The unbeaten Hermon High School Hawks, Old Town Coyotes and Stearns/Schenck Minutemen will look to earn their third victories of the season against winless teams this weekend in football action across the state.
Bangor, Brewer, Bucksport and Foxcroft Academy of Dover-Foxcroft are among teams that will seek a second straight victory after losing their openers.
In the Friday night games, Hermon will travel 6.4 miles to take on rival Hampden Academy, Old Town will entertain Mt. Ararat of Topsham, defending state eight-man Small School champ Stearns/Schenck of Millinocket/East Millinocket will be home to Orono, Bucksport will host Mount Desert Island and Foxcroft Academy will await Gardiner. The games begin at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, Bangor and Brewer will hit the road for 1 p.m. games. Bangor will journey to Portland to face Deering and Brewer will head to Newport to take on Nokomis.
Hermon has allowed only six points in its first two games as Kyle Gallant’s Hawks posted a 24-0 win over Foxcroft Academy before topping Nokomis 28-6.
Hampden Academy, on the other hand, has allowed 90 points in its two setbacks. The Broncos lost to Oceanside of Rockland 50-12 and to Brewer 40-26.
Hermon won last year’s matchup, 35-0.
Old Town dropped from 11-man football to eight-man football this season, and the Coyotes have flourished so far with convincing wins over Orono (48-6) and Mount Desert Island (50-12).
Mt. Ararat also played MDI, losing 24-7, before dropping a 30-0 contest to Lake Region of Naples.
Stearns/Schenck, which avenged a 60-14 thumping in the 2024 state eight-man Small School State championship game at the hands of Old Orchard Beach with a 20-18 victory over the Seagulls, has rolled up impressive wins over Dexter (42-8) and Houlton (56-0).
Orono’s record is misleading because it lost to an Old Town team that was in 11-man football a year ago and then traveled to Old Orchard Beach and gave the Seagulls a good battle before losing 30-22.
Stearns/Schenck beat Orono 60-22 a year ago.
Foxcroft Academy is coming off a 28-12 victory over Oceanside following its loss to Hermon and will have its hands full against a Gardiner team that owns a 37-6 triumph over Nokomis and a 28-0 win over York.
On Saturday, the new-look Bangor High Rams, fresh off a 28-0 victory at Lewiston, will take on a Deering team that has lost to Edward Little of Auburn (46-14) and to Oxford Hills of South Paris (42-0).
Bangor won last year’s game 21-0.
Bangor bounced back from its heart-breaking 22-18 loss to Massabesic of Waterboro vs. the Blue Devils.
The Brewer Witches collected a 40-26 victory over Hampden Academy last weekend following a 28-26 overtime loss to Belfast the previous week.
Brewer will look to avenge a 28-8 home loss to Nokomis in 2025.
Nokomis has lost to Gardiner and Hermon.