Week 3 of the high school football team finds the Bangor Rams trying to rebound from their first loss of the season, and Foxcroft Academy and Bucksport squaring off in the latest edition of their LTC rivalry.

Bangor Rams (1-1) vs. Mt. Blue Cougars (1-1), 7 p.m. Friday at Farmington: Bangor fell to Cheverus 6-0 at Portland on Saturday despite several trips inside the Stags’ 20-yard line.

“We made some good plays, but we didn’t make any great plays, and you’re not going to win in this league without your good athletes making big plays,” said Bangor coach Mark Hackett. “But we never lost our fighting spirit, and I’m proud of that

Mike Prentiss led Bangor offensively with 80 rushing yards, and now has 278 yards through two games. Shaun Sullivan passed for more than 100 yards.

Mt. Blue is coming off a 41-0 win against Westbrook. Lance Meader led the Cougars’ 351-yard rushing attack with 152 yards and two touchdowns. Garrett Lake passed for 154 yards and two scores while directing an offense that Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin describes as “about 60 percent running and 40 percent passing.”

This may be a clash of Mt. Blue’s team speed against Bangor’s size and strength along the line of scrimmage.

“They’ve got a tough, big offensive line, and they want to run the ball right at you,” Parlin said. “With Bangor it’s almost like you don’t have to scout them. They just do the same things from year to year, but they do them very well.”

Bangor was 0-2 last year before outlasting Mt. Blue 13-7 in overtime, a result that started a six-game Rams’ winning streak. Hackett expects another close battle this year.

“This will be a big test to see how we respond coming off a loss,” he said. “Mt. Blue is very quick and very aggressive, and extremely tough to run on, and playing there is a tough atmosphere for a visiting football team.

Bucksport Golden Bucks (2-0) vs. Foxcroft Academy Ponies (2-0), 7 p.m. Friday at Dover-Foxcroft: These programs have met in the last two LTC Class C title games – with Foxcroft prevailing last fall and Bucksport the winner in 2001.

Both teams are coming off lopsided victories. Bucksport defeated Rockland 32-6, as Joey Carmichael passed for 266 yards and four touchdowns, while Josh Johnson had four receptions for 135 yards and two TDs and John Harvey caught four passes for 116 yards and two TDs. Chris Woodman rushed for 83 yards.

“They have a good mix between run and pass,” said Foxcroft coach Paul Withee. “Their workhorse seems to be Woodman, but they’ve got two big threats in John Harvey and Johnson, and Carmichael is throwing the ball well and with confidence.

Foxcroft is coming off a 55-13 win against Orono. Josh Withee completed four passes for 119 yards and two TDs in less than a half while tailback Bobby Gilbert added 59 rushing yards and a touchdown, also in limited action.

“[Foxcroft] is well coached in all three phases of the game, and they play with great intensity,” said Bucksport coach Joel Sankey. “Plus, that’s a tough place to play. ”

Both teams are coping with key early season injuries. Foxcroft end Brandon Hall (torn ACL) is out for the season. Bucksport has played without tackle Nick Norwood (sprained knee) and linebacker-offensive guard David Mushrall (foot stress fracture).

“A lot of times games like this come down to who makes the fewest mistakes, not turning the ball over and taking advantage of opportunities when you have them,” Withee said. “They’ve shown the ability to make big plays, and we likewise have done the same thing.”

Morse Shipbuilders (0-2) vs. Belfast Lions (2-0), 7 p.m. Friday at Belfast: This is a rematch of a 2002 Eastern B semifinal, when Belfast earned a 28-12 victory on the way to the regional championship.

The teams have gone in drastically different directions early this season. Belfast outscored its first two opponents, York and Mount Desert Island, by a combined 110-0, while Morse of Bath has yet to score in losses to Wells and Hampden Academy.

Belfast suffered heavy graduation losses, but is rebuilding behind a group of veteran skill-position players that includes quarterback-linebacker Nick Arthers, tailback-defensive back Josh Aldus, fullback-linebacker Paul Herman, wingback-defensive back Garren Horne and wingback-linebacker Tim Morley.

“I really don’t know how good we are yet,” said Belfast co-coach Butch Arthers. “I thought York was a playoff team, they had a lot of kids returning, but they’ve taken it on the chin so far, and I thought Morse might be a playoff team, and they’ve taken it on the chin so far.”

Against Hampden, Morse yielded more than 300 rushing yards while amassing less than 100 yards of total offense.

“I think they took a big graduation hit about like we did,” Arthers said. “I think they’ve also struggled with some key players being hurt, kids who are two-way starters. With teams our size, you can’t take too many hits like that before it starts to hurt your program.”