BANGOR – The Bangor High football team left Cameron Stadium after a 21-14 win over Messalonskee of Oakland on Friday night believing it would return next weekend for an Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinal – at home.

As it turned out, nothing less than an undefeated regular season would have made that possible after the Rams finished with a 7-1 record.

Instead, Bangor will hit the road for its playoff opener, at 6-2 Brunswick on Friday night in a rematch of the 2003 Eastern A final won by the Dragons.

“We’re playing the same team we thought we’d be playing, it’s just on the road,” said Bangor coach Mark Hackett.

Bangor finished fifth in the final Eastern A standings released over the weekend. Three other 7-1 teams – Gardiner, Windham and Mt. Blue of Farmington – earned the top three seeds, while Brunswick edged Bangor for the fourth spot in the final Crabtree point ratings.

Messalonskee, Skowhegan and Oxford Hills of South Paris complete the eight-team field.

Bangor’s home-field downfall had little to do with its own play, but was largely due to the luck of its schedule. The Rams’ crossover game within the Pine Tree Conference was a win at 1-7 Edward Little of Auburn. Their crossover game against a Western A team from the Southern Maine Activities Association was a win against 0-8 Cheverus of Portland. Those teams’ combined 1-15 record served to lower Bangor’s collective opponents’ winning percentage, a major component of the Crabtree point ratings.

Hackett said Bangor’s point rating also was hurt by the results of two games played Saturday, Thornton Academy of Saco’s win against Biddeford and Lewiston’s victory against Edward Little. Brunswick defeated both Thornton Academy and Lewiston during the season, and gained the points they needed from Saturday’s results to slip ahead of Bangor.

“We were almost positive we were going to have a home game,” said Hackett. “But as it turned out there was a scenario where we wouldn’t, and it played out that way.”

Bangor has played just one of the teams ranked above it in the final standings, edging Mt. Blue 3-0 in Week 3.

Windham and Mt. Blue actually tied for second according to the Crabtree points. Windham was awarded the No. 2 seed by winning a coin flip after all other tiebreaking options -head-to-head play (they didn’t meet this season), Heal points, division record within the conference and overall record – failed to break the stalemate.

Other Eastern A quarterfinals have Oxford Hills (3-5) at No. 1 Gardiner, No. 7 Skowhegan (3-5) at No. 2 Windham and No. 6 Messalonskee (6-2) at No. 3 Mt. Blue.

Two of those games are rematches of regular-season games: Gardiner edged Oxford Hills 21-20 at South Paris in Week 7, while Mt. Blue shut out

Messalonskee 27-0 at Farmington in Week 4.

Bangor isn’t the only 7-1 team in the state that will open postseason play on the road. Defending Class A state champion Deering of Portland also finished 7-1, but was seeded fifth in the Western A Crabtree ratings – with three 6-2 teams ranked ahead of the Rams.

Deering will play at No. 4 Biddeford (6-2) next weekend. Other Western A quarterfinals have No. 8 Kennebunk (4-4) at No. 1 Bonny Eagle of Buxton (8-0), No. 7 Marshwood of Eliot (5-3) at No. 2 Noble of Berwick (6-2) and No. 6 Portland (5-3) at No. 3 Thornton Academy (6-2).