More high school football playoff matchups were solidified over the weekend.
Class A and Class D, both state-wide eight-team classifications, still have a week of regular season play remaining and will begin their postseasons in early November.
Mt. Blue’s Kaleb Hutchinson escapes Winslow’s Caden Trask’s attempted tackle on Sept. 23 in Farmington. The eighth-seeded Cougars open the Class B North playoffs on the road against No. 1 Cony. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
Class B’s regions opens their playoffs this week. The B North field that includes Mt. Blue (3-5), the eighth seed, facing No. 1 Cony (6-2). The Cougars and Rams did not play each other in the regular season. Cony is a surprise top seed, overtaking Skowhegan by beating Falmouth last week and having a couple of other results going its way.
Mt. Blue dropped its final three games of the regular season. The Cougars, as the seventh seed, upset the second-seeded Rams 21-20 in overtime in the 2019 Class B North playoffs.
In C South, Leavitt (8-0) has a bye in the first round after locking down the region’s top seed. The Hornets will play the winner between No. 4 York (5-3) and No. 5 Cheverus (5-3) next week.
The second seed in C South, Wells (6-2), also has a bye this week. Defending Class C champion Cape Elizabeth (6-2) is the third seed and hosts No. 6 Fryeburg this week.
Spruce Mountain and Gray-New Gloucester begin the 8-man Large School South Region playoffs this week.
The Phoenix (5-2), who are coming off a bye, are the third seed and will play at No. 2 Yarmouth (7-1).
All but two of Spruce Mountain’s regular season games were against Large North foes, so the Phoenix and the Clippers did not meet during the regular season. Both squads defeated Camden Hills, Morse, Greely and Ellsworth, and both lost to top-seeded Mt. Ararat. The one difference between their common opponents is that Yarmouth earned a close win over Mount Desert Island, 50-46, while Spruce opened the season with a 28-26 loss to MDI.
Gray-New Gloucester (3-4) earned 8-man Large South’s fourth and final postseason berth. The Patriots face Mt. Ararat (7-1), which rebounded from a season-opening loss to Morse and won seven straight games to earn the top seed. One of of those seven wins was a 46-12 victory over Gray-New Gloucester on Sept. 23.
The Eagles have been a consistent 8-man power since Maine started offering 8-man football in 2019. They were the second seed in both of the previous playoff years, winning Maine’s first 8-man state championship in 2019 and reaching the South finals last year.
8-MAN SMALL PLAYOFFS CONTINUE
In 8-man Small South, unbeaten top seed Mountain Valley (7-0) returns from a quarterfinal bye to face No. 4 Old Orchard Beach (6-2) this week in Rumford. The Seagulls advanced by beating Telstar 44-0 in the quarterfinals. The Falcons won the regular season matchup with the Seagulls, 48-20, on Sept. 23.
The other 8-man Small South matchup is No. 3 Dirigo (6-2) at No. 2 Maranacook (6-2). The two teams met in the season opener, which the Black Bears won 34-28 on Sept. 2. The Cougars beat Boothbay 47-28 in the quarterfinals, while the Black Bears knocked out Sacopee Valley 28-8.
REGULAR SEASON FINALES
Classes A and D wrap up their regular seasons this week.
Edward Little (2-6) hosts rival Lewiston (4-3) in the final game at Auburn’s Walton Field on Friday at 7 p.m. The Blue Devils are currently ranked fifth in Class A, while the Red Eddies are seventh.
Oxford Hills (8-0) looks to keep its undefeated season going with a home win over Scarborough (5-3) on Friday.
A pair of Class D rivals face off with a chance to improve their postseason positioning when Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale (5-2) hosts Lisbon (4-3) on Friday.
In other Class D action, Oak Hill (2-5) plays at Foxcroft (6-1), which likely will finish with the top seed, and Poland (3-4) will host Madison (1-6). All eight Class D squads make the postseason.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
