The high school football semifinals are the ugly stepbrother of the playoffs. Few of the playoff games to go down in local lore have been from the semifinal round.

When I think back to all of the memorable semifinals I’ve seen in my decade of high school football, I’m lost for examples. The last five years have been particularly devoid of classic contests. The best that I can think of, at least in the Sun Journal’s vast coverage region, is Morse’s 7-0 blanking of Leavitt last year. A low-scoring affair, yes, but one with as many thrills and momentum changes as a game with 10 times as many touchdowns. Other than that, it’s been a round of mostly decent contests, a handful of blow-outs and few legends made.

I’d like to think this year will be different, but I don’t see it. In Class C, Winthrop is on a nice run, and Joel Stoneton and his staff are to be commended for getting their team this far after having last year’s state finalist gutted by graduation. But Dirigo is just too fast, too strong, too healthy and too hungry.

I’ve got the same feeling with Leavitt in Eastern B. A lot of people expect Hampden Academy to be the Hornets’ biggest test because they are the only team to give them a game this season. In fact, one could argue that the Broncos literally gave the Hornets that season-opener, blowing a late lead on a safety before bowing in overtime, 29-22. But that was Week 1, before Leavitt was clicking on all cylinders. I expect Hampden to hang around for awhile, but Leavitt should pull away late.

*Note to Hampden Academy  — If you’re reading this on sunjournal.com, you’ll find more bulletin board material from me and my colleague, Kalle Oakes, in our print edition.

The best bet for a spine-tingling semifinal is the York/Mountain Valley clash in Western B. Yeah, the Wildcats handled the Falcons fairly easily two weeks ago in Rumford (33-14). And yeah, the Falcons are hobbling into the playoffs with countless injuries and two consecutive losses. But the Wildcats are banged up, too. Giving Jim Aylward and his staff a second crack at a team usually works to Mountain Valley’s advantage, and the Falcons should be carrying a chip on their shoulder for the length of the interminable bus ride to York.  

Since we’ll have more analysis of these three games coming up tomorrow, let’s run through a few random thoughts on some of this weekend’s other games and the playoffs as a whole:

• So, it turned out the North Division of Class C West wasn’t so tough after all. Many observers, including yours truly, spent the late summer and early fall touting the imbalance of power between the North and South and giving the North most of the credit. Yet in three head-to-head matches in last week’s quarterfinals, the South came out on top twice, including No. 7 Yarmouth’s upset over No. 2 Livermore Falls. While it remains clear that the North was the deeper division, a case can be made that two of the top three teams in the league this year were from the South. 

• To that end, Yarmouth is no fluke, folks. Since losing their first two games, including a heart-breaker to Oak Hill that they led until the final minute, the Clippers have won seven straight. They have an explosive offense, and there are some who think they have the speed to give Dirigo trouble if the two meet in the conference final.

• The last time Messalonskee and Bangor met, the game came down to a missed extra point. Bangor won 13-12. While the Rams are undefeated and the Eagles lost three games, once can’t help but think that perhaps how that missed kick altered both teams seasons and gave Bangor the home field advantage for Friday night’s sequel. One has to wonder if the Eagles were still unbeaten going into their game with Skowhegan three weeks later whether they would have been inspired enough to overcome the Indians, 14-8, rather than fall to them by that score. With just one loss (to Lawrence), they would be hosting the Rams in their biggest game of the year. Yet another example how the oft-neglected kicking game can have a dramatic impact on high school football.

• One thing the Eagles have to feel good about going into this game, though, is that they did perhaps the best job of anyone all year in containing the Rams’ Lonnie Hackett, the Pine Tree Conference’s leading rusher. Hackett, who racked up nearly 1,500 yards during the regular season, went for “just” 97 on 28 carries in the previous meeting. If Messalonskee, which shut down Lewiston’s running game last week, can keep him near those totals, the upset could be had.

• The other PTC semi, between No. 2 Lawrence and No. 3 Brunswick, could be the most physical game of the season. Don’t sleep on Brunswick. Playing in the South and in the shadows of the Bulldogs and Bangor, the Dragons quietly put together a strong one-loss season, with the only setback coming against Messalonskee. QB Stefan Jensen and running backs Rashon Edgerton, Dylan Walton and John Williams give them an underrated offense that is balanced with big-play capability in the running and passing games. The defense is every bit as hard-hitting, and probably just plain as good as, the Bulldogs’ more publicized, if somewhat flawed, defense.

• We’ve played nine weeks of football and a a clear-cut Fitzpatrick Trophy winner has yet to emerge. Hackett certainly has to be considered a contender, as well as fellow running back Christian Powers of Lawrence. Among the locals, we’d give QB Eric Theiss of Leavitt and FB Chandler White of Livermore Falls a plug. Down south, most of the buzz surrounds quarterbacks Ryan Nason of Bonny Eagle, Windham’s Jackson Taylor and Thornton Academy’s Steve Trask and running backs Ryan Curit of South Portland, Tom Foden of Cape Elizabeth and Imadhi Zagon of Portland