Jack Hersom’s first year as a starting varsity quarterback was – to use the vernacular associated with Tom Brady – one of game management.

And he couldn’t have managed the Lawrence High School offense much better than he did last year, as the Bulldogs merely went undefeated and won their first Eastern Maine Class A title in a decade and first state championship since winning the Class B crown in 1984.

This year, Hersom still is managing Lawrence’s attack effectively through three weeks of the season, but he has emerged as a playmaker in helping lead the Bulldogs to a 3-0 start.

That emergence was evident in Lawrence’s 32-12 victory over Bangor at Keyes Field last Friday night in the rematch of their 2006 Eastern A final.

Hersom completed 9 of 17 passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 123 yards and a third score on just 10 carries.

“We thought we had enough in our offensive package to counter what [Bangor was] using for a scheme,” said Lawrence coach John Hersom, Jack’s father. “We executed quite well with Jack making quite a few plays running and throwing, so we were able to keep them off balance.”

Jack Hersom helped establish the diversity of Lawrence’s offense early in the game with three long option runs. When Bangor’s defense keyed on tailbacks Shawn Champagne and Devon Costigan, the 5-foot-10, 160-pound Hersom merely kept the ball and ripped off gains of 18, 39 and 15 yards.

And that was just the beginning. His first two rushes of the second half went for 18 and 19 yards, that second carry good for a touchdown that gave the Bulldogs a 20-0 lead.

“It worked out well because we worked hard to get ready for Bangor,” Jack Hersom said. “Everybody knew their assignments and we executed, so that’s what happens.”

Bangor coach Mark Hackett suggested before the game that Lawrence’s offense was improved from last year’s edition, and the Bulldogs did nothing in their first major test of the season to dispute that assessment.

Hersom was a big reason why.

“The quarterback’s the best player I’ve seen,” said Hackett, “and obviously they make huge plays. He’s confident. He’s a state champ and it looks it.”

With four different runners gaining at least 30 yards and Hersom completing passes to four different receivers, Lawrence may be deeper at the offensive skill positions than in 2006.

“This year we’re trying to balance it out more,” said Jack Hersom. “We’ve got a lot of good backs and receivers, and we’re trying to distribute the ball to all of them. We’ve got a lot of playmakers on the field.”

And Hersom, who contributed in more of a supporting role last year at quarterback, is taking center stage as a senior.

Through three games, he has completed 67 percent of his passes (24 of 36) for 300 yards with four touchdowns and one interception while rushing for 229 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

“As long as we can show signs of being able to run the football we’ll have good quarterback play,” said John Hersom. “With the ability to run the football, it does open up a lot for Jack in both the throwing game and the running game, so we want to make sure we’re establishing our run game and then working Jack into the formula for success.

“Jack’s pretty good at identifying a coverage and finding the open receiver. It’s an offense we ran last year, so he’s very familiar with all the patterns and where the receivers are going to be open. He’s got a pretty good feel for it.”

Lawrence, which is 3-0 this season and holds the state’s longest winning streak of 14 games, returns to action at 2 p.m. Saturday at 1-2 Brunswick.

Bangor-EL set for Saturday

The Bangor High football team will have to wait an extra day in its effort to get back on the winning track after last weekend’s loss at Lawrence of Fairfield.

The Rams’ road game against Edward Little, originally scheduled for Friday night, has been rescheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Walton Field in Auburn.

That’s because EL’s game at Brunswick set for last Friday was pushed back to Monday because of a bomb scare at Brunswick on Friday morning.

Brunswick defeated Edward Little 36-26 in that rescheduled Week 3 matchup. The Dragons scored each of the first four times they had the ball, yet led only 22-18 at halftime before breaking the game open.

Edward Little is now 0-3 on the season, with losses to Brunswick, Oxford Hills of South Paris and Mt. Blue of Farmington.

Bangor is 2-1 after last Friday’s 32-12 loss at Lawrence, with its rescheduled game at EL preceding showdowns at home against 3-0 Skowhegan on Sept. 28 and at 3-0 Lewiston on Oct. 5.

Bangor and Edward Little last met during the regular season in Week 1 of the 2004 season, with the Rams earning a 29-6 victory at Auburn.

Calais, Erskine to meet at Husson

Two of the state’s fledgling high school football programs, the Calais-Woodland Silverados and Erskine Academy of South China, will square off in a 6 p.m. start Saturday at the Winkin Complex on the campus of Husson College in Bangor.

Calais-Woodland is in its first year of subvarsity play after competing in the Canadian-based Fundy Football League for the last three years.

In 2006, the Calais-Woodland bantams (ages 14-15) won the Maritime provincial championship, and many of those players are competing at the high school level this year.

Saturday’s game against Erskine, a first-year club team, will be the third of the season for the Silverados.

They played a preseason contest against Nokomis of Newport and most recently played against the Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln junior varsity on Labor Day weekend.

Calais has additional road games scheduled against subvarsity teams from Mount Desert Island (Oct. 1), Rockland (Oct. 8) and Foxcroft Academy (Oct. 29).

The Silverados are slated to play their first home game in Calais on Oct. 20 against the first-year Camden Hills club team. That game will be played on the Calais High soccer field.

Calais also still has an open date to fill on Oct. 15.

Brunswick’s Gardner nets 400th

The Brunswick boys soccer team scored a 7-0 victory over Cony of Augusta on Monday, marking Peter Gardner’s 400th career coaching win.

Gardner, in his 35th season with the Dragons, is believed to be just the third schoolboy soccer in the state to amass 400 wins, following Brian Higgins of Ellsworth in 2004 and Sam Pendleton of Georges Valley of Thomaston in 2006.