- This is that point in the season where any lingering memories of pre-season optimism have long since been replaced with late-season realities. If a team does not know what they need to do between now and the end of their regular season then there is little in the way of hope that they can put their faith into. Those late season realities are going to hit harder than any oncoming blindside blitz.

- Oxford Hills made the trek South across the Piscataqua River for the third installment of their cross-border battle with the Portsmouth-Oyster River ClipperCats on Thursday. The game was a slow developing contest as neither team had any point production in the first half. It was the ClipperCats that took a third quarter lead before becoming a back-and-forth affair. Brady Delamater caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Carter Wyman to tie it, then the ClipperCats Cote Bellaud kicked a 32-yard field goal, and finally Delamater kicked a 29-yard field goal that would tie and ultimately send the game to overtime. Oxford Hills would be unable to score on their possession before getting a smile of good fortune in the way of a missed ClipperCats field goal on their possession. Switching sides and switching possessions, the ClipperCats would score on and get the successful PAT to take the lead. On the Vikings possession they too scored with Wyman on the quarterback keeper. Instead of going for a PAT kick and taking the game to a third OT, the Vikings made the gutsy decision to go for a two-point conversion and the win. On what appeared to be a hand-off, Brayden Murch found a gap and ran through it and into the endzone for the two-pointer and an Oxford Hills victory. The Vikings are now 2-1 against the ClipperCats in their three-year border battle.

- Greely erupted for three second-half touchdowns during their Thursday night game against Gray-New Gloucester, taking control of what was a close game where the Rangers only held a 14-8 halftime lead as they won by the score of 38-22. The Rangers, having lost their season opening to Camden Hills, are winners of five straight and are one of four teams in the 8 Man Large School Class to be 5-1. The Rangers sit in fourth, losing out on the fourth tiebreaker of heal points to their next opponent of Mt. Ararat.

- Two other teams had big wins on Thursday as Fryeburg Academy defeated Brunswick 47-6 and Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall beat Mountain Valley 35-8. The Raiders continue to hold the pace in Southern Class C, at least 40 Crabtree points ahead of second place. The Ramblers meanwhile have the distinction of being the only undefeated team in Maine that is not in first place in their region.

- Friday afternoon games are not exactly a common occurrence. They have been held in the past as needed. The well-documented lack of officials created a need for the 3 pm Marshwood home game against Gorham. As was tweeted by Joe Bailey, for all but one official this was the first of two games they would be providing coverage on the day. While Marshwood scored first on the game by way of a Cody Bubier 15-yard touchdown run, the score was fairly close at the half as the Hawks lead was only 16-12 over the Rams. The was quickly blown wide open in the third quarter as Ryan Essex and Bubier scored to give the Hawks a 30-12 lead and an eventual 52-24 victory. The win propelled Marshwood up the standings of a compact Southern Class B. Starting the week in seventh place, win leapfrogged the Hawks over the Rams into fourth place behind third place 5-1 Massabesic and ahead of fifth place 2-4 Cheverus.

- Cordell Jones’ three first half touchdowns provided a 21-7 Portland lead at halftime. The Bulldogs added to the lead with second half touchdowns from Louis Thurston and Aidan McGowan, while holding Bangor off the scoreboard, for a 35-7 win. The victory added to Portland’s monstrous lead over the rest of the pack in Northern Class A. Of all the classes and all the regions, only Foxcroft Academy has a larger lead (47.916) than Portland (46.227).

- Southern Class A meanwhile stands in stark contrast to its northern neighbors. Thornton Academy’s 35-7 win over South Portland, Noble’s 31-7 win over Lewiston, and Bonny Eagle’s 70-14 win over Scarborough has created a tight race for the playoffs in the region. Thornton Academy has a 10-point Crabtree advantage over Noble for first place. South Portland’s loss and Bonny Eagle’s win has moved the Scots into third with almost a 3-point edge over the fourth place Red Riots.

- Kennebunk used a little air power in their 42-10 victory over Cheverus on Friday. Sam Haley threw two touchdown passes to Max Andrews along with a touchdown each to Jaiden Homa and Austin West. The win easily keeps Kennebunk in first in Southern Class B. Deering and Massabesic, both winners on Friday and both owners of a 5-1 record, closely chase the Rams. Deering holds onto second place by a narrow 2.1 Crabtree point margin over Massabesic.

- Falmouth turned in a strong second half to pull clear of Gardiner for a 30-7 win on Friday. The Yachtsmen only held a 10-7 first half lead over the Tigers before getting three scores in the second half, one of them being a 49-yard pick-six from David Gravier that clinched the game. Their defense, owners of the fewest points allowed in the state with 37, held a second half shutout when it mattered as they limited Gardiner to only 111 yards. It also further added to their 35.4 Crabtree point lead in Northern Class B.

- The Medomak Valley Panthers continued to serve up notice not just to Northern Class C but also to the state that they are a force to be contended with. The Panthers only held a touchdown advantage through most of their game with the Rams before breaking it open in the fourth quarter for a 38-14 victory. In addition to getting two touchdowns on the ground, Jaydiin Ruiz picked off two Cony passes as part of an overall defensive effort that held the Rams to just two touchdowns on the night. The 4-2 Panthers sit in third in the region, spurred by a defense that leads the region, is second in Class C, and ranks tenth in Classes A through D with 75 points allowed.

- Lawrence held Mt. Blue to just 7 points in the opening half, while blowing the game wide open in the second half with five touchdowns en route to a 62-28 victory over the Cougars. The Bulldogs win propelled them from fourth to second in Northern Class B, along with Cony and Gardiner’s losses on Friday.

- Cape Elizabeth twice saw their one-touchdown leads get wiped over by Leavitt going into the fourth quarter. The Capers created some fourth quarter magic with a touchdown run from senior Brady Inman to take a 21-14 lead, then held on for dear life the rest of the way for the home victory. The win was the first by Cape Elizabeth over Leavitt since the 2021 Southern Class C regional final, a game that the Capers won 25-23. The win pushed the 3-3 team into second place in their region.

- On Monday the 2-3 Hampden Academy Broncos had fallen into fifth place in the six-team Northern Class C, with 4-1 regional leader Oceanside coming to town. This was not a team that Hampden Academy has had any success against, sporting an 0-3 record against Oceanside since 2021. That record trend proved to be irrelevant on Friday as the Broncos raced out to a 21-12 halftime lead, then recovered a late Oceanside on-side kick attempt that helped seal a 31-18 victory. Oceanside, forced to insert six freshmen into their second half defense, had a solid game from Matthew Bodman. The junior back ran for 187 yards and scored two of the Mariners three touchdowns on the night. Another place with a big game was the Broncos’ Aiden Kochendorfer, who ran for 177 yards and scored three of Hampden Academy’s touchdowns.

- It was a close scoreline for Foxcroft Academy, but a 20-14 victory gets recorded just like any other victory as they defeated Nokomis at home on Friday night. The Ponies held a 14-0 lead in a turnover-riddled game, twice missing out on adding to their lead with two interceptions thrown in the Warriors red zone, before surrendering a Nokomis red zone touchdown in the final seconds of the first half. The Warriors had their chance late in the game to pull off the come-from-behind victory as they forced a Ponies turnover on downs at their own five-yard line. Try as hard as they could though it just was not meant to be though as Foxcroft Academy held on for the win.

- Poland’s Damon Martin was all over the box score in the Knights 48-25 road victory at Madison. The junior was almost anywhere and everywhere that the Knights needed a big play too. In fact he recorded more yards on his defensive than he did on all his offensive contributions. His six touchdowns came from one through the air, two on the ground, a stripped ball and recovery for a touchdown, a fumble recovery for a touchdown, and an interception return for a touchdown.

- After Lake Region lost to Mt. Ararat back in week two, the Lakers have been scratching and clawing to hold onto a top-third place in the single-region 8 Man Large School class. They got a chance to prove themselves to the state with a home game against the class leading – and undefeated – Camden Hills on Friday. The game itself was significant for a team that has not had many of these significant contests in the history of their program. Rather than struggle, Lake Region rose to the occasion after fighting back from an early 6-0 deficit to a 16-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Lakers proceeded to outscore Camden Hills 16-8 in the second quarter for a 32-18 advantage. And much like the Windjammers playing shutdown defense, it was the Lakers who played shutdown defense as they gave up just one touchdown in the second half and almost doubled their halftime production en route to a 54-26 victory. Quarterback Brock Gibbons, who is quietly putting together an impressive season, finished the game with a combined 411 yards through the air and the ground while accounting for six of Lake Region’s touchdowns. He also sacked his Camden Hills counterpart Hollis Schwalm three times and pressuring him four times.

- Houlton showed no lasting efforts from last week’s loss to Stearns, as they defeated Orono 54-36. The result was close at times however. Orono was able to claw back from a 32-14 deficit to take a 36-32 lead in the third quarter. That is when it became all Shiretowners the rest of the way as they scored three times, while keeping the Red Riots off the scoreboard, for the win. Isaiah Ervin finished with another big night on the field as he accounted for 7 touchdowns, including those final three touchdowns.

- At the end of the game, Orono’s senior quarterback Jack Brewer finished the night with 8,473 career passing yards. This exceeds the passing mark set by the late Lee St. Hilaire, recognized as the unofficial holder of the Maine state career passing yardage record, with either 8,019 yards / 8,259 yards / 8,272 yards (depending on which yardage total you wish to use). With two more regular season games and potentially a playoff game (if not more), he should only further add to his career mark.

- Strength of schedules played a clear role in the 8 man small school South in terms of where teams finished up the week. Despite Spruce Mountain’s 54-6 win over Telstar and Sacopee Valley’s 52-14 loss to Old Orchard Beach, the rankings in both the Crabtree Classic and Crabtree Weekly both have the 4-2 Hawks ahead of the 5-1 Phoenix for second place in the region. So what is this source of this witchcraftery that leaves so much people boggled? As we have tirelessly explained, Crabtree rankings are both about how well a team does along with how good their opponents have done. Hawks opponents this season have won 24 (Classic) and 14 (Weekly), while Phoenix opponents have won 14 (Classic) and 7 (Weekly). Those differences make a world of difference.

- It was clear early on that none of the five games on Saturday were going to be close contests. Even at their respective halves, the eventual winners Bucksport, Ellsworth, Oak Hill, and Wells held a collective lead of 130-8. Some players had big days though. Of those games that had reported stats, Oak Hill’s Kaiden Delano ran for 182 yards and three touchdowns, Wells’ Dom Buxton ran for 134 yards and a touchdown, and Ellsworth’s Ripley Strout ran for 381 yards and six touchdowns.

- Wells defensive secondary had a big game in the Warriors 42-6 victory over Winslow. The trio of Alex Albright, Dom Buxton, and Riley Murphy each had an interception.

- After fielding a numbers of questions today regarding the playoff qualifiers in a number of regions, we wanted to provide the answers for all six classes. In each case we tried to confirm playoff situations at the start of the season. In most cases the playoffs were determined when schedules came out. Of course we know that in certain cases they are not always decided going into the season. In was two years ago where a region quite literally a debate about playoff qualifiers in the final few weeks of the regular season. So there is the potential that we made be told “no, your information is wrong, we won’t decide our playoff scenario until the last week”.

Unlike other Maine team sports under the MPA that may utilize the 66% rule, football is different. The number of weeks in a regular season determines the maximum number of teams in the playoff field.
Class A North – Top 4 of 6 make the playoffs, no byes
Class A South – Top 4 of 6 make the playoffs, no byes
Class B North – Top 6 of 7 make the playoffs, with the top two teams getting a quarterfinal bye
Class B South – Top 6 of 8 make the playoffs, with the top two teams getting a quarterfinal bye
Class C North – All 6, with the top two teams getting a quarterfinal bye
Class C South – All 5, with the top three teams getting a quarterfinal bye
Class D North – All 8 make the playoffs, no byes
Class D South – Top 6 of 9 make the playoffs, with the top two teams getting a quarterfinal bye
8 Man Large School - Top 6 of 9 make the playoffs, with the top two teams getting a quarterfinal bye
8 Man Small School North - Top 4 of 8 make the playoffs, no byes
8 Man Small School North - Top 4 of 7 make the playoffs, no byes

As a reminder because this always invokes comments come playoff time - the Northern regional finals for Classes B, C, and D will continue to be at neutral sites that have artificial turf. Northern Class B will be at Don Roux Field in Lewiston while Classes C and D will be at Hampden Academy.

- Out of state tracker
Bedford defeated Pinkerton Academy 28-25 on Friday. The 6-0 Bulldogs will travel to Portsmouth to play 0-6 Portsmouth-Oyster River on Saturday.
Dover defeated Edward Little 20-13 on Friday. The 3-3 Green Wave will travel to Nashua to play 4-2 Bishop Guertin on Saturday.
Exeter defeated Timberlane 28-0 on Thursday. The 6-0 Blue Hawks will host 4-2 Manchester Memorial on Friday.
Hillsboro-Deering defeated Newfound 40-0 on Saturday. The 3-3 HillCats will travel to Farmington to play 2-3 Farmington-Nute on Saturday.
Portsmouth-Oyster River lost 18-17 in double overtime to Oxford Hills on Thursday. The 0-6 ClipperCats will host 6-0 Bedford on Saturday.
Salem defeated Saugas 21-0 on Thursday. The 3-2 Witches will host 3-2 KIPP Academy-Lynn Collegiate on Friday.
Spaulding lost 49-22 to Alvirne on Thursday. The 1-5 Red Raiders will host 0-6 Timberlane on Friday.
Winnacunnet lost 43-8 to Bangor on Friday. The 4-2 Warriors will host 1-5 Bangor on Friday.

- Quote of the week "Let’s just say it was an ugly win. Sometimes that happens, so you go back to watch film to see what happened. It wasn’t pretty - too many mistakes - but hey, a win’s a win."
Craig Collins, Dirigo head coach

- Streak trackers
There are 6 unbeaten teams in Maine, down from 7 last week
1 team had their winning streak of 4 or more games snapped: Camden Hills (5)
The longest active winning streaks belong to Kennebunk (10), Wells (9), and Falmouth (7)
3 teams ended their losing streaks of 4 or more games: Poland (10), Morse (7), and Yarmouth (6)
The longest active losing streaks belong to Valley (20), Mount View (19), Belfast (7), Waterville (7), and Westbrook (7)

- First place teams after week six
Class A North – Portland (no change)
Class A South – Thornton Academy (no change)
Class B North – Falmouth (no change)
Class B South – Kennebunk (no change)
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 – Stearns (change from last week)
8 Man Small School South – Old Orchard Beach (change from last week)

- Five games of interest to us in week seven
Noble at South Portland
Kennebunk at Massabesic
Wells at Fryeburg Academy
Portland at Thornton Academy
Greely at Mt. Ararat

What are your thoughts on the weekend?