Despite no playoffs, Trojans finish on a high note

The 2005 high school football came to a bittersweet yet promising end for the Mount Desert Island Trojans.

After winning just one game in the two previous years combined, coach Mark Shields’ club finished off a 3-5 season with a 43-20 victory over Old Town last Friday night.

But according to the playoff format used in the Pine Tree Conference Class B ranks, that wasn’t quite enough to earn MDI one of the division’s eight playoff berths – despite the fact the Trojans finished with the same record as No. 8 seed Oak Hill of Sabattus, had a 6-0 victory over the Raiders in Week 2, and finished the season with a slight advantage in the Crabtree points (10,082.82 to 10,081.25) that determine seedings.

That’s because the league, which grew to 12 teams this year with the addition of Waterville, Gardiner and Maranacoook of Readfield to its ranks, opted for a two-division format, with the top four teams in each division earning playoff berths before being reseeded one through eight by Crabtree points.

MDI finished fifth in the northern division, trailing Winslow, Brewer, Belfast, and Hampden, while Oak Hill finished fourth in the southern division behind Leavitt of Turner Center, Waterville, and Gardiner.

“The way the season ended was kind of a disappointment,” said Shields. “For a while we thought we still had a shot, but the kids understood that the top four teams in the division would go.”

Those earlier hopes were fueled by some confusion about the exact playoff format, which finally was cleared up midway through the season.

Conference coaches and athletic directors voted last spring to qualify the top four teams in each division for the playoffs. But there was subsequent miscommunication about the playoff format, leading some to believe that the top eight teams in the league by Crabtree points regardless of division would earn playoff bids, said Winslow athletic director Sean Keenan. League athletic directors ultimately reaffirmed the originally approved two-division playoff selection format during a meeting a few weeks ago.

“There was some confusion,” said Shields, “but a couple of weeks ago, the ADs met and agreed it would be the top four from each division, so we knew that going into our last couple of games, and because we didn’t beat Hampden Academy [the fourth-place team in the north], we knew we probably wouldn’t make it even if we beat Old Town.”

Had MDI qualified for the playoffs as the eighth seed, the Trojans would have been matched up against reigning Eastern Maine Class B champion Winslow, which defeated the Trojans 65-6 in Week 6. Instead, a team heavy in underclassmen can carry the momentum from its offensive explosion against Old Town – MDI scored 43 points in that game after totaling just 40 points in its first seven games – into the offseason.

“The reality is if you have a 3-5 record, should you be going to the playoffs?” Shields said. “For us, having the opportunity to finish the season on a high like we did, even if we didn’t make the playoffs, is a good step forward.

“This was more of a transitional year for us. Last year we were competitive in one of nine games. This year we were competitive in six of eight, and that’s a huge step for us.”

New foes to meet in B playoffs

With eight of the 12 Pine Tree Conference Class B football teams qualifying for postseason play this year, the expectation for some familiar matchups was high.

But only one of this weekend’s four quarterfinals will involve teams that met during the regular season, when No. 3 Brewer (6-2) hosts No. 6 Gardiner (4-4) at Doyle Field on Friday night.

In their Week 3 contest, Gardiner jumped out to a 13-0 lead, but the Tigers’ defense couldn’t contain Brewer’s Ricky Porter, who scored a pair of touchdowns and amassed more than 300 total yards as the Witches rallied for a 22-16 victory at Hoch Field in Gardiner.

Other first-round games have No. 5 Waterville (5-3) at No. 4 Belfast on Friday night, No. 8 Oak Hill (3-5) at top-seeded Winslow (8-0) on Saturday afternoon, and No. 7 Hampden Academy (4-4) at No. 2 Leavitt of Turner Center (7-1) on Saturday night.

Ironically, all four first-round games are crossover matchups, with teams from the conference’s northern division (Winslow, Brewer, Belfast, and Hampden) facing teams from the southern division (Oak Hill, Gardiner, Waterville, and Leavitt).

Under the playoff format, the teams won’t be reseeded after the quarterfinals. That means the Winslow-Oak Hill winner will face the Belfast-Waterville survivor and the Leavitt-Hampden Academy winner will play the Brewer-Gardiner victor in the two semifinals.