Some winning streaks in northern Maine were extended and others were broken this weekend.
The drama of high school football is unfolding at the perfect time, with the first playoff games officially being played this upcoming Friday night. Here is a recap of the action.
Hermon beats Hampden Academy away, 22-18
Hampden-Hermon was a crucial battle between injury-riddled teams jostling for third place in the Class C North standings. After an unexpected 1-3 start to its season, Hermon was riding a two-game winning streak entering Friday night and managed to keep their turnaround season going by barely edging out an up-and-coming Bronco team.
Without all-conference fullback Alec Smith and junior tailback Max Hopkins, Max’s little brother Sam played hero for the Hawks, scoring two of Hermon’s three touchdowns. The freshman running back returned a kickoff return for a touchdown and also caught a Bruce Coulter passing touchdown to help get the win.
“Sam’s playing really well,” Hermon head coach Kyle Gallant said. “Starts both sides of the ball, [and returns] kicks and punts. We have a great ninth-grade class. They will be a lot of fun as the years go on.”
With the win, the Hawks have catapulted themselves into third place at 4-3 as winners of three straight. The back-to-back regional finalists finish out their year against No. 4 Nokomis at home, who they could also be playing in the first round of the Class C North playoffs on Oct. 27.
Now 3-4, fifth place Hampden will close out its regular season against winless Madison/Carrabec at home.
Dexter/Piscataquis beats Bucksport away, 24-22
Big losers in two straight, the reeling 3-3 Tigers bounced back on Friday in Bucksport, rattling the 8-player small North status quo at the perfect time. The conference’s playoffs start this Friday, and Dexter is showing that no win is guaranteed.
“Bucksport and Dexter is an old, fierce rivalry,” Orono’s longtime head coach Bob Sinclair said. “Dexter saw some things in the Bucksport-Ellsworth game that they took advantage of, and is still a dangerous team.”
Unfortunately for reigning No. 1-seed Dexter, it will still have to play Houlton/Hodgdon away in the first round of the playoffs, because of Houlton’s wins over Ellsworth this past weekend and Dexter (on Sept. 15). Both Dexter and Houlton are tied for fourth place at 4-3, but Houlton gets the tiebreaker in the Crabtree standings.
Meanwhile, the second-place Golden Bucks will play No. 7 Ellsworth at home this Friday, and will also have home field advantage in the second round, if they advance. A streaking Stearns/Schenck squad was unable to leapfrog Bucksport in the Crabtree standings, despite winning five straight.
Lawrence beats Messalonskee at home, 41-6
Lawrence-Messalonskee was a classic battle between the established old guard versus the newcomers hungry for revenge.
After compiling a 5-27 record the last five years, the Messalonskee Eagles started their 2023 campaign 6-0, and were ready to beat Lawrence away for the first time in more than two decades. Lawrence were no easy customers, however, also having an undefeated Class B North conference record, and being heavily motivated to maintain the pecking order.
Unfortunately for first-year head coach Blair Doucette and company, the Eagles were dispatched by the Bulldogs on Friday, despite beating them 48-45 in Oakland at the end of last season.
“It was a crazy atmosphere,” Doucette said. “We made a lot of mistakes, [and] did not play well on the grass. [But] it’s how to get refocused.”
Lawrence is coached by the distinguished John Hersom, who coincidentally used to coach at Messalonskee in the 1990s when Doucette was the Eagles’ quarterback. For now, the Hersom-Doucette rivalry will have to be knotted at one win for both sides, unless Messalonskee and Lawrence meet again in the Class B North playoff bracket.
Next up, Lawrence and Messalonskee will finish their regular seasons with games against 1-6 Brewer and 0-7 Mt. Blue, respectively, before gearing up for the postseason. 6-1 Messalonskee and 5-2 Lawrence are currently tied for first in the Crabtree standings.