Parity low in football’s first week

The first weekend of the high school football season brought plenty of anticipation, but only a modicum of excitement to gridirons around the state.

Of 35 games last weekend, 14 were decided by 32 points or more, 25 games were decided by at least 20 points, and just seven had a single-digit margin of victory.

The blowout bonanza wasn’t all about expansion in the sport. Though Mount View of Thorndike and Yarmouth lost by wide margins, the third new varsity program, Nokomis of Newport, won its debut.

And it wasn’t all about a particular class. The most lopsided scores came from Western Maine Class B, whose five games were decided by an average of 42 points. Western A was next with a differential of 28.6 points per game, followed by Western C (25.4), Eastern C (24.2), Eastern A (24.0) and Eastern B (16.2).

Methinks a one-week glimpse at anything isn’t enough to advocate change, but if the glimpse becomes the norm such advocacy may grow louder.

At that point – or perhaps when two more teams are added to bring the number statewide to 72 – the idea of adding a fourth class for the first time since the 1980s would be worth revisiting.

Eight nine-team leagues, four East and four West, could play eight-game schedules leading to postseason play.

In one scenario, the likes of Bangor and Lewiston might rejoin many of the southern Maine powers in a reformulated Class A, while the larger Pine Tree Conference schools, the lower-enrollment Western A schools and the larger Western B programs could become Class B.

The rest of the current Class B and Class C schools then would blend into new Classes C and D – at least until the long-term impact of planned school consolidation becomes clear.

I’d tend not to panic about something like this, but should the non-competitive nature of high school football continue as it began in Week 1, it won’t speak well for the health of this growing sport.

Funeral set for former HA star

Services will be held at 3 p.m. Friday at the Hampden-Gilpatrick Funeral Home for one of Eastern Maine’s top high school running backs of the mid- to late 1990s.

Ben Preston, 26, of Winterport died Sunday after being struck by a pickup truck in his family’s driveway. Police revealed Thursday that he was a victim of homicide.

Preston was a 1999 graduate of Hampden Academy, where he gained more than 1,000 rushing yards in three straight seasons for the Broncos’ football team.

As a senior in 1998, Preston helped Hampden win its first Eastern Maine Class B championship in 46 years. He rushed for 1,692 yards that season, including 295 yards and two touchdowns in the Eastern Maine final when the Broncos upended Belfast 32-0.

Hampden fell to Leavitt of Turner Center 20-14 in the state championship game.

“Ben was the best football player I’ve coached so far,” said Orono High School coach Bob Sinclair, who was the head coach at Hampden Academy during Preston’s playing days.

“He was a good kid and a hard worker, and in the offense we ran he loved to run the dive.”

Preston also competed in baseball and indoor track at Hampden.

He went on to graduate from the University of West Georgia with a degree in business, and more recently had been working with his brother locally at Wellman Paving.

Ernie Clark may be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or eclark@bangordailynews.net