The Gardiner Area High School football team wasted little time preparing for its annual showdown with rival Leavitt.

By early afternoon Sunday, first-year coach Matt Burgess and staff already had watched film on the Hornets (7-0), the two-time defending Pine Tree Conference Class B champs.

“We spent most of the morning getting prepared for Leavitt,” Burgess said. “We exchanged film bright and early. We watched them play Oceanside and Mt. Blue, which was good.”

Burgess said coaches typically provide each other with two game films. Burgess gave Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway copies of Gardiner’s games against Oceanside and Madison.

“We still feel as though we have areas to improve in, mostly execution,” Burgess said. “Defensively, kids are still running their own stuff rather than the plays we call. We need to fix some things.”

Hathaway said he, too, spent a good chunk of Sunday watching film.

“We’ve seen them on film,” he said. “We’ve worked them up. We know Gardiner is going to bring it.”

The Tigers (6-1), fresh off of a 41-0 victory over Madison on Saturday, fell to the Hornets in the PTC B title game in each of the past two seasons.

“I told the kids that they know more about it than I do,” Burgess said. “I wasn’t here. All I know is coaching football.”

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Despite being eliminated from playoff contention, Cony (1-6) can play the role of spoiler Friday when it visits Lewiston (3-4), which needs a victory to keep its dwindling playoff hopes afloat.

Lewiston trails Skowhegan (4-3) and Messalonskee (5-2) in the race for the final PTC A playoff berth.

“We’re going to give everyone our best shot,” Cony coach Robby Vachon said.

The Rams certainly did that in a 28-18 loss to PTC A frontrunner Lawrence on Friday.

“We matched up pretty well with them,” he said. “We watched film on them and saw some things that we thought we could take advantage of. It just wasn’t enough. They made it difficult for us to move the ball on the ground, but we like our passing game. Ben (Lucas) has been pretty good for us.”

Lucas completed 21 of 42 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns.

“We put ourselves to at least make it interesting,” Vachon added. “We held strong.”

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Winthrop suffered a tough 27-8 loss to Poland on Saturday, dealing its Western C Campbell Conference playoff hopes a big blow.

The Ramblers (3-4), who were coming off of an emotional 27-24 win over Oak Hill, had seven turnovers against the Knights (3-4).

“We needed to play well and get that win to put ourselves in playoff position,” said Winthrop coach Joel Stoneton, who has 49 career victories. “Now, we’re in a hole.”

Winthrop will need to beat Lisbon (5-2) in the regular-season finale Friday to have a shot at reaching the postseason.

“We may also need some help, even if we beat Lisbon,” Stoneton said. “We didn’t show up to play (Saturday), and that will come back to haunt us. I wish I knew the reason why we didn’t show up. We just didn’t play well. We weren’t able to execute, that’s what it came down to.

“We’ve shown a lot of flashes that we can play with people.”

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Maranacook (6-1) hosts Oak Hill (3-4) in the Campbell Conference regular-season finale that has playoff implications for both teams.

The Black Bears are tied with Winslow (6-1) for third in Crabtree points. The top four host quarterfinal games.

Traip (5-2) sits in second behind defending Class C state champ Yarmouth (7-0).

Oak Hill is seventh and would clinch a playoff berth with a victory. The Raiders sank the Bears 41-28 in the regular-season finale last season to earn a playoff berth as well.

“We’ll be pumped for Oak Hill,” Maranacook coach Joe Emery said. “We’ve been looking forward to playing them all year. It’s going to be fun Friday night.”

Maranacook will need to cut down its penalties not only to beat Oak Hill but to advance in the postseason.

The Black Bears were called for eight infractions in the first half of a 20-6 win over Dirigo on Saturday. It marked the second time this season they have been flagged at least eight times in a half. Maranacook also had 11 penalties in the first half of a 40-6 win over Winthrop.

“If we want to do anything in the playoffs, this can’t happen,” Emery said. “We need to execute. We can’t make mistakes and expect to win.”

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Oak Hill made a quarterback switch prior to its 43-22 setback to Winslow on Saturday. Coach Dave Wing started freshman Alex Mace over sophomore Parker Asselin.

“I just thought it was time to shake up the offense,” Wing said. “We needed a change.”

Mace threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Potvin, but he also was sacked three times.

Wing put Asselin back in for the second half. Asselin threw for 42 yards, completing five of his eight passes.

“He gave us a spark,” Wing said.

• • •

Honor roll: Oak Hill running back Cody DePuy rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns in a 43-22 loss to Winslow. … Gardiner running back Alonzo Connor rushed for 245 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-0 win over Madison. Dennis Meehan also threw two touchdown passes to Justin Lovely. Gardiner defensive end Ted Worthley had three sacks. … Kents Hill quarterback Bret Kidik threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-27 loss to Dexter Southfield School. … Winthrop running back Dan Moody rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown in a 27-8 loss to Poland. … Maranacook running back Luke Emery rushed for 156 yards and a touchdown in a 20-6 win over Dirigo. … Cony quarterback Ben Lucas threw for 166 yards and three scores in a 28-18 loss to Lawrence.

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

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