BANGOR, Maine — The Bangor High School football team didn’t achieve the desired result from its exhibition game with rival Brewer last Friday, but there was little time to dwell on that loss within the Rams’ camp this week.
It’s time to focus on Edward Little for the regular-season opener.
“The big thing is you can’t get too high after a win and too low after a loss,” first-year Bangor head coach Al Mosca said. “We came in last Saturday morning, looked at the game film and broke it down and watched it with the kids, and when we left that day the message was we were getting ready for Edward Little now.
“I’ve asked the kids this week when we started getting ready for Edward Little, and they’ve all said ‘Saturday morning.’ That’s the way you’ve got to approach it.”
Edward Little Red Eddies at Bangor Rams, 7 p.m. Friday: Bangor’s biggest challenge this week may be to contain Edward Little’s spread offense, a task the Rams performed successfully last year in a 48-6 season-opening victory at Auburn.
Senior quarterback Matt Verrill directs the spread attack for Edward Little coach Dave Sterling, with classmate Drew Lashua among his top receiving threats.
“They’re very athletic with a couple of really good wideouts,” Mosca said. “They really like to spread the ball, they like to get the ball to their kids in space and let them make things happen.
“They have a lot of kids coming back so they’re very comfortable in this scheme.”
Bangor features senior halfback Dane Johnson, one of the state’s top rushers a year ago, and Rams’ quarterback Jeff Lewis also will seek to get fullback Ben Crichton, wingback Ethan Dorman, tight end Justin Smith and split end Tanner Goodine involved in the attack.
Defensively Bangor will seek to pressure Verrill to assist the secondary play of Dorman and Goodine at cornerback and the combination of Lewis, Nick Canarr, Blake Kenney and Luke Tuell at the safety slots.
Nokomis Warriors at Brewer Witches, 7 p.m. Friday: Brewer opened a lot of eyes with its convincing preseason win at Bangor, but now the games count and the Witches can’t afford to make too much of what was an emotional exhibition-game victory over its rival from across the Penobscot. But emotions aside, coach Nick Arthers’ club displayed a rugged ground game paced by halfback Dylan Severance and fullback Trey Wood along with strong play defensively by its front seven against the Rams. Enthusiasm and participation numbers are up at Nokomis under third-year head coach Matt O’Connell, and the Warriors are now eligible for postseason play after playing down in Class C in recent years.
Winslow Black Raiders at Belfast Lions, 7 p.m. Friday: It may be opening night, but this Class C North clash could have significant playoff implications, given that Winslow and Belfast have met in the Class C semifinals each of the last two years. Both teams have considerable talent back from last year’s playoff meeting, when Winslow eliminated Belfast 34-18 en route to the state title. Winslow is loaded defensively, meaning this game may come down to whether Belfast’s defense can subdue a Winslow offense that graduated its three biggest weapons from a year ago in halfback Dylan Hapworth, tight end Justin Martin and quarterback Bobby Chenard.
Hampden Academy Broncos at Brunswick Dragons, 7 p.m. Friday: The schedule maker did debuting Hampden head coach Scott Flagg no favor as he seeks to help the Broncos improve on last fall’s one-win campaign. Brunswick advanced to the Class B state championship game a year ago and returns a strong physical presence along the line of scrimmage to create opportunities for returning quarterback Thomas Hanson and senior running back Will Bessey, who rushed for 1,600 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2014.
John Bapst Crusaders at Hermon Hawks, 7 p.m. Friday: John Bapst of Bangor makes its debut in the Class C North Big Ten Conference after a seven-win campaign last fall in the LTC Class D ranks. Coach Dan O’Connell’s club hopes to use its returning experience led by fourth-year starter Spencer Barron to get off to a good start against a youthful Hermon club that’s still in a building phase under second-year head coach Brad Deuring.
Bucksport Golden Bucks at Medomak Valley Panthers, 1 p.m. Saturday at Waldoboro: This will be an historic afternoon on the midcoast where Medomak Valley hosts its first varsity football game. The Panthers have built their program up from the youth ranks over the last five years and as a result have sizeable junior and senior classes eager to begin varsity play. After heavy graduation losses in June, Bucksport will be less experienced than in recent seasons but has generations of tradition to back on-field leaders, such as wideouts Hayden Craig and Jake Gauvin.
