- Hello everybody and welcome to another year of high school football in Maine. While football signifies the end of summer, the next 12 weeks are always something that we look forward to. And with all due respect to the pre-season, it is game one that has hope springing eternal across the state. Whether it is those stepping onto the football field for the first time, or for those who are beginning their senior year and are doing this all for most likely the last time.

- This weekend was the welcome back party for the team from East Machias. The Washington Academy Raiders played their first MPA-aligned game in five years when they traveled west to play the Ellsworth Eagles on Friday. The Raiders would like to duplicate some of their success they enjoyed while in the Maine Independent Football League. In 2023, playing an 8 man format, the Raiders rode the strong season to the title game where they defeated the Berlin (NH) Gladiators 44-18 to win the league championship, the second consecutive league title.

- The 2024 season kicked off Thursday with a double-header of football. In Southern Maine, the 8 man small school South regional champion Old Orchard Beach Seagulls hosted the Boothbay Seahawks in a battle of the seabirds. In a likely sign of what is to come this season, the Seagulls were nothing short of dominating for most of their game. OOB took a 46-0 lead into the end of the first quarter and were substituting players from the bench across almost all positions for the rest of the 36 minutes of football. Boothbay was able to get two touchdowns onto the board in the final minutes of the second quarter but that was it in the Seagulls 80-16 win. 547 yards of Seagulls offense and 3 Boothbay turnovers was just too much to overcome. Brady Plante accumulate 278 yards of that offense through the air and on the ground with 4 touchdowns while Wes Gallant had 117 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns.

- On the other side of the state’s football landscape, it was a different game going on between the John Bapst Crusaders and the Nokomis Warriors. Both sides exchanged scores going into a 14-14 tie at the end of the third quarter. Stephone Ross would take a pitch off-tackle to his left for what would be the go-ahead touchdown for the Warriors, followed up by a two-point conversion for a 22-14 lead. John Bapst would have their opportunity at the end but a touchdown was negated by an illegal forward pass as their quarterback happened to cross the line of scrimmage prior to passing the ball. Unfortunately the Crusaders were unable to get back to the end zone.

- Old Orchard Beach’s steamroller of a victory is just another example of their recent dominance. Their 80 points is the second most scored by an 8 man team in the five years it has existed in the MPA, while being the seventh time a team has scored 80 or more points since 2004. They have now won 17 consecutive games against regional opponents, outscoring them 952-120.

- When a team has a sustained run of dominance, it is only human nature to be taken aback when they struggle. So we were a bit surprised at the updates from South Berwick between the Marshwood Hawks and the Deering Rams. Deering held a 22-0 lead at the half before adding two more touchdowns in the second half en route to a 35-8 win. A frequent name on those Rams scores was quarterback Tavian Lauture as he gained 214 yards of offense and scored three touchdowns. On the other side of the ball he directly contributed to ending Marshwood’s first two drives of the game by way of two interceptions. Those picks were converted into scores that gave Deering their opening 12-0 win. The season-opening win is Deering’s second in as many years. They beat Marshwood in last year’s opening by the score of 17-7.

- Dirigo rallied from a 21-12 deficit to come within a point against Freeport on Friday. Unfortunately that comeback story just didn’t finish with the fairytale ending as the Cougars two-point pass attempt was incomplete, ultimately leading to the Falcons 27-26 win. The win was their sixth consecutive season opening victory.

- That run by opening victories by Freeport is impressive. However, it is not the longest such streak in the state. Foxcroft Academy has also won the last six season openers. There are two others that have a longer streak though. Oceanside has won 7 straight openers. And then there is Wells. Did you know that they have won 17 straight season openers? We did not realize that. The last Wells loss on opening weekend was in 2006, a 35-0 defeat to the eventual Class B state champion Mountain Valley.

- The Spencer Emerson era at Falmouth started off with a statement as the Navigators shut out Cheverus 14-0 on Friday night. We feel that it was Falmouth’s defense that warrants lots of praise. They held Cheverus to 26 total yards of total offense and did so without getting any turnovers. Such a start is a pleasant beginning for a team that had a 2023 that was anything but that.

- After being down 12-0 at the half, Lewiston outscored the Scots 27-8 in the second half to win their Friday night game at home. Part of their rally was a third quarter where they scored 20 points off three Bonny Eagle turnovers. Two of them were interceptions by Lonnie Thomas Jr. The Blue Devils also forced a turnover on downs in the fourth quarter and then recovered an on-side kick attempt that clinched the 27-18 win. The win is the first by Lewiston over Bonny Eagle in a long, long time, we think. We’re not sure as our records only go back to 2004. Between 2004 and present Lewiston lost all three games to Bonny Eagle. If anybody out there knows the last Lewiston victory over the Scots we would be interested in hearing it.

- Cony climbed to a quick 27-6 lead at the half, but weathered a frantic Messalonskee rally to hold on for a 33-27 victory. Few things went against Cony in the first half. They capitalized on two Eagles turnovers, turning them into 14 points. Ethan Demmons, who had one of those turnovers, also gave Cony great field position after a long kickoff return, for another Rams score. Over the next 10:35 in the second half, Messalonskee got touchdowns from Landon Rancourt, Tatum Doucette, and a Malachi Cusano touchdown pass from Doucette that brought them to within a touchdown. It was Cony that persevered though, holding onto possession for the five minutes and change for the win.

- We would be lying if it was said that the Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale vs Leavitt game was not circled on our calendar when the schedules initially came out. There were plenty of questions that made this a compelling match-up. Least of all was how would the Hornets respond after their 2023 campaign. Some might roll their eyes at that comment. It is a legitimate one however. One that has been said about multiple dominating runs by special teams over the years. What can be taken away from this game is that Leavitt made some mistakes and the Ramblers capitalized on each and every one of them. First was a score that started with a botched Hornets punt. The next was a score following a Hornets interception. Both of those scores came in the final minutes of the second quarter. In the third quarter a Leavitt interception led to a Ramblers touchdown. The final score came on a fumbled Leavitt kickoff return. By the end of the game it was a 30-0 number on the scoreboard that reverberated across the state.

- What likely struck so many people about this result was that Leavitt was shut out. It was not the score anybody would have envisioned. It is a credit to coach Mike Hathaway and his staff that they can put together game plans where such a result is uncommon. How uncommon you might ask? Since 2004 this is only the third time they have been shut out. The previous two was in 2018 (a 13-0 loss to Fryeburg Academy) and in 2004 (a 13-0 loss to Brewer).

- Following a somewhat unlikely start by the Foxcroft Academy Ponies, they turned a 7-6 deficit in the latter minutes of the first quarter into a lead they did not relinquish as they rattled off 65 unanswered points to beat Belfast 71-7. It is the sixth time since 2004 that the Ponies have scored 70 or more points in a game. More than any other team has done over that same timeframe.

- In 2019, the Mt. Ararat Eagles literally ran away with the inaugural 8 man class championship behind the one-two running back combination of Riley Morin and Holden Brannan. The two players combined for around 2,500 rushing yards and countless numbers of touchdowns. Flash forward to 2024 and we’re seeing another Eagles duo following in that path. Their names are Dash Farrell and Nick Doughty. The two combined for 321 rushing yards and six touchdowns to pace Mt. Ararat to a 54-14 win over Morse on Friday.

- Since coming into the MPA ranks in 2012, Ellsworth has had more than its fair share of struggles as a building program. Friday they check-marked a sought-after achievement with a season opening 44-26 win over Washington Academy. It represented the first in twelve tries to kick off the regular season with a victory. One of those players who had a big role was Ellsworth quarterback Thomas Jude. He threw for 233 yards and tossed six touchdowns passes to four different recipients.

- An anticipated week one showdown on Saturday was in Waldoboro as Medomak Valley hosted Hermon. The Panthers have been consistently one of the top Northern Class C teams, while the Hawks have been recently looking to make their perch at the top of the region. They were both one of the influx of 2010s football programs. Although only started playing one-another in the last six years. In that time the rivalry has been somewhat even. In 2019 and 2021 it was Hermon that won two of three games, advancing to the 2021 Northern Class C regional final. Then in the past two years it has been Medomak Valley winning all four games. That included the 2022 regional final and the 2023 regional semifinal playoff games. And most of the times when these two play it is a very close fought contest. Saturday’s game was no exception. The Hawks took a two-touchdown lead from scores by Max Hopkins and Bruce Coultier, only to have that gap narrowed to a touchdown with a late first half Panthers score from Gabe Lash. From there until the final buzzer it was a battle of the trenches where neither side gave in, but neither side advances any further. This led to the Hermon 14-8 victory.

- In convincing fashion, York scored a 54-14 victory over Hillsboro-Deering after rushing out to a 21-0 first quarter lead. It was the Wildcats biggest margin of victory since beating Westbrook 55-14 in 2021.

- Of the five teams that made the move from 8 man to 11 man, only one of them picked up a win this weekend. That team (Maranacook) did so by a 23-14 score against team that also made the same move (Mattanawcook Academy).

- Out of state tracker
Bedford defeated Nashua North 35-3 on Friday. The 1-0 Bulldogs will travel to 1-0 Thornton Academy next Saturday.
Dover lost to Exeter 42-12 on Friday. The 0-1 Green Wave will travel to Manchester to play 0-1 Manchester Memorial on Friday.
Exeter defeated Dover 42-12 on Friday. The 1-0 Blue Hawks will travel to Nashua to play 0-1 Nashua North on Friday.
Hillsboro-Deering lost to York 54-14 on Saturday. The 1-0 HillCats will to Tilton to play 0-0 Winnisquam on Saturday.
Portsmouth-Oyster River lost to Winnacunnet 30-20 on Friday. The 0-1 ClipperCats will travel to Derry to play 1-0 Pinkerton Academy on Friday.
Salem lost to Danvers 24-14 on Friday. The 0-1 Witches will travel to 0-1 Brewer on Saturday.
Spaulding lost to Keene 42-7 on Friday. The 0-1 Red Raiders will host 1-0 Winnacunnet on Friday.
Winnacunnet defeated Portsmouth-Oyster River 30-20 on Friday. The 1-0 Warriors will travel to Rochester to play 0-1 Spaulding on Friday.

- Quote of the week
"Our effort tonight was great. The kids played super hard. I wasn’t sure when I got here how many games we’d win, but I knew our effort would be through the roof."
Spencer Emerson, Falmouth head coach

- Streak tracker
There are 40 unbeaten teams in Maine
1 team had their winning streak of 4 or more games snapped: Leavitt (22)
The longest active winning streaks belong to Orono (11), Mount Desert Island (8), Kennebunk (5), Thornton Academy (5), and Wells (5)
5 teams ended their losing streaks of 4 or more games: Lake Region (12), Mt. Blue (12), Spruce Mountain (8), Ellsworth (6), and Deering (4)
The longest active losing streaks belong to Madison (17), Edward Little (16), Valley (15), Mount View (14), and Washington Academy (9)

- First place teams after week one
Class A North – Portland
Class A South – Thornton Academy
Class B North – Cony and Lawrence
Class B South – Deering, Kennebunk, and Massabesic
Class C North – Hermon
Class C South – York
Class D North – Foxcroft Academy
Class D South – Wells
8 Man Large School – Lake Region 
8 Man Small School North – Orono
8 Man Small School South – Sacopee Valley

- Five games of interest to us in week two
Lawrence at Cony
Fryeburg Academy at York
Foxcroft Academy at Oceanside
Mount Desert Island at Orono
Bedford (NH) at Thornton Academy