PTC makes playoff changes 8-team format for ‘A;’ ‘B’ abandons divisions

The additions of Nokomis of Newport and Mount View of Thorndike as two new varsity programs is not the only change in the Eastern Maine high school football world this season.

The playoff qualifying mechanism in two of the three classes has been adjusted, with the Pine Tree Conference Class A returning to an eight-team postseason format while the PTC B is abandoning its two-division alignment of recent years.

The move of Brewer back to Eastern A for the first time since 1998 increases the membership in the division from 11 teams to 12, eliminating the need for bye weeks for each team and allowing for the doubling of the regional playoff field.

Only four teams had qualified for postseason play in recent years – resulting in some quality programs being left out of the mix.

Bangor, for example, finished 5-3 in 2005, but ranked just sixth in the final PTC A Crabtree points and thus was left watching others compete for that year’s championship.

This year the Rams only need finish among the top eight in Crabtree points to keep those dreams alive.

“I just want to see the best teams in it,” said Bangor coach Mark Hackett.

Bangor, Brewer, Messalonskee of Oakland, reigning state champion Lawrence of Fairfield, Mt. Blue of Farmington and Skowhegan are in the North division. Brunswick, Cony of Augusta, Edward Little of Auburn, Lewiston, Mount Ararat of Topsham and Oxford Hills of South Paris are in the South.

Each team plays five opponents from within its division, along with three foes from the opposite division.

The two-divisional setup is largely a scheduling mechanism, said Lewiston athletic administrator Jason Fuller, allowing a heavy focus on geographic considerations when devising the bulk of the schedule.

The PTC Class B ranks remain at 12 teams, losing Brewer to Class A but picking up the Nokomis Warriors.

The league used a two-divisional format in recent years, with the top four teams in each division on the basis of Crabtree points qualifying for the eight-team playoffs.

This year, all 12 teams will be placed in one division, with the top eight teams via Crabtree points earning playoff berths.

“I kind of like it,” said Mount Desert Island coach Mark Shields. “It simplifies things, we’re one conference and I like a situation where the top eight teams go to the playoffs.”

The change was the result of a recommendation by league coaches that subsequently was approved by PTC athletic administrators.

“You’re never going to end up with a perfect schedule,” said Winslow athletic administrator Sean Keenan. “It was felt this will give us the best chance to be represented in the playoffs by the best eight teams.”

The revised format will eliminate a scenario like one that denied MDI a playoff berth in 2005.

MDI finished the 2005 season with a 3-5 record but didn’t make the playoffs because it finished fifth in the North division. The fourth and final playoff team from the South that year was Oak Hill of Sabbatus, Yet the Trojans defeated Oak Hill of Wales 6-0 and also finished with more Crabtree points than the Raiders.

“Two years ago the format worked against us, but we weren’t entirely upset because we weren’t really a playoff-caliber team,” said Shields, whose team used a season-ending victory in 2005 as a catalyst for a run to the playoffs last fall.

The LTC Class C schedule and playoff format remains the essentially the same, except that first-year varsity program Mount View of Thorndike will bring the league to 10 teams, eliminating the crossover games against Western Maine Class C opponents that had been used to fill out the nine-game regular-season schedules.

The LTC will retain its four-team playoff format.