Two weeks into the high school football season and the Mattanawcook Academy football team already has equaled its 2003 victory total.

Decisive wins over Dexter and Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield have the Lynx at 2-0 heading into Friday night’s LTC encounter against 1-1 Rockland at Alumni Field in Lincoln.

“We play a lot of juniors and have a couple of sophomores who start, so it was really important to get out of the gate fast,” said first-year MA head coach Mike Bisson.

The Lynx have used their rushing attack to devastating success, averaging 408.5 yards per game on the ground.

Junior tailback Duncan Markie leads a balanced attack with 248 total yards in two games, while fellow tailback Jason Murchison is contributing nearly 50 yards per game.

Mackenzie Haines, a 235-pound senior fullback, has provided 75 rushing yards per game in addition to some punishing lead blocks, while junior quarterback Dylan Hanscom has averaged 62.5 yards per game on option plays from the Lynx’s I-formation.

Those ground gainers have benefited from strong work in the trenches by an offensive line that returned intact from last fall’s 2-7 team.

Senior guards Justin Bard and Matt Morin, senior tackle Nathan Brown, junior tackle Ross Clapp, and junior center Andrew Zagorianakas comprise a line that averages more than 210 pounds.

Isaac Young, a sophomore tight end, is an additional key to the Lynx blocking scheme.

“These guys set the tone for the team in the weight room,” said Bisson. “They’re all 10 to 15 pounds bigger this year, and it’s different weight, more muscle. They really made the commitment during the off-season.”

Another major influence on the MA offense has come from the addition of longtime Stearns head coach Art Greenlaw as the team’s offensive coordinator.

“Having someone like Art around with all his knowledge and experience has been great,” said Bisson, who doubles as the team’s defensive coordinator.

While defending Class C state champion Foxcroft Academy and Bucksport are considered to be the best of the LTC lot early in the season, Bisson sees a much stronger and deeper middle pack in the conference – all with playoff aspirations.

“I’ve been around the league for quite a few years,” said Bisson, a former assistant at both Stearns of Millinocket and MA. “It’s going to be a dogfight. The league looks much deeper this year. I’ve never seen it this competitive from top to bottom.”

Achilles injury sidelines Wark

Matt Wark, one of just two returning starters on the Stearns of Millinocket football team this season, is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks with a left Achilles tendon injury suffered during a 26-20 double-overtime victory over Dexter last Friday night.

The injury happened on a simple off-tackle play, according to Stearns coach Chris Preble. A Dexter defender came up from behind to make the tackle, making contact just as Wark planted his foot.

The tendon wasn’t torn, Preble said, but overstretched to the point that it required Wark to be sidelined, perhaps for the rest of the season.

“Right now Matt will just keep rehabbing, and he’ll go back to the doctor in a couple of weeks to see how it feels,” Preble said.

Wark, a senior tailback and cornerback, was off to a fast start for the 1-1 Minutemen. He ranked fourth in the LTC with 241 rushing yards, and also had scored two touchdowns. Defensively, the two-year Stearns captain had been in on 13 tackles in two games.

“Matt set the example for hard work,” said Preble. “He’s probably the hardest-working kid I’ve ever coached.

“If there was ever a kid who didn’t deserve this to happen to him, it’s him.”