Season features key matchups

The most important date on the 2007 high school football schedule is Saturday, Nov. 17, when the annual state championship tripleheader is held at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

But there are plenty of important dates – and games – before then, regular-season matchups that will help determine who plays on Championship Saturday.

Opening weekend this Friday and Saturday features its share of prime games in Eastern Maine, among them Belfast at Hampden in Class B and John Bapst of Bangor at Foxcroft Academy and Rockland at Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln in Class C.

Here’s a quick glimpse at 10 other contests that may help shape the postseason playing field come late October:

. Mattanawcook Academy at John Bapst, Saturday, Sept. 8: A veteran John Bapst team has high aspirations this fall, but two weeks into the season the Crusaders may well know their ultimate fate. After opening at defending Eastern C champion Foxcroft, John Bapst plays its first home game the following weekend against an MA team that is considered the strongest challenger to FA’s title run.

. Bangor at Lawrence, Friday, Sept. 14: This rematch of the 2006 Eastern A final may produce the favorite to represent the league in Portland this year. Defending state champion Lawrence graduated 17 seniors – most notably Fitzpatrick Trophy finalist Aaron Champagne – but returns a solid nucleus. Bangor is stacked at the skill positions, and its newly installed Wing-T offense produced 56 points in an exhibition win against Cony of Augusta.

Foxcroft at Mattanawcook, Friday, Sept. 14: Foxcroft has won the last eight games in this series, including a narrow 14-13 win in last year’s Eastern C final. The Ponies again are deep and talented, but will be challenged by an MA team with a veteran line, a 1,000-yard rusher in Brady Vose and a playmaker in quarterback Derek Libbey. The winner becomes the favorite to earn the top seed in the LTC.

. Mount Desert Island at Hampden Academy, Friday, Sept. 21: MDI defeated Hampden on the island last fall and used the victory as the catalyst for its first playoff appearance since 1998. Hampden shook off the loss, and a 1-3 start in 2006, to reach the Eastern B semifinals. Both teams are much younger this year, and this midseason clash again may determine in which direction these teams head during the second half of the season.

. Skowhegan at Bangor, Friday, Sept. 28: These teams have had some rugged battles in recent years and both are favored to finish among the upper echelon in Eastern A. Skowhegan returns the bulk of its team from last fall’s 2-6 finish and will need its double-wing offense to control the football to keep it away from Bangor’s high-powered attack.

. John Bapst at Rockland, Friday, Sept. 28: John Bapst outlasted Rockland 27-26 Week 4 last year, and ultimately the Crusaders made the Class C playoffs and Rockland didn’t. Rockland has a premier player to watch in senior Andrew Weiss, a four-year starter at quarterback who is poised to continue his assault on the LTC record books.

. Bangor at Lewiston, Friday, Oct. 5: The Rams swept two games between the teams last year, including in the Eastern A semifinals when Bangor contained a Lewiston offense led by Fitzpatrick Trophy winner Jared Turcotte to earn a 14-7 win. Lewiston returns a healthy core of explosive skill-position players, but how the Blue Devils compensate for the loss of Turcotte may determine the program’s fate this fall.

. Gardiner at Winslow, Saturday, Oct. 6: This rematch of the 2006 Eastern B final – a 21-3 Winslow victory – may be the game of the year again this fall. Gardiner is the preseason favorite, led by senior quarterback Kyle Stilphen. But Winslow is Winslow, this year with a big front line to protect an emerging group of new skill-position players that may lack significant experience but maintains the tradition of a program that has been to the state final four of the last seven years.

. Bangor at Brewer, Friday, Oct. 19: These cross-river rivals haven’t met since 1998, but this year’s clash at Doyle Field will mark the 100th time the schools have met on the gridiron. Bangor holds a 72-19-8 lead in the series.

. Bucksport at Rockland, Friday, Oct. 26: This Week 9 game has had playoff implications each of the last two years, and 2007 should be no different. Bucksport has foiled Rockland’s postseason ambitions each of the last two years with nine-point victories over the Tigers. Rockland hopes a victory this time would represent at least its sixth win of the season, one better than its 5-4 records each of the last four years and the one extra win that would advance the Tigers to the second season.