Skowhegan quarterback Adam Savage (10) stretches across the goal line for a touchdown Friday as he is tackled by Lawrence’s Parker Higgins (32) in Fairfield. Skowhegan’s victory was not surprising, but the ease of its victory certainly was. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
Some thoughts as we jump into the high school football season…
It’s Maine 1, New Hampshire 0.
This season, finally, Maine high school football teams are playing countable games against out-of-state opponents, with five Class A programs taking on a counterpart from New Hampshire’s Division I (the state’s Class A equivalent). It began Friday night with Bonny Eagle’s 33-27 win over Merrimack in Standish.
Let’s hope the next four games are a success, i.e. just as competitive, and this experiment opens the door for teams in Class B, C, and D to play out-of-state opponents. If the goal is to develop programs through more competitive games, interstate games should not be limited to Class A.
Does five games give an accurate assessment of the strength of high school football in one state over the other? Absolutely not. It’s far too small of a sample size. What it does provide, though, is unscientific, yet-so-satisfying bragging rights. With five games, this series cannot end in a tie. One state will win more games than the other. And with that, those sweet, sweet bragging rights.
The Maine versus New Hampshire series continues next week with two games. Edward Little travels to Rochester, New Hampshire, to take on Spaulding, and Sanford hosts Dover.
SPEAKING OF COMPETITIVE games, approximately 30 percent of all regular-season games last year were decided by 35 points or more. Of the 32 games played Thursday and Friday, 13 were routs of 35 or more points. At least two games Saturday (Waterville’s 50-14 win over Ellsworth and Winslow’s 58-14 victory over Old Town) also were blowouts.
The eight-man Small School division was hit especially hard by the lopsided score goblins in Week 1. Five of the seven games played Thursday or Friday were blowouts. Lopsided games are like cockroaches: They’re ugly and never going away. Every effort should be made to continue building schedules that limit blowouts. In a few weeks, we’ll know if Week 1 was an aberration or a harbinger.
WHILE THERE WERE more than enough blowouts, some of the interclass games were entertaining and close. Class D Madison was winless last season, but took a 16-14 win at Class C Hampden Academy. Class B Falmouth beat Class C Cheverus, which is back in 11-man football after winning the eight-man Large School state title last season, 26-20.
Class A Edward Little snapped a 20-game losing streak that stretched over the last two seasons with a 28-26 victory Friday over Class B Messalonskee. As proof that life is full of delightful coincidences, last season Messalonskee snapped its own 22-game losing streak in Week 2 with a 34-8 win over Edward Little. It’s the football circle of life.
MAYBE WEEK 1 is too early to call any game an upset, but not too early to call a game a surprise. South Portland’s 35-26 win over four-time defending Class B state champion Marshwood certainly qualifies. Earlier in the week, Marshwood Coach Alex Rotsko called South Portland a top-four team in Class B South. The Red Riots will be a factor come November.
Marshwood will be a factor, too. The Hawks have won six of the last seven Class B state championships. They’ll improve as the season wears on. Marshwood never peaks on Labor Day. That said, any win over a quality program like Marshwood is good. This is a game South Portland can use as a stepping stone for the season.
Another surprise result from Week 1 was Skowhegan over Lawrence, not that the River Hawks went to Keyes Field and beat the Bulldogs, but that they did it with ease, taking a 41-21 win that wasn’t that close. Skowhegan was a preseason favorite in Class B North, but Lawrence was as well.
Skowhegan’s next test is against a Brewer team coming off an impressive 35-6 win over Class A Bangor. It doesn’t get any easier for Lawrence. The Bulldogs play at Windham next week in a rematch of last season’s regional final.
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