Oak Hill’s Sam Lindsay and Lisbon’s Seth Leeman both leap for a ball intended for Linsday in the first quarter. The ball was dropped by both players. (Andree Kehn / Sun Journal)
BATH — The high school football season has reached the postseason, and all five area teams are hoping for success.
Here is a look at the exciting regular season and the upcoming playoffs, with the goal to raise a championship trophy in mid-November:
Brunswick
The Dragons enter Class B North postseason play with a 5-3 record, good for the No. 3 seed.
Last Friday at home, Brunswick fell to 7-1 Cony, 30-6, allowing the Rams to leapfrog the Dragons into the No. 2 spot, earning Cony a quarterfinal bye.
“The last few weeks we have struggled up front to block opponents well,” said Brunswick coach Dan Cooper. “We consistently have missed blocks and blown assignments on offense. We have spent a lot of time trying to improve that as well as improving our play on defense against the run.”
Brunswick will host No. 6 Brewer (2-6) tonight at 7 p.m. The teams met at Brewer in Week 7, with the Dragons scoring two first-half touchdowns for a 14-0 win.
“Brewer is a good football team, better than their record indicates,” Cooper said. “They played us tough a few weeks back and we are expecting a slugfest against them. Brewer always has some of the best players in the league and are very well coached. We will not take them lightly. We have developed a pretty intense rivalry with Brewer, and anytime you have black and orange teams playing one another, expect some fireworks.”
The season has been up and down in Brunswick. The Dragons opened with a hard-fought 27-25 victory over Falmouth.
The Dragons hit the road for the second game against defending region champion Skowhegan. Brunswick darted out to a 20-0 first-quarter lead, but the Indians came back for a 29-26 victory.
After a win at Messalonskee and a home loss to undefeated Kennebunk, the Dragons reeled off three straight wins before the loss to Cony.
Mt. Ararat’s Hunter Lohr (5), here running for a touchdown against Westrbook at the Topsham Fairgrounds recently, leads the Eagles against Kennebunk in a Class B South quarterfinal at Kennebunk tonight at 6 p.m. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
Brunswick is averaging 28.1 points a game while allowing 22.2. Cam Hathaway (814 yards, six touchdowns), Donald Bromiley (776 yards, nine TDs), Nate Girardin (461 rushing yards, 264 passing, nine TDs) and Mitch Leinert (254 yards, three TDs) lead the Dragon offense, while defensively look for Hunter Backhaus, Leinert, Tyler Nadeau, Nick Munn and Jeremiah McNeill
Skowhegan earned the No. 1 seed and a bye. In tonight’s other quarterfinal, No. 4 Lawrence entertains fifth-seeded Mt. Blue.
If Brunswick defeats Brewer, the Dragons will take on Cony. The Rams’ home field is unplayable, so the semifinal game will be played on Lewiston’s new turf field on Nov. 2.
Mt. Ararat
The season started with a bump, as former head coach O’Neil LaPlante stepped down.
Assistants Matt Haskell and Tom Quick stepped in to run the team, with the Eagles hosting games at the Topsham Fairgrounds while the new high school is being constructed.
Mt. Ararat won its first game, downing Medomak Valley on the road, 13-6. But, a five-game losing skid followed, with the Eagles struggling to both score and consistently stop their opponents.
However, the Eagles earned a 44-22 victory over Westbrook in Week 7, then battled Morse after a tough first quarter to end the season with a 2-6 mark.
The reward for eighth-seeded Mt. Ararat is a visit to Class B South top-ranked Kennebunk (8-0) tonight (6:30 p.m.). The Rams reeled off 56 first-half points in a 70-0 victory over the Eagles earlier this season.
Marshwood, coming off a 17-14 last-second loss to Kennebunk, is the No. 2 seed, with Falmouth, Greely, Biddeford, Noble and Gorham rounding out the region’s playoff field.
Mt. Ararat averaged 15.5 points offensively this season while allowing 39.5.
Morse
When game-planning for the Shipbuilders, the key is trying to contain running back Austin Baltazar.
The problem … containing Austin Baltazar.
The senior rumbled for 1,498 yards on 214 carries this season, an average of seven yards per carry. Baltazar rushed for 15 touchdowns.
Morse went 4-4 during the regular season and travels to No. 3 Gardiner for a quarterfinal tonight at 7 p.m.
The teams opened the Class C South regular season at Bath, with the Tigers scoring 34 unanswered points for a 34-7 victory over the Shipbuilders. A three-game winning streak (Lake Region, Gray-New Gloucester, Yarmouth) gave the Shipbuilders a 3-2 record before a pair of losses to York and Leavitt and a win at Mt. Ararat put the Shipbuilders as the No. 6 seed.
Times have been tough at Gardiner, which lost its final four games to finish 3-5.
“Gardiner has one of the toughest schedules in the state,” said Morse coach Jason Darling. “They’ve lost four straight, but those four teams have a combined 25-7 record. They’ve been hit by injuries, but so has everyone at this point in the year. I think we’ll have more guys in street clothes than in pads on Friday night.
“Gardiner is still tough physically and mentally, and they play a ton of upperclassmen who get after it. Playing at Hoch Field is always a great environment, and we expect that again.”
Darling will look for a bit of balance, with quarterback Corey Larmon (27-of-53 passing for 384 yards and two TDs) looking to throw to receivers Mason Savary (14 receptions, 168 yards, TD) and Lukas Osterhout (8-144, TD) when not handing off to Baltazar, who will likely receive plenty of touches tonight.
Defensively, look for Ihsan Myers (52 tackles, two sacks), Ty Knowlton (25 tackles) and Gabe Aucoin (20 1/2 tackles) to lead Morse.
“Our keys will to be play sound, disciplined, tough football,” Darling said. “Neither of these teams are going to surprise you. It’s going to be who gets after it more and who outhits who for 48 minutes. I feel good about our guys. This game means a lot to them and they’re going to leave it all out on the field.”
Morse was outscored by its opponents, 212-188.
Leavitt is the top seed in the region, followed by Fryeburg Academy, which defeated the Hornets in Turner during the regular season.
Lisbon
Chris Kates’ second year as the Lisbon coach went nearly exactly as his first, with the Greyhounds finishing 7-1 and earning the No. 2 seed in Class D South.
Kates is hoping his second playoff campaign goes better than his first. Lisbon fell to Winthrop/Monmouth in last year’s quarterfinal on Thompson Field.
This time, the Greyhounds host Route 9 rival Oak Hill (3-5), which is the No. 7 seed, on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
The teams met in the finale, with Lisbon using a pair of interception returns for scores late for a 47-27 victory.
“Preparing for a team two weeks in a row is extremely difficult, especially a team that’s solid offensively as Oak Hill,” said Kates. “For them, their game-plan can differ drastically on a weekly basis, so it’s almost like preparing for a new team this week.
“In order for us to win, we need to sustain drives that chew up the clock. Oak Hill is an explosive team, so keeping them off the field is imperative to our success. Defensively, we need to prevent big plays in their pass game while playing tough against their power run game.”
Things haven’t been easy for the ’Hounds, especially at home. After defeating Fryeburg Academy on the road in its opener, Lisbon rallied to defeat Mountain Valley, 20-12, then hosted Spruce Mountain and prevailed in overtime, 30-28.
After a 30-8 win at Madison/Carrabec, the Greyhounds dropped their only game, falling at Wells, the No. 1 seed in the region, 39-18.
Back at home, Lisbon held off Winthrop, 14-12, then fell behind Poland, 14-0, before reeling off 55 unanswered points for a 55-21 win.
Lisbon averages 31.2 points a game. Defensively, the Greyhounds have permitted 20.1 a contest.
Offensively, Isaiah Thompson is the leading rusher for Lisbon, along with quarterback Lucas Francis, whose favorite receiving targets are Robbie Dick, Seth Leeman and Riley Quatrano. On defense, linebackers Colin Houle, Cam Bourget and Hunter Job lead the way.
“The growth that we’ve seen over this season is tremendous,” Kates said. “Coming into this season, we had many first time varsity players stepping into new roles. The offensive line in particular, had only two combined varsity games played coming into the season. Their ability to come together as a unit has been a key driving force to our success.
“Our biggest area of growth has came from the leadership of our senior class. These seniors aren’t a real vocal group, so it was tough for them to embrace their leadership roles early in the season. However, as the season has gone on, they’ve become comfortable leading this team while setting a great example for the program.”
Poland visits Wells, Madison/Carrabec is at Mountain Valley, and Winthrop heads to Spruce Mountain in the quarterfinals.
Freeport
Paul St. Pierre’s Falcons competed in Class E this year, deciding to take a season to build the program.
Freeport’s Aidan Michaud (left) catches the ball near the sidelines as Dirigo’s Cole Brown defends on the play in midseason football action in Freeport. The Falcons are the No. 1 seed in Class E and host a semifinal next Friday. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
The results have been solid, with Freeport earning the No. 1 seed after a 7-1 regular season. The Falcons will host a semifinal next week against the quarterfinal survivor of Old Orchard Beach and Camden Hills.
After a 1-1 start, Freeport found it. A close 14-6 win at Camden was followed by two big home wins — 43-14 over Telstar and 34-14 against previously undefeated Dirigo, the No. 2 seed.
Freeport finished strong with wins over Traip Academy (38-6), OOB (20-6) and Sacopee Valley (32-6).
The Falcons have outscored their opponents 234-103 (29.5-12.8 average), with their lone loss at Poland in Week 2.
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