High school football state championships on the line for Belfast, Foxcroft

After two weeks of two- and three-a-day practices, nine or 10 weeks or regular season practices and games, and two or three weeks of postseason practices and games, state championship Saturday is upon us.

Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland will host all three (A, B, and C) classes Saturday as the Class A tilt between East champ Edward Little of Auburn (7-4) came all the way from the fifth seeding in the Pine Tree Conference to advance to the state final. The Red Eddies will meet the unbeaten (11-0) and two-time West champion Portland Bulldogs at 11 a.m.

Foxcroft Academy (11-0) vs. Boothbay (11-0), 3 p.m.: The East champion Ponies may find that the Seahawks are a mirror image of their own squad.

Both teams feature big, strong, experienced offensive lineman; both feature stingy defenses which are particularly strong up front; both starting lineups are dominated by seniors; and both have plenty of playoff experience.

“Yeah, we are a lot alike. Very much so,” said Boothbay coach Tim Rice, whose team is trying to repeat as Class C state champions. “And when two teams are that much alike, it’ll probably come down to turnovers and mistakes: Who executes better.”

Two-thirds of the Seahawks’ offense is geared toward the run, while senior quarterback Will Carroll has made the most of his passing chances as he has completed 60 percent of his passes and thrown for 13 touchdowns and more than 600 yards.

The rest of the backfield is made up of senior fullback Max Arsenault, who has gained approximately 800 yards and scored 25 TDs, plus senior halfbacks Justin Woods (700 yards, eight TDs) and Alex Rand (800 yards, 6 TDs). They’ll run behind a line in which the average size of a lineman is 6-foot-2, 260 pounds.

Defensive standouts include senior defensive tackles Colter Leeman and Mike Closson, plus senior nose guard Josh Ouellette.

“Our defense is underrated, but much improved,” said Rice. “It’s probably our biggest area of improvement this season.”

Belfast (11-0) vs. Scarborough (10-1), 7 p.m.: The Lions are going for their program’s fifth gold ball while Scarborough finds itself in the state game for the first time since the program began four years ago.

The Red Storm feature a veteran lineup and solid coaching as head coach Jack Flynn built South Portland into a pigskin powerhouse before retiring and then coming back to coach the Storm.

The game features a matchup between two Fitzpatrick Trophy semifinalists as Storm senior tailback Nial Demena and Belfast senior tailback Jeff Parenteau will lead their respective teams. Demena has gained just over 1,500 yards rushing and scored 18 touchdowns this season, but he’s not the only weapon as fullback Travis Hitchcock has gained 600 yards and has made teams pay for paying too much attention to Demena. Senior Mike Slovak also gets some carries out of the Storm’s veteran backfield.

Scarborough uses a base power-I formation, but runs multiple pro sets out of it. Quarterback Drew Crandall has passed for three touchdowns as the Storm pass only 30 percent of the time.

On defense, Scarborough uses a 5-2 formation and plays very aggressively. Hitchcock, a four-year starter at linebacker, has led the team in tackles with 100 or more each of the last four years. Slovak is solid at defensive end and Demena is another standout at safety.

“We have some great players, but the big thing for us is that everyone has bought into the team concept,” said Flynn. “There’s no individualism.”

Flynn says the prospect of trying to contain both Parenteau and Belfast QB John Lear is a daunting one, but it will be much easier for his team if the Storm can hold onto the ball and mount, long, time-consuming offensive drives.