Horton: As I wrote in Monday Morning Quarterback — I took care of the first week for Wil Kramlich, which I think makes me Jimmy Garoppolo — Winthrop/Monmouth beating Lisbon 31-12 was the biggest surprise of Week 1. The Ramblers were picked to win the game on this page last week, so obviously the victor wasn’t the surprise, it was the margin of victory.

Yes, it was only one week; yes, the Greyhounds will likely get another shot at the Ramblers in the playoffs, when it matters most; and yes, Oak Hill is not to be counted out, no matter what its coach and players say; but Winthrop/Monmouth’s opening salvo sets it up as the early standard in the competitive Class D South. Right?

Tell me, was there anything in Week 1 that even came close to being as surprising as the Winthrop/Monmouth Ramblers?

Pelletier: Hard to believe anything surprises you, new guy. Well, aside from the humidity and the red hot dogs. How were those, by the way?

As for on the field, you are right to be surprised by the final score in that Lisbon game, but if there’s one thing you will learn, it’s that Dick Mynahan-coached teams are almost always the most improved teams, start to finish, each season.

Otherwise, I think the extent to which Mountain Valley defeated Gray-New Gloucester was an eye-opener for me. I know the Falcons have eyes on redemption, and I know the Patriots are a bit down from last season, but that was a monstrous win for the road team. Also, Edward Little so soundly defeating Bangor was a head-turner, too, the end result more so than the idiotic fan who risked harm to both herself and the players on the field by jumping the ropes in a gorilla suit. Great for some laughs, not so great if you and your team’s own player end up out for the season.

How about you, rookie? What did you glean from your first weekend of Maine high school football? Anything surprise you?

Horton: You mean those pink things on buns? The only other thing that color that entered my mouth is bubble gum. I’m not complaining, it just takes a little getting used to.

You know what I enjoyed? Leavitt’s game against Westbrook. After the first quarter, Westbrook got rolling and even took two-touchdown leads in the third quarter and the fourth quarter. But the Hornets hung around, and even had a chance to win at the end.

Here’s another surprise: how well Oxford Hills hung with Cheverus. Looking at past seasons’ results and standings, it seemed that Class A North was separated into two factions: those who are Portland, Windham and Cheverus, and those who are not. By the way, Portland lost last week, so maybe A North isn’t what we thought it was. Or is it too early to tell?

What else don’t we know?

Pelletier: One thing I can guarantee that we don’t know from Week 1? That none of these game singlehandedly eliminated any team from playoff contention. A little perspective for a lot of these one-loss teams will be important as they battle in Week 2 and beyond. There are a lot of good teams out there, and this may be the most wide open some of these conferences have been in a long time.

Nice chatting with you, rook. Hope we can do it again sometime. In the meantime, don’t let big, bad Wil take too many liberties.

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