If the Mt. Blue High School football team faced one obstacle during its latter days of membership in the Class A division of the Pine Tree Conference, other than its smaller student enrollment, it was the dastardly double wing.

Coach Gary Parlin has long embraced more modern offensive schemes, and his Cougars often struggled to stop Skowhegan, Messalonskee, Cony or anyone else that went with the throwback formation.

“That was the question I asked everybody when we moved into Class B: Does anyone run the double wing?” Parlin said. “They said no. Then they said, ‘Well, there’s MDI.’ They run the straight-T, which is very much like it.”

True to history, the Mt. Blue defense scratched its heads and spun its wheels during its first few attempts to stop Mount Desert Island’s grind-it-out approach Friday night in Bar Harbor.

MDI’s control of the chains and the clock were the culprit as the Cougars fell into a surprising, early 20-6 hole.

“We only had the ball three times in the first half,” Parlin said. “They never really stopped us. We hurt ourselves once by fumbling the ball into the end zone.”

Mt. Blue’s halftime adjustments were made simpler by MDI’s hesitancy even to throw a pass. The Cougars stacked the box with linebackers and safeties.

“Finally instead of four or five yards every play, they were only getting two or three,” Parlin said.

The Trojans had no such luck stopping the Cougars’ surplus of offensive talent. Mt. Blue scored on every second-half possession and coasted to a 50-26 win.

Jordan Whitney, nearly back in top form after reconstructive knee surgery last winter, completed 19 for 23 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns. Izaiha Tracy combined for three scores rushing and receiving, while Eric Berry topped the century mark on the ground.

And now, after two weeks of the new — road games with unfamiliar foes Madison and MDI — Mt. Blue gets a taste of the old. The Cougars host the Gardiner Tigers in a battle of 3-0 teams Friday at Kemp Field in Farmington.

Mt. Blue and Gardiner were rivals for many years in Class A before Gardiner first made the move to B. They haven’t faced each other since 2001.

“Cole (Parlin’s son) and his wife were home this weekend, and I told him he was on the field the last time we played Gardiner. It was his junior year,” Parlin said. “He kind of looked at me and said, ‘Really?” It is hard to believe.”

— Kalle Oakes

THE (NEW) RIVALS?

When Spruce Mountain hosted Mountain Valley Friday night, it was a match between two consolidated teams and a return for the Falcons to Livermore Falls.

Mountain Valley won 42-0, but Falcons coach Jim Aylward said the game was the start of something great between the two schools.

“I’m a big fan of this,” said Aylward, who lives in Jay. “I know they’re not big fans of the final score, but I’m a fan of this rivalry that’s 25 miles away. Our rival according to everyone else (Cape Elizabeth) is almost two hours (south).”

Though Mountain Valley has become a Class B powerhouse in the years since its merger, the Phoenix will need a little time to make the consolidation of two programs work. Aylward says that will come and a great local rivalry will be built out of it.

“It’s good for them,” said Aylward of Spruce Mountain. “They’ll get used to it. There’s growing pains, with this team and the community, but it’s the right thing to do.”

— Kevin Mills

Hounds Around

Boothbay’s plan for Friday night’s Campbell Conference run-in with Lisbon was clear — pound the middle of the Greyhounds defense.

The middle of the defense, particularly nose guard Chase Hunter and middle linebacker Kyle Sheehan, responded by delivering more poundings than it took and shut out the Seahawks, 21-0.

“(Hunter and Sheehan) really did a lot to help with the middle,” Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan said. “Boothbay ran us up the middle quite a bit.”

The starting defense hasn’t given up a touchdown since the second quarter of the Week 1 win over Oak Hill.

Lisbon’s running game committee racked up 238 yards with QB Zack Splude and running backs Quincy Thompson and Jordon Torres splitting up most of the production. Splude (4-for-7, 100 yards) also threw a pair of touchdowns to Thompson and Aaron Boyington.

Thompson rushed for another touchdown and has been a very handy jack-of-all-trades for the Greyhounds, lining up at running back, receiver and quarterback in the “wildcat.” Mynahan noted the sophomore has had a lot to of x’s and o’s to absorb learning the playbook from three different positions .

The Greyhounds (3-0) should consider Boothbay’s smashmouth approach a good warmup for next Saturday’s showdown with unbeaten Freeport. The Falcons wore out Telstar in a 47-13 win Saturday with 401 yards on the ground.

Freeport’s huge offensive line will try to do the same to the Greyhounds. The Falcons line up 315-pound sophomore Darnel Strothers at tackle (and occasionally in a full-house backfield), as well as D.J. Mooney (225 pounds), Morgan Kuntz (260 pounds), Caleb Emerson-Mains (200 pounds)  and Tyler Merrill (250 pounds) up front. Hunter and Sheehan combined barely tip the scales over 300 pounds.

“They’ve got some big kids up front and they’re going to wear you down eventually,” Mynahan said. “Especially with our nose guard at 155 pounds, we may have to make some adjustments.”

Mynahan knows the Falcons will be pumped up for the biggest game in their program’s three-year varsity history.

“They’re going to come to our place excited,” he said. “We’re going to have to match that excitement.”

— Randy Whitehouse

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