The Bangor Rams and Portland Bulldogs will meet for the 126th time on Friday night and there will be plenty at stake when the Eastern Maine Class A high school football rivals square off at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.
The Rams are off to a 3-0 start and are averaging 40 points per game.
Portland is 2-1 and has surrendered only 14 points in its last two games after a season-opening 41-3 loss to Cheverus of Portland. The Bulldogs were without five starters for that game and four have since returned.
Bangor and Portland played a memorable 125th renewal a year ago at Cameron Stadium with the Bulldogs parlaying two clutch fourth-quarter defensive plays into a thrilling 33-20 victory.
The Bangor-Portland game highlights a full schedule of high school games this weekend.
Bangor (3-0) vs. Portland (2-1), Friday, 7 p.m., Fitzpatrick Stadium, Portland: “This will be the best team we’ve played yet,” Bangor coach Mark Hackett said. “We match up a lot better with them this year than we did last year. We’re a little bit quicker, a little bit stronger and we play a little better defense.”
Hackett said the two teams have a “very similar game plan.
“We both run downhill and we’ll throw 10-13 passes a game,” Hackett said. “It’ll be like 1940s football: three yards and a cloud of dust. Portland looks substantially better than they did two weeks ago.”
Portland coach Jim Hartman said the game will be “smash-mouth football. I think we’re a little more wide open than they are.”
Hackett said he would like to diversify his offense “but when you’re getting five or six yards a [rush], why do anything different? If you try to do something different and it doesn’t work, you end up kicking yourself.”
Bangor junior running back Dane Johnson has already scored 10 touchdowns and rushed for 661 yards on 89 carries behind an imposing offensive line featuring center Zach LeClair, guards Brennan Lane and Evan McAuliffe; tackles Josh Clement, Owen Trundy and Onesimus Larraway and tight ends Jordan Ayer, Mason Hartley and Cam Cota.
“The offensive line has been awesome. And fullback Langston Hamer-Nagle might be one of the best blockers we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Hackett said.
Tackle-nose guard Hamer-Nagle and safety Johnson headline the defense along with linebacker McAuliffe. McAuliffe has 20.5 tackles.
Hackett considers Portland fullback Joe Esposito (252 yards on 43 carries) “one of the best players in the league.” Halfback George Chaison-Lapine has run for 270 yards on just 24 carries.
Linebacker Dan Marzilli leads the Bulldogs with 19 tackles and fellow linebacker Cedric Smith has 18.
Maine Central Institute (3-0) vs. John Bapst (2-0), Friday, 7 p.m., Winkin Complex, Bangor: Maine Central Institute is coming off a huge 35-20 win over Bucksport and coach Tom Bertrand admitted that he is concerned about his team having a letdown against a good young John Bapst team that returned 15 of 22 starters off last year’s team.
“You always worry about that,” Bertrand said. “We’ve been working all week to make sure we don’t have a letdown. Bapst has a great passing game and a great running back and their defense is getting better each week.”
Dynamic running back Jonathan Santiago has rushed for 543 yards on 44 carries but the Huskies displayed good balance in the win over Bucksport as Alex Bertrand and Eric Hathaway combined to run for 112 yards to complement Santiago’s 70 on 20 carries.
Quarterback Greg Vigue is a quality passer and a good decision-maker.
Linebackers Jimmy Hall and Bertrand anchor the defense.
Veteran John Bapst quarterback Spencer Baron has a very good arm but coach Dan O’Connell hasn’t had to rely on it yet because Jackson Leonard has run for 270 yards in their first two games.
But O’Connell said they will have to diversify on offense against MCI.
“You aren’t going to be able to run by them. They are as skilled and athletic as anybody,” he said.
O’Connell also said MCI opponents can’t afford to think MCI is a one-dimensional team.
Linebackers Leonard and Lucas Davenport have been the defensive leaders for the Crusaders. Leonard already has 15 tackles and an impressive five interceptions.
Foxcroft Academy (2-1) vs. Old Town (1-2), Friday, 6 p.m., Old Town: Coach Lance Cowan’s Coyotes moved the ball effectively against the undefeated Waterville High School Panthers in a 47-23 setback last weekend. But Cowan said they have focused on shoring up their defense, which has yielded 93 points in its last two games.
“We have to contain their best players,” he said,referring to running back Peter Boyer, who has rushed for 290 yards on 48 carries over the past two games, and quarterback Hunter Smith, who carried 33 times for 252 yards in the 34-26 win over Belfast last weekend.
For Old Town, Jake Jarvis threw for over 150 yards against Waterville last week and Braden Upshaw has been the leading rusher.
Foxcroft coach Danny White said the Coyotes have “big-play potential so we’re going to have to limit their big plays.”
Orono (2-1) vs. Dexter (1-1), Saturday, 1 p.m., Dexter: Dexter third-year coach Kevin Armstrong called the game with Orono a “real pivotal game. This will tell us where we are in the league.” He said he has challenged his offensive line to step it up against an Orono team that is “well-drilled and fundamentally strong.”
Converted wide receiver Daytona Gould and Zachary White have been Dexter’s top rushing threats and White, Gould and Matt Mower headline a “great secondary” that is the strength of the team according to Armstrong.
Orono’s offense features running backs Ken Collett, Matt Fowler and Tom Lucy along with strong-armed quarterback Jackson Coutts and tight end Connor McCluskey.