensive lines are making inroads: Lewiston, Lisbon and Livermore Falls all had questions about their offensive lines coming into the season. When the weather made running the ball a must last weekend, they all put up over 200 yards on the ground. Nothing makes a football coach sleep better than seeing his team own the trenches like that.

5. Mt. Blue’s schedule is even tougher than it looked in August: Sure, any schedule gets easier when you open the season on Fairfield, but the Cougars haven’t caught many breaks. Edward Little and Lewiston were their crossover opponents, along with a tough Brunswick team that is coming up. Then they finish with Bangor and Skowhegan.

6. Winthrop may be better than everyone thought: The Ramblers have the biggest scoring differential in the state – 181-26, although their first-half slate consisted of Traip, Yarmouth, Jay and Madison. They have Boothbay, Old Orchard, Dirigo, Livermore Falls and Lisbon the rest of the way.

7. Nobody, not Cape, not York, not even the Campbell Conference All-Stars, is challenging Mountain Valley in Western B this year: Cape Elizabeth’s Ezra Wolfinger looked like a worthy successor to Jim Bump at quarterback against Poland last week. The Capers can still be explosive on offense. But last year, they were almost on par with Mountain Valley physically. Maybe it was just an off week given the opponent and the crummy conditions, but they didn’t look nearly as physical to me. I haven’t seen the Falcons yet, but I’m confident they don’t have the same problem.

8. Leavitt’s the favorite in Eastern B? Not so fast: Hey, I like the Hornets as much as anybody. Their 1-2 punch of Josh Strickland and Tyler Green is as dangerous as it gets, Eric Theiss has been better than advertised at QB and the defense has been sturdy. But let’s not write off defending champion Gardiner just yet. They’ve given up 13 points in three games. If Forrest Chadwick stays healthy, they will probably have an unbeaten record to match Leavitt’s when the two teams square off in three weeks.

Speaking of which, here are the games to circle on your October schedule:

Oct. 3 – Dirigo at Livermore Falls

Oct. 10 – Lewiston at Bangor and Lisbon at Livermore Falls

Oct. 18 – Winthrop at Dirigo

Oct. 24 – Leavitt at Gardiner

Oct. 25 – Edward Little at Lewiston

Oct. 31 – Cape Elizabeth at Mountain Valley

Nov. 1 – Winthrop at Lisbon

By the looks of that docket, we can assume things are going to be a lot more unpredictable in the second half of the season.