One of the oldest rivalries in state history and a bevy of games with playoff implications throughout Classes A, B and C mark Week 8 high school football — the final week of regular-season play throughout Eastern Maine.
Bangor Rams (7-0) at Brewer Witches (1-6), 7 p.m. Friday, Doyle Field: These competitive neighbors, separated only by the Penobscot River, meet for the 102nd time, with Bangor holding a 73-20-8 lead in the series.
The Rams have won nine in a row by a combined 348-41, including last year’s 45-20 victory at Cameron Stadium in Bangor.
Bangor, at 7-0 the only remaining undefeated team in the Pine Tree Conference Class A ranks, will be a heavy favorite against a 1-6 Brewer team that has lost its last four games, but Rams’ coach Mark Hackett isn’t buying any such predictions.
“It’s like a playoff game for us because we absolutely can’t not play well,” said Hackett. “We have to play well, we have to finish the season strong, and we think they are a good football team.
“They don’t have a good record, but it’s not because they aren’t a good football team.”
Bangor features the PTC’s leading rusher in senior tailback Lonnie Hackett (1,434 yards, 17 TDs), as well as a passing game that came of age in the Rams’ 28-21 win over previously undefeated Lawrence of Fairfield last Friday.
One logical concern for Bangor is avoiding a letdown in the aftermath of that eagerly anticipated showdown in which the Rams ended Lawrence’s 36-game regular-season winning streak.
“I love that it’s Brewer because it’s easy for us to get up for,” said Hackett. “I don’t know how many times Brewer’s beaten Bangor in the last hundred-and-some years, but these guys don’t want it to be this year, so it’s easy to motivate them.”
Coach Don Farnham’s Brewer club has moved the football against nearly every opponent it has faced out of its double-wing formation, with Jamie Williamson and Pat McEwen among the Witches’ top playmakers.
“They must be averaging close to 20 points a game,” said Hackett. “They played Brunswick tough, they played Mt. Blue tough. They play hard, and teams have found ways to beat them but we’re certainly not taking them lightly.”
Defense has been more of a problem for the Witches, who have yielded an average of 41 points per contest.
“I’m sure Brewer’s sky-high,” said Hackett, “because if they beat us it makes their season. It’s going to beat a great game, and we’re excited to play them.”
Maine Central Institute Huskies (5-2) at Stearns Minutemen (5-2), 7 p.m. Friday, Alumni Field, Millinocket: The winner of this game gets a first-round home game in the LTC playoffs, perhaps in a rematch against the loser of this contest.
Led by quarterback Jared McGreevey and running back Billy Eurich, coach Chris Preble’s Stearns club has won four of its last five games, while quarterback Shawn Bennett and MCI rebounded from a 31-3 loss at Rockland two weeks ago with a solid effort in a victory over Old Town.
Rockland Tigers (2-5) at Mattanawcook Academy Lynx (5-2), 7 p.m. Friday, Curry Field, Lincoln: Mattanawcook moved closer to clinching third place in the LTC with a convincing win over Bucksport last week.
The Lynx, whose only losses have come to league-leading John Bapst and Foxcroft Academy, can clinch that berth with a win over Rockland.
Rockland needs at least a victory over the Lynx to capture one of the final berths in the LTC’s eight-team playoff field.
Mount View Mustangs (2-5) at Dexter Tigers (3-4), 1 p.m. Saturday: The Dexter Tigers have won three of their last four games since an 0-3 start to position themselves for a trip to postseason play for the first time since 1995.
Dexter is coming off a come-from-behind 54-52 win at Calais-Woodland, a game that tied the LTC record for most combined points in a game with Dexter’s 60-46 win over Mount Desert Island on Sept. 25, 1976.
Mount View also remains alive for the first postseason berth in the Thorndike program’s three-year varsity history despite losing its last five games, but the Mustangs need a road victory to help that cause.
Other area games with playoff seeding and qualification implications include Bucksport (3-4) at Orono (1-6) and Calais-Woodland (2-5) at Old Town (0-7) in the LTC and Morse of Bath (5-2) at Mount Desert Island (3-4), Belfast (1-6) at Camden Hills (0-7) and Hampden Academy (5-2) at Nokomis of Newport (1-6) in the Pine Tree Conference Class B ranks.
