Study Spruce Mountain’s schedule and it’s not hard to fathom why the Phoenix are calling October their second season.

How they fare in that second season will determine if there is a third in 2011.

“We’ve got four games to try to get ourselves to the playoff position, get better every week and see what happens after that last game,” Spruce Mountain coach Mark Bonnevie said.

Spruce Mountain (2-3) kicked off October with a 26-12 victory over winless Gray-New Gloucester and snapped its three-game losing streak. The rest of the month offers games against winless Lake Region, 1-4 Marshwood and 2-3 Fryeburg.

Spruce Mountain played a front-loaded schedule, to say the least. Greely, Falmouth, Mountain Valley and Falmouth have a combined 18-2 record, and the Phoenix needed to hold on late in their debut at Greely to ensure one of those two wins.

September left their confidence and bodies bruised, but it also gave a team that didn’t exist six months ago a chance to find itself.

“We learned a lot,” Bonnevie said of the front stretch. “We’ve had a lot of injuries. We’ve had guys step in for injured guys and get injured. We still don’t have everybody back.”

“But on the other hand, it’s gotten a lot of other kids some playing time, so depth-wise, when we get those other guys back, and most of them are going to come back, I think that’s going to help us in the long run,” he added.

The long run won’t include senior captain and lineman Jake Richards (finger tendon) and probably won’t include linebacker Nate Shink (broken hand), who Bonnevie said might be able to come back by season’s end.

Senior running back Bill Calden returned after missing the loss at Wells two weeks ago with a shoulder injury. Bonnevie said he still wasn’t 100 percent last week and limited him to around a dozen carries with that in mind.

Even when Calden is back to full strength, Bonnevie knows the Phoenix will still need to find a complement to him on offense.

“We’re looking for it,” he said. “He’s just such a focal point of what we’re trying to do. We’ve struggled in the passing game. It went a lot better Friday night, so we’re hoping that will continue and take some pressure off of Bill. But we just need to get better.”

Somebody’s ‘0’ had to go

Lisbon lost 34-6 at Yarmouth on Friday night in a battle of what were the final two undefeated teams in the southern division of Western Class C.

With the loss likely went any hopes the Greyhounds harbored of hosting every round of the regional playoffs at Thompson Field. The scoreboard disparity also left most of the league’s teams and observers seeing a canyon between defending champion Yarmouth and its competition.

But if you thought Lisbon was ready to concede anything in October and November after a rough final night of September, guess again.

“We’re not disappointed in our season. I don’t know if our being 4-1 is something I’d be disappointed in,” Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan said. “With a brand new line, hopefully we just continue to get better and improve. That’s what you shoot for.”

More good news for Lisbon: The Greyhounds finally are back to the full complement of offensive threats they flaunted in the preseason.

Ryan Riordan played his second game at quarterback since recovering from a broken hand suffered in an exhibition game.

His quickness and cleverness running the option give Lisbon’s attack multiple new dimensions. And with backup quarterback Zack Splude returning to his designated spot, Lisbon gets a 190-pound halfback who is capable of being a workhorse.

Splude carried nine times for a team-high 56 yards and Lisbon’s only touchdown Friday. He was one of six Greyhounds to take a handoff in the first half.

“I thought at times our offense looked pretty good. We’ve got some kids that run the ball hard,” Mynahan said.

Lisbon lost its fourth straight game to Yarmouth in the last 24 months, but the Greyhounds aren’t alone. The Clippers are 25-1 since losing 19 of their first 20 games as a varsity program.

“They’re a good team, no doubt about it. But we knew that coming in,” Mynahan said, “They’re well-coached, and a very disciplined team. Their speed helps them correct their mistakes. That’s probably the big difference out there.”

WHALEN OF A GAME

When Poland runs its Navy-inspired flexbone offense well, the end result can be every bit as impressive as the spread option that seems to prevail everywhere else.

In other words, opponents know that junior quarterback Tony Whalen will have the ball in his hands on every play. They just can’t be sure where it’s going.

Whalen was responsible for five touchdowns Friday night in a wild 38-32 victory over Telstar that moved the Knights to 2-3 and kept them in the Western C playoff race.

In addition to his touchdown runs of 85 and 8 yards in the first half, Whalen aired out TD passes of 65 and 26 yards to Tyler Sturtevant and a 26-yarder to Pat Summers.

Poland matched its win total of 2010 in Class B with games remaining against Old Orchard Beach, Winthrop and Winslow.

“They’re great kids,” Poland coach Ted Tibbetts said. “As far as character, they’re probably the best team I’ve been associated with in a long time.”

Tough losses to Oak Hill (28-13) and Dirigo (20-18) helped prepare Poland for the first win under its new lights.

Poland has been missing top running back Christian Hanscom for much of the season. Hanscom scored three touchdowns in Poland’s previous win over Sacopee Valley before his injury.

“He’s so intense. He brings an energy and gets everybody fired up,” Tibbetts said of Hanscom.

Sturtevant added a 16-yard TD run for Poland, which warded off a 20-point Telstar comeback in the fourth quarter.

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