Bangor faces must-win against unbeaten Mt. Blue Brewer travels to Belfast in PTC ‘B’ season finale

Week 8 of the high school football campaign marks the end of the regular season in the Pine Tree Conference Class B ranks, and a playoff game of sorts for Bangor as it hosts undefeated Mt. Blue of Farmington in a key PTC Class A battle.

“The way we look at it, we have to win out,” said Bangor coach Mark Hackett.

Mt. Blue (6-0) at Bangor (4-2), 7 p.m. Friday: Homecoming weekend at Bangor has an added sense of urgency for the host team, which essentially enters must-win territory against the only undefeated team remaining in the division.

“They’re a very, very good football team,” said Hackett of Mt. Blue of Farmington. “We have to play well to beat them, but this is a playoff game for us.”

Mt. Blue is 6-0 after a 21-0 shutout of Messalonskee of Oakland last Saturday. The Cougars employ a spread offense directed by senior quarterback Mason Barker, but also emphasize their rushing attack behind an offensive line featuring tackle Tom Robinson and guard Byron Staples.

“This is probably the best offensive and defensive lines we’ve had since I’ve been coaching,” said 12th-year head coach Gary Parlin, whose program is seeking its first undefeated regular season since 1986. “We’re able to run some power stuff as well as spread things out.”

Bangor’s margin for error in securing one of the conference’s four playoff berths evaporated in its last game, a 27-14 loss at Lawrence of Fairfield two weeks ago.

The Rams currently are seventh in the PTC Class A Crabtree Point Ratings, but with games left against No. 1 Mt. Blue and at No. 2 Oxford Hills of South Paris, the defending Eastern Maine Class A champions still have an opportunity to force their way into postseason play.

“They’re both ahead of us,” said Hackett. “We control our own destiny, and I wouldn’t want it any different. But we have to play well, because these are playoff games for us.”

Bangor is coming off a bye week, which the team used largely to get healthy after the Rams were afflicted by a teamwide dose of illness in the week leading up to the Lawrence game.

“When we lost to Lawrence, it made it a pretty tough two weeks,” said Hackett. “It was something we weren’t happy about, and something that’s been on our shoulders for the last two weeks.

“But the bye week has let us get healthy and refocus.”

Bangor is led offensively by tailback Alex Gallant and a maturing passing game featuring quarterback Ian Edwards, wideout Tom Crews and tight end Ryan Weston.

“They’ve been forced into being more balanced,” said Parlin, “and that makes them harder to prepare for. They had a lot of young guys to start the season, but after six games everyone’s experienced now.”

Brewer at Belfast, 7 p.m. Friday: Two teams bound for the Pine Tree Conference Class B playoffs square off in a regular-season finale with some homefield ramifications at stake.

This game also matches two teams that have had fairly similar regular seasons.

Belfast has won its last two games by shutout against Hampden Academy and Mound Desert Island, and have three shutout victories overall this fall. The Lions feature the offensive punch of PTC Class B player of the week Sean Leeman, who rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns in a 26-0 win at Mount Desert Island last Saturday, and senior quarterback Andy Whalen.

Brewer is coming off a 21-0 loss last Friday against league leader Winslow — which shut out Belfast in Week 2 – after also posting back-to-back shutout victories against MDI and Hampden. The Witches, who have three shutouts overall this season, also rallied from a two-touchdown deficit to defeat Gardiner in Week 3 of the season, just as Belfast did in Week 1.

Brewer relies heavily on the offensive talents of quarterback Ricky Porter, tailback Zach Wilson and fullback Ben Caldwell.

Rockland (5-2) vs. Mattanawcook Acad. (6-1), 7 p.m. Friday at Lincoln: Mattanawcook continues its quest to obtain the No. 1 seed in the Crabtree Point Ratings for the LTC playoffs that begin in two weeks, and the homefield advantage that comes with that seed.

The Lynx are coming off their first shutout victory of the season, a rain-soaked 24-0 win over John Bapst of Bangor that featured the rushing and kick returning of senior Duncan Markie. Markie went over 1,000 yards for the season against the Crusaders.

Rockland secured its third consecutive winning season and moved closer to a playoff berth of its own last Friday with a 40-34 victory against Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield. The Tigers were led by their 1-2 offensive punch of quarterback Andrew Weiss – a sophomore who surpassed 1,000 yards passing for the second straight year last weekend – and running back Mike Marsh, the reigning LTC player of the week.

This game pits the high-powered Rockland offense – which has scored at least 26 points in five games this fall – against a sturdy MA defense that hasn’t allowed more than two touchdowns in a game since the opening week of the season.