The Narraguagus High boys basketball team qualified for postseason play each of the four years Joel Strout attended the Harrington school in the mid-1970s.

In 1975, Strout was a junior forward for the Knights, who won the Eastern Maine Class C championship that year before falling to Gray-New Gloucester 85-78 in the state final.

Similar success may not come immediately as Strout takes over as boys varsity basketball coach at Narrraguagus, because seven seniors graduated from the 2004 team that finished 11-8 and qualified for the Eastern C preliminary round.

But several players are expected back, led by 6-foot senior guard Cory Worcester, as well as an influx of new talent from a junior varsity team that posted a winning record last winter.

“We just want to compete,” said Strout, who coached the Narraguagus junior varsity for the last three seasons. “And I think we can.”

Strout replaces Ron Brown, who guided the Knights for the last two seasons before retiring from coaching earlier this year.

“We’re going to have some quick guards,” said Strout, “and we’re going to have some big guys underneath. If we can rebound, I want to try to fast break if we can. If not, we’ll bring the ball down the floor and set up like we did last year.”

Three games to watch

With the 2004 high school football season set to start Friday night, here are three regular-season contests that even the most casual of high school football fans might want to mark on their spectating calendars:

Foxcroft Academy at Bucksport, Friday, Sept. 17: Some observers already are calling this Week 3 clash a battle for home-field advantage in the Eastern Maine Class C championship game. So much can happen between mid-September and early November to go fully out on that limb, but these programs do hold the last three EM C titles (Foxcroft in 2002 and 2003, Bucksport in 2001), as well as the current Class C state championship (Foxcroft). Both are consensus preseason picks to be the class of the LTC again this year, meaning the winner of this game will gain a huge boost of momentum as in its pursuit of regular-season and postseason glory. Foxcroft handled the Golden Bucks 35-0 last year and enters the 2004 campaign with a 21-game regular-season win streak

Waterville at Bangor, Friday, Oct. 8: These schools have enjoyed a storied rivalry in many sports, but with changing conference affiliations and student populations that are trending in opposite directions, the rivalry between the Elm City and the Queen City has ebbed. With Waterville considering a drop to Class B in football and other sports after the current school year, this may be the last time these teams meet on the gridiron for the foreseeable future. Both teams figure to be playoff candidates in Eastern Maine Class A, though Waterville doesn’t have the depth to absorb any major injuries. Bangor was a 21-0 winner at Waterville last fall en route to its appearance in the EM final.

Belfast at Winslow, Saturday, Oct. 9: Credit Winslow for not scheduling a patsy for Homecoming. The Black Raiders instead will host the reigning Class B state champion for its Homecoming game in the renewal of what has become one of the state’s best football rivalries over the past decade. Both teams are rebuilding to some extent, but are rebuilding more from an established position of strength and tradition – the schools have combined to win 10 of the last 12 Eastern B titles – rather than of merely trying to develop said strength and tradition. Last year, the teams split a pair of games, with Winslow winning 28-14 during the regular season and Belfast extracting revenge with a 35-14 victory in the Eastern B final. In their last 23 meetings, Belfast holds a 12-11 advantage.