Tight playoff races starting to heat up Brewer travels to MDI; Riots host Lynx

The playoff races are in high gear heading into week seven of the high school football season, although things appear to be already settled in the Class C Eastern Maine LTC ranks.

Unbeaten Bucksport is only one game up on Foxcroft Academy, Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln and Orono, but the next closest eligible teams are three games back.

Class A’s Pine Tree Conference division races appear to be the tightest with no less than eight teams sporting .500 records or better. Things are also tight in the PTC B division. After unbeaten Brewer (6-0), two teams (Leavitt of Turner and Winslow) are 4-2 and three (Belfast, Morse of Bath and Oak Hill of Sabattus) are 3-3 and jammed up in a fight for the fourth and final playoff slot.

Brewer (6-0) at Mount Desert Island (0-6), 7 p.m.: The Witches are enjoying their most successful season since 2002, when they started out 7-0.

“We felt we’d be improved from last year with this being our second year running this offense [read-option] and with the development of [junior quarterback] Ricky Porter, we’ve been able to overcome some key injuries,” said second-year Brewer coach Ed Ortego.

Porter stepped in for Kevin McAvoy and Mitch Peasley, who both came down with injuries that sent them to the sidelines early in the season.

Ortego is expecting the Trojans to mass along the line of scrimmage on defense like the Huns along the borders of neighboring territories.

“They’re going to stack the ball with nine guys, so we plan to mix it up more than usual to keep them honest,” Ortego said.

On offense, MDI will likely come out throwing, and the Witches haven’t faced too many teams that attempt more than 10 passes in a game.

Bangor (5-1) at Cony (2-4), Alumni Field, Augusta, 7p.m.: Three weeks after being mauled 44-8 by Skowhegan, the Bangor Rams will have a chance to see how much they’ve improved as they take on a team that features the same offense as Skowhegan: shotgun formations from a double wing.

“They’re a much better team than they were a few weeks ago and they’ve been using their new offense the last two weeks,” said Bangor coach Mark Hackett. “It’s an offense you really have to react to more. You have to feel it more than see it.”

Bangor has also improved the last couple of weeks.

“It’s in the way our offensive and defensive fronts are playing, firing out lower,” Hackett said. “It all came together for us last week.”

Bangor tailback Nick Payson gained 172 yards on 23 carries last week as the Rams rolled up a whopping 316 yards rushing on 57 carries (5.6 per carry).

Mattanawcook Academy (5-1) at Orono (5-1), 7 p.m.: This is a battle more for playoff position and pride as postseason bids for both teams are all but assured.

The Lynx of Lincoln limp into the contest missing two key runners after Jason Murchison and Duncan Markie suffered leg injuries last week.

Murchison is out for the season with a broken right leg and Marie is out for at least two weeks with a left ankle sprain.

“That hurts them, but they can do a lot of things with their option game and they’ve had injuries in their tailback spot before and done well, and they still have the rest of their starting backfield,” Orono coach Bob Sinclair said.

Both teams like to run and this game shapes up as a war of attrition in which both teams will try to wear the other down.

“That’s going to be a big part of it and the other is making sure you don’t blow assignments on defense,” said MA coach Mike Bisson. “They’re going to try to wear you down with that split-T.”

“It’ll be a tough game,” Sinclair added. “I think ball control is the most important factor for both teams.”

This is Orono’s best season since 1996, when the Red Riots finished the regular season 9-0.

“I’m pleased, but I’m really not surprised,” said Sinclair, who took over the program this fall. “The key for us has just been our togetherness and keeping things simple and executing fundamentally. Kids love their football here.”