Players will crank up the intensity an extra notch Friday night when postseason play begins in the LTC football ranks.

Defending LTC champ Old Town entertains Orono in a Class B semifinal and Mount Desert Island plays host to Bucksport in an LTC Class C clash. Both games pit perennial rivals in rematches of last week’s regular-season finales.

The other game pits defending Class C state champion Stearns against Dexter at Millinocket. Kickoff for all games is at 7 p.m.

At Victory Field in Old Town, Coach Jim Walsh’s No. 2 Indians (8-1) take on the No. 3 Red Riots (7-2) of Bob Lucy. Old Town edged Orono 21-15 last Saturday at Orono to clinch the home-field spot.

In the last 10 years, the two teams have met twice in the same season four times. Only once (Orono, in 1984) did one team win both games. The Indians upset the Riots 6-0 in last year’s LTC title game at Orono.

“Over the span of the last decade or so, any time Old Town and Orono get together there certainly is a tremendous rivalry and a real intense football game,” Lucy said.

Lucy said his team must put more pressure on Old Town quarterback Brian Grigsby, who passed for 163 yards and two touchdowns last week, and execute better on the offensive end.

While the teams are familiar with each other’s styles, nothing can be taken for granted. Walsh said his players must not allow themselves to be overconfident.

“Complacency is the thing we’re guarding against,” Walsh said. “We know they’ll (Orono) be better prepared to play Friday night than they were Saturday.”

Since Orono’s success is dictated by its ability to control the ball with its offense, Old Town hopes to counter by doing just that. The Indians need to contain Orono halfback Zac Pelleriti, who rushed for 140 yards last week.

At Mount Desert, Coach “Toogie” McKay’s No. 2 Trojans (6-3) host Ivan Braun’s No. 3 Golden Bucks (5-4). MDI shut out Bucksport 14-0 last week at Bucksport.

McKay said the Trojans can’t afford to let down.

“The toughest part is the emotion,” McKay said. “We won the game and it’s hard trying to get them back to the same intensity level.”

Bucksport won’t have trouble getting fired up after outgaining the Trojans only to go scoreless last week. Peter Kenny passed for 226 yards last week. Paul Urquhart, who missed most of that game with an eye injury, should give the Bucks’ running game more punch.

McKay hopes his senior-laden defense can get Kenny out of his rhythm and again come up big in key situations. The Trojans look to run the football behind a strong line and backs Tom James and Chris Blanchette.

Braun hopes the Bucks can balance out their offensive attack and solve the MDI defense once they get within scoring range.

“We were inside the 10-yard line three times and came back empty,” Braun said. “We will throw new wrinkles into our offense hoping we can come up with another touchdown or two.”

At Alumni Field in Millinocket, Dave Evans’ top-seeded Minutemen (8-1) play the No. 4 Tigers of Bob Brennan (5-4) in a rematch of a game played three weeks ago. Stearns rallied late to win 14-6.

Stearns amassed 300-plus yards in that game, but Dexter gave up only two TDs. Evans said the Minutemen, who average 29 points per game, must control the ball and cash in once they get in close.

“Number one, we’ve got to execute offensively,” Evans said. “We want to keep their offense off the field. We don’t want to give them too many opportunities to get the ball into (Brian) Smith’s hands.”

Brennan, whose called his team the decided underdog, said his defense must avoid giving up the big play on defense while his offense sustains some drives.

“They’re capable of putting a touchdown on the board awful quick,” Brennan said. “Last time, we kept them from scoring for 42 minutes, but then we couldn’t hold them the last six.”

Depth could hold the key for the Minutemen, who feature great offensive balance with HB Lateef O’Connor, QB Kevin Legassey and SE Drew O’Connor. Dexter counters with all-purpose man Smith, FB Trevin Cobb and LB David Spaulding.