Football is a perpetual collision of past, present and future.

Old men romanticize the greatness of their contemporaries, guys who look like plumbers and short-order cooks compared to today’s larger, quicker and more explosive athletes.

Rules are changed in the here-and-now to prevent players from drooling on themselves or forgetting the route home from the supermarket in the not-so-distant tomorrow.

The high school gridiron is no different. It’s a continuous time warp; a casserole of tradition, teaching, learning and evolution.

As we prepare to flip the calendar and turn the corner to another high school campaign (my 24th on the sidelines, speaking of old), here’s a quick glance, sorted by what’s in the mirror and what’s visible through the windshield:

The old

• Three-class system. Yup, we’re stuck with this lineup for at least one more year. And if you’re one of the holdouts when it comes to endorsing the Maine Principals’ Association football committee’s second-round proposal to add a fourth division, allow me to implore you: Stop.

Acquiesce to the common good, even if it might appear to penalize your team at present. Remember, any reclassification of Maine high school football, any adjustment of the numbers, is always a two-year cycle. Please, let’s sign off on this and at least see how it works.

Because the current arrangement is not working, for a variety of reasons including but not limited to economy and population movement. In fact, what’s happened to Maine high school football in recent years mirrors societal change. The middle class has been cannibalized. There are a few great programs and a lot of bad ones with little hope of escaping that rut.

• Favorites. And yes, along those lines, the teams getting talked up the most in every region are the same two that reached the final a year ago. Cheverus and Thornton in Western Class A. Lawrence and Bangor in Eastern A. Mt. Blue-Leavitt. Mountain Valley-Wells. Yarmouth-Traip.

That doesn’t mean we won’t see some upsets, some movement in the standings or some titanic match-ups. I would pay cash money to watch Mt. Blue and Leavitt shuttle back-and-forth on Route 4 and play at Kemp or Libby Field every Friday night from now ’til the snow flies. Reality keeps those confrontations special, I suppose, by making them few and far between.

• Nostalgia. We embrace change and scoff at tradition in everyday life, but not with our football. Happy days are here again on the Maine gridiron.

Edward Little and Lewiston revived their preseason exhibition game for the first time since Ronald Reagan’s second term, with the Red Eddies prevailing in a 36-29 shootout. Cony and Gardiner, rivals dating back to the 19th century but at least temporarily sequestered in different classes, waged their annual battle at the same time before a reported crowd of more than 3,000. And proud Biddeford has announced its intentions to “petition up” and remain in Class A if MPA membership approves the four-class proposal, presumably to keep its annual October confrontation with fast-growing Thornton meaningful.

In an era of consolidation and social networking that seemingly has drained the life out of some of our greatest neighborhood rivalries, you’ve got to love it.

The new

• Coaches. Football is the one high school sport that has bucked the 2000s trend of constant turnover in the whistle and clipboard department until now. In our tri-county region alone, Oxford Hills, Spruce Mountain, Gray-New Gloucester and Oak Hill all have new head coaches. The Vikings have their third leader in as many years. And that comes on the heels of Dirigo and Poland hiring new bosses in 2011 and Edward Little undergoing two coaching changes in the 2009-10 off-season, alone.

There were odd circumstances surrounding some of those switcheroos, but the greater message is crystal clear. Being a high school football coach is more demanding and stressful than ever, and the financial rewards are non-existent. Those who win every year survive. The others disappear, to the detriment of the game.

• Concussion standards. Adding to the preceding pressure is this once-peripheral issue that a flurry of high-profile professional cases brought to the forefront. Every coach who strives to protect his players (and himself) is now forced to monitor head injuries to the point of obsession and compulsion.

New standards for how an injured player is assessed and when he is allowed to return to the field will become law in 2013. You can bet that some schools have a comparable system in place already. You can bet that others wonder how they’ll ever find the resources to manage it.

Most football schools contract with a full-time athletic trainer, but often he or she is shared with one, or two, or three neighboring schools. And with almost every game now played under the lights on Friday evening, that staffing is stretched razor-thin.

It’s all due diligence designed to keep our kids safe, but it is another issue added to your athletic department’s already insane job description.

• Philosophies. Ten years ago it seemed the ancient double-wing offense was all the rage, with Boothbay, Gorham and Skowhegan grinding it out into the state title conversation. Then came the storm of spread offenses, copycatting what dominated the collegiate game.

Now the way-back machine seems to be in vogue again. Cheverus, Wells and Yarmouth swept the 2011 state titles with their variations of the Wing-T. Closer to home, Oxford Hills and Spruce Mountain are embracing flexbone and triple-option sets more reminiscent of Tom Osborne and Fisher DeBerry tham Urban Meyer.

It’s all part of the high school tradition of trying to build a better mousetrap. It’s a welcome contrast to the sameness that pervades Saturday and Sunday televised football.

And for my money, it’s what makes this the best time of the year. Yesterday, today and forever.

Kalle Oakes is a staff columnist. His email is [email protected].