Oakes: Great. We get to share the column. What are they gonna call it, “Huddle in the Corner?” It’s bad enough that the editors arranged our cutouts to look like an Air Supply album cover. I suppose I’d better take advantage of the opening paragraph and make it a doozy. Here goes: The Lewiston Blue Devils will win the Eastern Class A championship. Go ahead. Either pick that apart or copy me. We’re all waiting.

Whitehouse: Wish I could say (or sing) I’m all out of love for the Blue Devils, but that ain’t happening. Admittedly, part of it is sentimental. Nobody has ever handled a crushing loss or a controversial coaching decision with as much grace and humor as Bill County showed in the immediate aftermath of, and in the nine months since, the “4th-and-1” loss at Bangor. But the fact is, the Devils are as talented as they were last year and probably even more driven. Of course, they’ll probably have to go through Bangor and/or Lawrence again. But that leads to my question to you, Kay-lee: With only four teams making the PTC playoffs this year, could we have back-to-back Battles of the Bridge in the last week of October/first week of November?

Oakes: Well, Mr. Whiteside, my too-often-unrequited love for both selling newspapers and enjoying a good tailgate party says yes, but my brain says no. Forget October and November. Edward Little will have to run that same Lawrence-Bangor-Brunswick gauntlet in September. The Red Eddies have to win at least two of those three games to make the playoffs, and with so many new faces and at least one key injury clouding the lineup, I don’t see that happening. Gimme the Dirty Lew over The ‘U’ in a payback PTC final, followed by a narrow loss to Indiana Faithfull Academy at states. What say you, Randle El?

Whitehouse: Lewiston goes to Fairfield for the PTC title and ekes one out in -30 wind chill at Keyes Field, then avenges last spring’s Class A baseball title loss to Cheverus. But that won’t be the Game of the Day at Fitzpatrick. We’ll have a rematch of last year’s Class B championship, except this one will be a lot more competitive. Yeah, I know Mt. Blue is the trendy pick to win Eastern B. And yeah, it’s a very justifiable claim since the Cougars would have been in the Eastern A mix had they stayed put. But all that does is light a fire under Leavitt, which isn’t ready to concede anything yet. And if they want Mountain Valley, they’ll get it. Never mind what you heard about them in preseason. The Falcons will be ready when it counts. I suppose, given your family history, you think that Spruce Mountain shouldn’t be overlooked, though.

Oakes: Wow. I couldn’t agree more with the Leavitt-Mountain Valley forecast. You’re a regular Carwreck the Magnificent. I say the Hornets get revenge. And thanks for reminding me about The Merger. I’m still in mourning over the Phoenix and have no idea what to make of them. Nor am I certain they’re fully aware what a step up competing against Mountain Valley, Wells, Cape Elizabeth or even Marshwood will be. I do know one thing: It doesn’t feel right handicapping a Class C race without using the names Jay and Livermore Falls. It also doesn’t feel right after years of tri-county teams owning the small-school division to be talking about Yarmouth as the odds-on favorite to go all double-trouble on us, but that’s what I’m feeling. Now, I’ll concede you the last word, so can we at least end this on a note of bipartisan unity and agree whom the Clippers will beat in the Western Maine final before dismissing John Bapst at Fitzy? Smart money’s on Dirigo. They play in every Western Maine championship game this side of chess club.

Whitehouse: Difficult as it is for me to wrap my mind around the idea of a team that calls itself the Clippers being on the verge of a dynasty, I have to agree with you once again, my Finnish friend. This is really beginning to worry me. I feel like I’m on the verge of wanting to watch NASCAR and wax nostalgic about the 1984 Oak Grove-Coburn basketball state title run. So let me end this before we start sounding like a couple of Skip Bayless wannabes. Oak Hill went to the quarterfinals two years ago, the semifinals last year and is moving up one more rung on the ladder this year. Yarmouth’s speed will be too much for the Raiders on its home turf, though, and since the state final is on the fake stuff, the Clips will fly past Foxcroft, too.