A rivalry played out most recently on the basketball court will be renewed in a different setting Friday night as Bangor hosts Brunswick with the Eastern Maine Class A football championship at stake.

The schools met in the Eastern A basketball tourney each of the last two years, with Brunswick winning a quarterfinal matchup en route to the 2002 state championship, and Bangor defeating the Dragons in last winter’s regional final on its way to the 2003 state title.

Now the scene shifts to the gridiron, where Bangor is seeking its third Eastern Maine crown in the last four years while Brunswick is playing in its first title game since 1983.

In fact, the 2003 campaign has represented a remarkable turnaround for Brunswick, which went a combined 4-28 over the previous four seasons.

“They’re big, strong and fast,” said Bangor coach Mark Hackett of the Dragons. “They’re a very good football team, and they deserve to be in this game as much as we do.”

Both teams are 9-1 and feature high-scoring, run-oriented offenses. Bangor has averaged 31 points a game, and is led by senior tailback Mike Prentiss, the PTC’s rushing and scoring leader with 1,903 yards and 27 touchdowns after a 274-yard outburst in last weekend’s semifinal win over Mt. Blue.

Senior Tyler Heber (572 yards) and sophomore fullback Nick Payson (315 yards) are other components of a Bangor rushing attack that has amassed 3,174 yards this fall.

Senior Shaun Sullivan has been efficient at quarterback for the Rams, completing 47 percent of his passes to a receiving corps that includes wideouts Anthony DeRosa and Matt Cassidy and tight ends P.J. Dowe and Kevin Flynn.

“The first key for us will be to play well defensively,” said Brunswick coach Dick Leavitt. “For us to be successful we must make them drive the field and not allow Prentiss and Heber the big runs they are accustomed to.”

Bangor’s defense, led in tackles by linebackers Payson (83) and Brian Lever (58) and lineman Trevor Lagrange (54), has yielded just 6.9 points per game, while Brunswick’s offense has averaged 35.2 points a contest since opening the season with a 21-0 loss to Gardiner.

The Dragons’ Wing-T attack features senior Phil Warren, a 240-pound fullback. Warren has averaged nearly 10 yards per carry while rushing for 1,641 yards and 22 touchdowns.

“He does the same thing for Brunswick that Prentiss does for us,” said Hackett. “Prentiss does it like a Ferrari and Warren’s like a big Mac truck, but they have the same influence on the game. Warren can break it for 70 yards or get 4 or 5 yards a pop.”

Tailback Devin Shepard has rushed for 669 yards, in addition to being one of the Dragons’ leading tacklers from his linebacker slot.

Directing the offense is senior Ralph Mims, a first-year quarterback for Brunswick known more for his basketball exploits. The 6-foot-3 Mims is being recruited by a number of Division I basketball programs, and has narrowed his options to Florida State, South Carolina and Providence.

Mims has rushed for 546 yards and completed 18 of 36 passes.

“Besides being an outstanding athlete and also having the ability to score any time he touches the ball, I feel the main thing Ralph has brought to the team is the expectation that we will win each time we take the field,” Leavitt said.

“He has raised the bar for all of his teammates.”