AUGUSTA — Don’t expect Cony High School football coach Robby Vachon to start getting decked out in Brunswick gear any time soon, but a win for the Dragons Friday night certainly would not be the worst thing for the Rams.

Brunswick (5-1) hosts Lawrence (5-1) Friday night in a battle of Pine Tree Conference B’s top two teams, which means Cony is still very much alive in the hunt for a top two seed in playoffs and the first round bye that comes with it.

“That’s going to be a close match,” Vachon said. “A team like Lawrence that can spread you out, while Brunswick is real solid up front with the power run game. It will be interesting to see the result of that one.”

Now, a Lawrence loss only plays into Cony’s favor in the unlikely scenario that the two teams finish with the same record and Crabtree Index. In conferences where there are no crossovers with the other subdivision it is much more common that there could be two or more teams with the same Crabtree Index, but each team in PTC B has one game on its schedule against Western Class B.

It is still possible that Cony, Lawrence, Brunswick or any of the 3-3 teams (Messalonskee, Brewer, Mt. Blue) could finish with the same Crabtree Index, but its not something the Rams are worrying about right now.

For the time being, Cony is focused on taking care of business on Friday nights to maintain the same momentum it has built over the past few weeks during its three-game winning streak.

“We had a couple hiccups early and tried to find ourselves defensively with the personnel changes that we’ve made,” Vachon said. “You hope to be playing your best football at the end of the year and hopefully that’s where we are.”

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It has been a rough start to the season for the Kents Hill football team, but fortunately for the Huskies’ they will have two weeks to regroup.

Kents Hill (0-5 Evergreen League) is off this weekend and will not play again until Oct. 25 when it travels to take on Hyde (Ct.).

The break will allow the Huskies to incorporate a new addition, Trevor Guity, into their offense and defense. A starting point guard on the school’s basketball team, Guity missed the first part of the season while recovering from a leg injury.

“He’s a spark plug. He’s a really good athlete,” Kents Hill coach Steve Shukie said. “…He got hurt playing basketball in the spring, he had a fracture in his leg. It wasn’t too serious but he was off his feet for a while.

“He started for us last year as a tail back and he’s gotten bigger and stronger since then.”

Shukie believes Guity can help the Huskies in a number of different areas, both as a receiver and in spelling starting running back Adam Gigliotti in the run game. He will also see time on defense.

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Friday’s win over Brunswick was Messalonskee’s second upset of the undefeated Dragons in as many seasons. Last season, the Eagles went to Brunswick and took a 21-14 win. That game started a four-game win streak for the 2013 Eagles, who reached the PTC B semifinals.

Messalonskee hosts Hampden (1-5) on Friday. Other games with PTC B playoff implications this week include Brewer (3-3) at Mt. Blue (3-3) and Gardiner (2-4) at Skowhegan (2-4).

The loser of the Gardiner-Skowhegan game is all but eliminated from playoff contention. Mt. Blue got back on track with a win at Gardiner last week. The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Cougars.

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For more than 60 years, the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl has pitted the top high school football players from New Hampshire and Vermont against each other as a fundraiser for Shriner’s hospitals. Now, the game that was one of the inspirations for Maine’s Shrine Lobster Bowl may be in jeopardy.

The Bektash Shriners of Concord, N.H., recently voted to end its sponsorship of the game, citing higher costs of the game and fewer funds raised, as well as the game’s lack of competitive balance. New Hampshire leads the 61-year series, 46-13-2, and has won 14 consecutive games.

If the Maple Sugar Bowl is discontinued, don’t expect it to be replaced by a game featuring Maine players taking on New Hampshire. Jason Fuller, the longtime Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl athletic director, said a game against New Hampshire is nothing the Lobster Bowl directors have discussed.

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Around the state: With losses by Windham and Thornton Academy this past weekend, Class A has no undefeated teams… The big game in Western Class C this week is Leavitt (5-1) at Wells (5-1). Both teams are in contention with Spruce Mountain (6-0) for the top spot in the region… There’s a big battle of unbeaten teams in Western Class D this week, when Lisbon plays at Dirigo.

Staff Writer Travis Lazarczyk contributed to this report

Evan Crawley — 621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley

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