The race for the top seeds in Class B South is so unclear that some of the best high school football coaches in the region don’t want to hazard a guess about how it will all shake out.
Three of the league’s teams are 3-2 with three weeks left in the regular season. Two more are 2-3, and while teams know they’ll be in the playoffs, guessing at seeds now would be a fool’s errand.
“We just talked to the team the other day and said the same thing. I have no idea who’s No. 1 and who’s No. 8. I can’t tell the difference,” said Marshwood Coach Alex Rotsko.
Rotsko’s Hawks won the last four Class B state titles, but after playing a tough schedule, they are 2-3 heading into Friday’s pivotal game at Portland, also 2-3 against a challenging schedule featuring some of the state’s top teams.
“There’s certainly a lot of parity in the league this year. The nonconference opponents we’ve played have been formidable. Not just us, most teams in our league have challenged themselves,” said Portland Coach Jason McLeod, whose team sits atop the Class B South Crabtree standings despite its sub-.500 record. “It’s a byproduct of where we want to be, not in September but in November.”
Massabesic, South Portland, Biddeford and Kennebunk are 3-2. Massabesic was scheduled to play Thursday night at Class A Sanford, and South Portland hosts Biddeford on Friday. Kennebunk hosts Deering at Waterhouse Field in Biddeford at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Longtime Kennebunk Coach Joe Rafferty thinks the league’s parity goes beyond the six teams bunched up at the top, and pointed to his team’s 21-0 win at Gorham (0-5) last week as an example.
“Last week, we played at Gorham and had our hands full,” Raffety said. “What’s hurting us is the Crabtree points. We’ve played three teams without a win (Brunswick, Noble and Gorham). We could go 6-2 and finish fourth. I don’t look at the Crabtree points until the season is over, but I have some assistant coaches who do.”
Kennebunk is currently sixth of nine Class B South teams in the Crabtree points.
Crabtree points are calculated by combining a team’s winning percentage with the winning percentage of its opponents. The formula is used in football to determine playoff seeding. In that regard, tough nonconference games, like Portland’s against Class A Oxford Hills and Bonny Eagle, and Marshwood’s against Bonny Eagle and Scarborough, will help in playoff positioning.
Marshwood and Portland met in the regional championship game last season, when the Hawks avenged a regular-season loss with a 35-0 win. McLeod said that result last Nov. 13 certainly provides motivation for his team.
“They present challenges all over the place,” McLeod said of Marshwood. “They force you to play fundamentally sound football.”
Portland moved Kennedy Charles from wide receiver to quarterback last week in a 30-12 win at Biddeford, giving Marshwood another factor with which to contend, Rotsko said.
“They have outstanding skill kids. That’s what jumps out at you. They’re very athletic,” Rotsko said.
SATURDAY NIGHT’S GAME against Deering is the third of four home games Kennebunk is playing at Waterhouse Field while its own field undergoes a major renovation, with artificial turf, new lights and a new track.
Rafferty said he has missed the Friday night home atmosphere, as each of Kennebunk’s home games are on Saturday, but added that Waterhouse has been an excellent temporary home for his team. It’s approximately 10 miles from Kennebunk High to Waterhouse Field.
“Biddeford is a very good environment. I love playing there. People are right behind you (in the bleachers),” Rafferty said. “Our fans travel well. We played TA (Thornton Academy) a couple weeks ago and it was full. It’s the best option, given the scenario we’re in.”
Rafferty said new light poles have been installed at Kennebunk’s Veterans Memorial Field, along with the goal post bases. The turf will be installed this fall, with the track coming in the spring.
“The end result is, we’re going to have an outstanding stadium,” Rafferty said.
BY THE STANDARD definition, Jordan Bissonnette is playing some quarterback for Sanford. Coach Mike Fallon still doesn’t quite want to call the 6-foot-1, 224-pound junior a quarterback, though.
“I don’t even know if we’d say (Bissonnette’s) our quarterback. It’s not traditional. We’re fully aware of that,” Fallon said.
Bissonnette started getting snaps at quarterback last season as a sophomore, when the Spartans (3-2) installed a package of plays to use his size and speed in short-yardage or goal-line situations. When starting quarterback Carter Buswell suffered a sprained ankle early this season, it made sense to use Bissonnette at quarterback some more, Fallon said.
In last week’s 48-8 win over Edward Little, Bissonnette ran for touchdowns of 1, 2 and 2 yards.
“It gives opponents something else to think of defensively,” Fallon said. “It’s created an interesting dynamic.”
Buswell was cleared to play last Tuesday, but in practice last week was still knocking off the rust and wasn’t ready to play against the Red Eddies, Fallon said. The coach expects Buswell to see time at defensive back against Massabesic.
“I’ve been here a while (26 years), and this is the first Thursday game I can remember. It’s an interesting challenge with the quick turnaround,” Fallon said.
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