Jamier Rose, a junior quarterback and safety for Noble High, has helped to lead the Knights to a 4-1 start in their return to Class A this season. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
As the Maine Principals’ Association’s Football Committee worked through the latest classification plan last winter, Noble High had a decision to make. Since 2015, the Noble football program had played in Class B, but its enrollment of 977 students placed it squarely among Class A schools. Would the Knights choose to play down in Class B, or make the move back to Class A?
Noble Coach Keenon Blindow was eager to see the Knights move back up to the state’s largest school division.
“I’ve always thought you should play where the enrollment says you should play,” Blindow said. “We talked to the assistant coaches and the kids and said, ‘Hey, let’s play where we belong.’ … I think we were excited for the opportunity.”
At the regular season’s midpoint, Noble has been one of the surprise teams in the state. With a 4-1 record, Noble sits in third place in the Class A South Crabtree standings. One win in the final four weeks of the regular season would lock up a winning record for Noble for just the third time in the last decade.
Noble went 1-8 in Class B South last season, playing a lineup that included a lot of sophomores. Now those players are juniors with varsity experience, and it shows. They bought into the program’s offseason work, Blindow said.
Leading that strong junior class is quarterback/safety Jamier Rose. Blindow and his staff tried the 6-foot-1, 165-pound Rose at wide receiver and running back before moving him to quarterback this offseason. Rose has excelled at his new position. In last week’s 28-20 win over South Portland, Rose ran for two touchdowns, threw for another, and scored on an 85-yard interception return.
“We thought (quarterback) would be a good fit for him. He can do it all,” Blindow said.
Noble’s remaining schedule is among the toughest in Class A. The Knights’ first five opponents are a combined 6-19, with only Bonny Eagle, which beat Noble 45-14 Sept. 9, carrying a winning record into this week. Noble’s final four opponents, beginning with undefeated Portland this week, are 14-5, and all are above .500. Three of Noble’s final four games are on the road.
“We knew coming into the season the back half of the schedule would be tough,” Blindow said. “You’ve got to play the great teams to be a great team, and you have to beat them. We have a lot of guys playing well right now. They’ll be good games.”
ONE OF THE TOP players in the state had his season come to an end because of an injury last week. Portland senior Reegan Buck suffered a broken collarbone in the Bulldogs’ 35-7 win over Windham.
Buck was selected in preseason as a Varsity Maine player to watch. On Monday, Buck, a team captain and slot back/free safety, posted on Facebook about his injury.
“This past Friday I unknowingly played my last football game of my life,” Buck wrote. “It’s emotionally one of the hardest things I’ve had to face… Coach (Sean) Green always says that we need to play every down like it’s our last, because it very well could be.”
Green said Buck will maintain his leadership role with the Bulldogs.
“He will be very involved from an off the field leadership and coaching standpoint,” Green said.
Playing in Class A for the first time since 2018, the Bulldogs are 5-0 and in first place in the Class A North Crabtree standings going into Saturday night’s home game against Noble at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
AT 5-0, CAMDEN HILLS is in firm control of the top spot in the eight-man Large School North division with two games left in the regular season. The Windjammers have victories over Morse and Mt. Desert Island, which are both 4-1.
Camden’s success has come through winning close games. Three of the Windjammers’ five wins were by six points or fewer, including last week’s 29-28 double- overtime win at Gray-New Gloucester.
“For many years, we got good at losing,” said Camden Hills Coach Chris Christie. “Now we’re learning how to win.”
The Windjammers have a dozen seniors, and they’re putting that experience to work in close games. Senior Owen Reynolds scored four touchdowns last week, two on the ground and two receiving. The week before, senior quarterback Will Haslam connected with senior tight end Cameron Lawrence for the go-ahead touchdown with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter for a 20-16 win at Mountain Valley. The team’s maturity has been a major factor in winning close games, Christie said.
“This is the fourth season I’ve been with the seniors,” said Christie, who took over the program in 2020 but was unable to coach them in anything other than flag football games that fall because of the pandemic. “They’re a great group of athletes. They’re coming into games with more confidence in who they are and their skills.”
The Windjammers were eliminated in the regional semifinals each of the last two seasons. This week, they’re on the road for a third straight game, traveling to Waterville on Saturday to face the two-time defending regional champion Purple Panthers (2-3). Christie expects it to be another good measuring stick for his team.
“We have so much respect for Coach (Isaac) LeBlanc and his team. They’re always going to give us a game,” Christie said. “We spent a tremendous amount of time on film this week, studying them.”
YARMOUTH SENIOR Michael McGonagle is once again producing video game-like stats for the Clippers and is a key reason why the defending eight-man Large School state champions are 5-0. The 6-foot, 200-pound running back has 1,674 yards and 22 touchdowns on 164 carries. As a linebacker, McGonagle has four sacks and 13 tackles for a loss.
McGonagle is coming off a 46-carry, 503-yard, four-touchdown effort in the Clippers’ 46-38 win over Mountain Valley. In a 38-20 win over Gray-New Gloucester on Sept. 22, he ran for 329 yards and five touchdowns on 39 carries. The week before that, in a 52-20 win over Lake Region, McGonagle had 32 carries for 310 yards and four touchdowns.
Last season, McGonagle ran for 2,562 yards and 23 touchdowns, including 198 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the final minute of Yarmouth’s 30-26 victory over Waterville in the state championship game. Next up is a Friday night game at Greely.
WITH THREE WINS in the four interstate games last weekend, New Hampshire clinched the season series over Maine’s Class A programs for a second consecutive season. Last season, New Hampshire won three of the five games.
Wins by Spaulding (57-18 over Edward Little), Merrimack (27-14 over Bonny Eagle) and Portsmouth/Oyster River (20-14 over Oxford Hills) gave the Granite Staters three wins in the series this season. The lone Maine win so far was Bangor’s 28-7 victory over Winnacunnet. A game between Sanford and Dover was declared a tie, and a contest between Scarborough and Bishop Guertin was declared a no-contest when bad weather on Sept. 8 prevented the completion of both games.
There’s one game left on the Maine-New Hampshire schedule. Thornton Academy will play at Bedford on Oct. 20.
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