- It’s been our opinion that you can usually split the Maine high school football season into quarters. August is the pre-season, September is the first half, October is the second half, and November is the post-season. Not 100% accurate, but close enough for our quick view. So here we are, the second half, third quarter, call it whatever you want. This is where the pace quickens as everyone looks to get the most that they can to pad the lead or catch up to the lead.

- Before we get into the games, there are two unfortunate events that we must address. Both of them involved forfeited games. The first that we’ll talk about is the Valley Mustangs forfeit of their Friday game against Ellsworth. Based on the Ellsworth Athletics Facebook page, the Valley forfeit was “Unfortunately, due to a combination of factors – including player injuries, the annual potato harvest, and a scheduled school trip to Europe – they currently have only 10 athletes available for participation.” After a check, the Valley Mustangs and the schools of the three-team cooperative had not made a statement regarding the forfeit. No statement has been made regarding next Saturday’s home game against Bucksport. Regarding the rest of the 2024, next steps after a mid-season forfeiture is not without precedent. In 2023 Falmouth’s forfeit against Portland carried a football post-season ban for that season. The MPA football committee has not yet made a determination. “We are waiting to see what their plan is for the rest of the season,” said Maine Principals Association executive director Mike Burnham.

- In 2021 the Maine football community learned about a hazing incident that took place during Brunswick’s overnight stay at Thomas Point Beach on August 16th and 17th. As the school department and law enforcement investigations announced their findings, the aftermath led to the cancellation of the Dragons football season and the termination of head coach Dan Cooper. We hoped that the aftermath of the investigation, if no other lessons were learned, would serve as a future deterrent against the acts or the thought process that hazing was acceptable. On October 3rd, local media outlets reported that the Lisbon Police Department was involved in an investigation regarding a hazing incident at Lisbon High School “involving multiple people”. On Friday, the Mountain Valley Athletics Facebook page announced that Lisbon forfeited Friday’s game against the Falcons. Shortly afterwards, local media reported that the Lisbon School Department had suspended all football team activities. Given the ongoing investigation and that juveniles are involved, details at this time have been non-existent. We are aware of the multitude of options and comments on the matter. We are also aware that law enforcement would only be involved if it was determined the acts or events could be of a criminal nature. Those are adult, real-life things that carry significant implications. Due to the legal liabilities and ramifications such events carry for a school department, deliberate investigations and next steps are what will take place.

- Southern Class A saw two exciting, close-fought match-ups on Friday. Both resulted in the end of unbeaten starts to the season. In Standish, Bonny Eagle’s fourth quarter touchdown gave them a 24-19 lead. Then, after forcing a South Portland punt, the Scots ran out the final 7:48 of the game to win the game and keep pace in a highly competitive regional race for the playoffs. Meanwhile, south of this game in North Berwick, Thornton Academy’s kickoff return for a touchdown by Ryan Camire was that was decisive score that gave the Golden Trojans a 33-26 victory over Noble. The Knights, playing Thornton Academy for the first time since 2014, showed that they were not going to be as easily surpassed as they did a decade a ago – a 73-0 Thornton Academy victory – as they battled back to a 25-14 deficit to take a 26-25 fourth quarter lead before the fateful touchdown. Class A South finished the week with three 4-1 teams separated by 10 Crabtree points.

- Friday’s game in South Berwick between Marshwood and Sanford had an emotional start as everyone observed a moment of silence for Marshwood Athletic Hall of Fame member and long time high school SWMBFO official Robert “Bear” Fontaine. His time in football goes back to playing on the first Marshwood team coached by the legendary Rod Wotton. He volunteered his time at countless football and basketball events, to include the 2023 Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl.

- On the field, Marshwood put in a very dominating effort during their 40-16 victory over Sanford. Along with two touchdowns by Ryan Essex and a score each from Cody Bubier and Tyler Hussey, the Hawks held the Spartans to 68 yards and forced two turnovers. While Sanford got second half touchdowns from Ricky Callis and Rylen Avery, it was not enough to overcome two Hawks touchdowns by Hussey and Landon Waterman.

- With Falmouth’s 55-9 win over Mt. Blue, the Navigators ended the week tied with Foxcroft Academy for the fewest points allowed in the state with 30. Offensively the Navigators got it done with a equal-opportunity attack on the ground and in the air that combined for 517 yards, while defensively limiting the Cougars to just two first downs and forcing two turnovers.

- Friday wins by Cony, Gardiner, and Lawrence created a three-way tie in Northern Class B as the trio ended the week with matching 3-2 records. Crabtree rankings have Gardiner ahead of Cony for second place by 2.5 points, while Lawrence trails Cony in fourth place by just 5 points.

- In 2018, Fryeburg Academy overcame Leavitt 20-13 in the Southern Class C regional finals. That victory propelled the Raiders to their first football state championship game in school history. Since then the Hornets won the next five games between the two sides. The most recent victory coming in the 2023 Southern Class C regional final. Fryeburg Academy won with a convincing 34-12 score that added further to their lead in the five-team region.

- Northern Class C has been a sort of battle royale in the opening weeks of 2024. It only took five weeks for someone to emerge out of the pack and that is Oceanside. The Mariners held off a defensively tough opponent in Medomak Valley for the 28-14 win. Quarterback Zeb Foster once again paced the ground game, rushing for 239 yards. That mark helped him become the first reported player (that we are aware of and have been notified of) in the state in Classes A through D to eclipse the 1,000 yards in rushing. He has 1,086 yards on the ground this season to go along with his 16 rushing touchdowns.

- Few communities in the state do a veteran appreciation night better than Wells. Friday night was their Armed Forces Military Appreciation Night Game, an annual Warriors tradition. Along with remembering and honoring the contributions and efforts of former Navy SEAL, Commander Mike Guyer, it recognizes those military contributions in the area.  This is one of those games we would encourage you to attend. And that is a recommendation we take seriously.

- Friday’s lone battle of the unbeaten matched two of the most dominating 8 man teams in the state. Each came in dominating on different ends of the game. For the last year and a half the Camden Hills Windjammers have employed one of the most effective defensive schemes amongst Maine’s 8 man programs. On the other side, Mt. Ararat’s ground game has been without equal this season. The irresistible force against the immovable object. The Friday night Dom Palmer Field crowd, the game made possible as portable lighting was brought to a floodlight-less field, was sent home happy following one heck of a comeback. Call it hyperbole to say this was one of those Hollywood-esque games in items key moments. The game started very much in the favor of the visitors as Mt. Ararat’s Dash Farrell scored three consecutive touchdowns that gave the Eagles a 24-0 advantage. Camden Hill’s comeback was then initiated by the hands (and feet) of quarterback Hollis Schwalm. His touchdown passes to Isaac Dutille and Braden Beveridge changed the scoreline to 24-22 going into the game. Mt. Ararat would extend their lead after first stopped the Windjammer’s opening drive of the second half on their own 9 yard line, then embarking on a clock-eating 20-play drive that was capped by a Nick Doughty goal line score to give the Eagles a 30-22 fourth-quarter lead. The Windjammers responded quickly, scoring a little over a minute later as Schwalm found Beveridge for his fourth touchdown pass of the night. The Windjammers took the final lead minutes later after a Mt. Ararat fumble that led to a third Schwalm-to-Dutille touchdown pass. They would then secure a Mt. Ararat fumble on the Eagles last drive of the game to ice the game and celebrate the win.

- It wasn’t a state championship and the venue was not Cameron Stadium, but for the Greely Rangers there must have been a bit of satisfaction as they defeated the defending champion Mount Desert Island Trojans by the very same score that was piled on them last November. The Rangers unique two-quarterback approach of Andrew Padgett and Luke Piper combined for 177 passing yards and 147 rushing yards and they hand a hand in all four of Greely’s touchdowns. The win was the Rangers second shutout victory of the season. That makes them only the second amongst Maine’s 8 man teams to have that distinction.

- The Stearns Minutemen did not let Houlton’s undefeated record intimidate them as they took apart the Shiretowners for a 66-16 victory on Friday. The Minutemen, three-time regional runner-ups, controlled almost the entire contest with a 44-16 halftime lead. They held back Houlton the second half and extended the lead with three more touchdowns along the way.

- Official records in the state of Maine are a complicated thing to discuss. Unlike being written in stone as they are in other states, most in Maine are passed along like the tall tales of Paul Bunyan. We are all too well aware of this. Our research over the years for multiple items often leads to dead ends because there is no official source for records. This leads to the idea of them being “universally accepted” as a state record.  An example of this that comes to mind is Tyler Bridge’s 2019 “unofficial” state single season record of 45 touchdowns in a season. Another “accepted record” is the most career passing yards, an accomplishment attributed to the late Lee St. Hilaire. And even then there are different numbers found in our research. A 2013 Kennebec Journal article listed it as 8,019 yards. MaxPreps lists it as 8,259 yards. And a 2006 Sports Illustrated article had it at 8,272 yards. That may seem like no big deal to many. It could be the reason why there is no record. But it becomes very relevant when one comes close to exceeding this mark. Orono quarterback Jack Brewer will likely exceed this mark in the next game when the Red Riots host Houlton. How Jack’s career passing yardage is acknowledged and viewed by the various football bodies is another conversation for another day. But the question comes up as to what mark is it acknowledged against. And that makes for lots of confusion.

- The well-documented lack of officials is a well-known reality in Maine. This has led to uncommon start times to accommodate the schedules. An example of this was the 10 AM Saturday game in Westbrook between the Blue Blazes and Massabesic. The Mustangs overcame a slow start in the second quarter as Cam Bradbury’s touchdown and then a Silas Boulard end zone tackle for a safety put Massabesic into a 9-7 lead. Bradbury would score two more touchdowns on the ground, coupled with a Jackson Normand rushing touchdown, which led to their eventual 30-14 victory. Defensively the Mustangs’ defense forced turnovers through the efforts of Nate Hanson (interception), Hunter Jacobs (fumble recover), and Coleman Pennington (fumble recovery).

- It was a daunting hole for Gorham to be in on Saturday. Playing at the scenic Boulos Stadium on the Cheverus campus, the Rams eyed a 20-13 third quarter deficit. Between a collection of two fourth down stops on defense, a fumble recovery in the Stags backfield, and three Garrett Poulin touchdown passes to Atticus Whitten, Jack Karlonas, and Camden Martell all contributed to the Rams seizing a 34-20 lead.  The Rams may have bent after a Stags fourth quarter touchdown, but they did not break as they held on for the 34-27 victory. It was the second consecutive victory for Gorham.

- Another Rams team, two in fact, were in action as unbeaten Kennebunk hosted unbeaten Deering in the other week five battle of the undefeated. Unlike the Friday game, there was nothing close here as Kennebunk rode an early lead all the way to a 41-0 statement victory. Three Deering turnovers and 149 yards of offense, of which just 47 occurred in the second half, just could not compete with Kennebunk’s 408 offensive yards. 299 yards of which came from a ground game with contributions by Brady Stone (173, 3 touchdowns), Austin West (91, 1 touchdown), Maddox Ralls (27), and Ethan Burr (8, 1 touchdown).

- It has been a trying season for the Mount View Mustangs football community. And yet the Mustangs have continued to soldier on against opponents whose rosters were much different than the one junior, nine sophomores, and nine freshman that lined up on the Mount View sideline in their green and white. In each of their five games they have shown a determination not to succumb, not to give in or give up. Knowing that a white flag to the season would likely earn them a two-year sentence from the MPA football committee to play a JV-only schedule. They know that the lumps paid for now will lead to better days in the future. Those lumps are tough though. In five games they have yet to score a single point. They have now played 24 quarters of scoreless football and are a quarter away from establishing the longest such run in our records. A mark that could be less than the 7 points scored in a season by a second-year Sacopee Valley team in 2010. Those are tough numbers. However, we will invoke this quote – “it is always darkest before the dawn”.

- For those that noticed, we did not produce our usual Sunday morning ranking updates. With John Bapst scheduled to play Winslow at 6 pm on Monday, there are incomplete numbers across three different regions that will be affected by the result of the game. We will conduct our “He said it?!?!” segment at the end of the game and will publish updated rankings of all six classes on Tuesday morning.

- Looking across the Crabtree landscape shows a few congestions in the rankings. We are only five games in so we know there will only be six possible win-loss combinations. Unlike the round robin schedules of old, creative scheduling has allowed teams to play more competitive schedules. This has led to some regions having very interesting (to us that is) rankings.
In Southern Class A there are three 4-1 teams with a separation of 11 points between first place Thornton Academy (133.333) to third place Noble (123.182).
In Northern Class B there are three 3-2 teams with a separation of 7.5 points between second place Gardiner (112.500) to fourth place Lawrence (105.000).
In Southern Class B there are four 2-3 teams with a separation of 5 points between fourth place Cheverus (100.000) to seventh place Marshwood (95.000).
Southern Class C has some of the widest separation of the four 2-3 teams, from Leavitt (97.500) to Cape Elizabeth (82.500).
In the 8 Man Large School Class there are three 4-1 teams with a separation of 5 points between Lake Region (132.500), Greely (127.500), and Mt. Ararat (127.500).

Nowhere was this more interesting, or maddening depending on your take, than in the 8 Man Small School Class. In the North there is 15 points of separation in the top four places between 4-1 Houlton (132.500), 4-1 Stearns (130.000), 3-2 Orono (120.000), and 4-1 Ellsworth (117.500). In the South there is 20 points of separation in the top three between 4-1 Sacopee Valley (130.000), 5-0 Old Orchard Beach (125.000) and 4-1 Spruce Mountain 110.000.

- Out of state tracker
Bedford defeated Merrimack 47-0 on Friday. The 5-0 Bulldogs will host 4-1 Pinkerton Academy on Friday.
Dover defeated Portsmouth-Oyster River 40-27 on Friday. The 2-3 Green Wave will travel to 1-4 Sanford on Friday.
Exeter defeated Spaulding 24-7 on Saturday. The 5-0 Blue Hawks will travel to Plaistow to play 0-5 Timberlane on Thursday.
Hillsboro lost 56-46 to Bishop Brady on Saturday. The 2-3 HillCats will travel to Bristol to play 0-4 Newfound on Saturday.
Portsmouth-Oyster River lost 40-27 to Dover on Friday. The 0-5 ClipperCats will travel to South Paris to play 2-3 Oxford Hills on Friday.
Salem lost 35-14 to Gloucester on Friday. The 2-2 Witches travel to 1-3 Saugus on Thursday.
Spaulding lost 42-7 to Exeter on Saturday. The 1-4 Red Raiders will host 3-2 Alvirne on Thursday.
Winnacunnet defeated Timberlane 16-6 on Friday. The 4-1 Warriors will travel to Nashua to play 5-0 Nashua South on Friday.

- Quote of the week
"I just told them, ‘Listen boys, we can win this, we can score 24 points easily,'. And that’s exactly what we did. They didn’t quit, and I’m so proud of them for that."
Hollis Schwalm, Camden Hills quarterback

- Streak tracker
There are 7 unbeaten teams in Maine, down from 12 last week
5 teams had their winning streak of 4 or more games snapped: Deering (4), Houlton (4), Mt. Ararat (4), Noble (4), and South Portland (4)
The longest active winning streaks belong to Kennebunk (9), Wells (8), and Falmouth (6)
3 teams ended their losing streaks of 4 or more games: Brewer (6), Windham (6), and Dexter (5)
The longest active losing streaks belong to Valley (19), Mount View (18), Poland (10), and Morse (7)

- First place teams after week five
Class A North – Portland (no change)
Class A South – Thornton Academy (change from last week)
Class B North – Falmouth (no change)
Class B South – Kennebunk (change from last week)
Class C North – Oceanside (no change)
Class C South – Fryeburg Academy (no change)
Class D North – Foxcroft Academy (no change)
Class D South – Wells (no change)
8 Man Large School – Camden Hills (no change) 
8 Man Small School North – Houlton (no change)
8 Man Small School South – Sacopee Valley (change from last week)

- Five games of interest to us in week six
Noble at Lewiston
South Portland at Thornton Academy
Medomak Valley at Cony
Old Orchard Beach at Sacopee Valley
Camden Hills at Lake Region

What are your thoughts on the weekend?