With Week 8 of the regular season complete, the Pine Tree Conference Class A playoff race is starting to come together.

Lawrence (8-0) clinched the top spot and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a 10-7 win over Brunswick.

Brunswick (6-2) is in and can clinch the No. 2 seed with a win over Mt. Ararat (0-8) on Saturday.

Messalonskee (6-2) is in after beating Bangor, 39-20. The Eagles can finish either third or fourth. Messalonskee hosts Lawrence on Friday.

Bangor (6-2) and Skowhegan (5-3) play each other at Bangor’s Cameron Stadium next week in what essentially is a play-in game. If Skowhegan wins, it is in and moves to third place because of a win over Messalonskee. A loss eliminates Bangor, since the Rams would have losses to both Skowhegan and Messalonskee.

If Brunswick, Messalonskee, and Bangor all finish at 7-2, there will be a coin flip to determine the No. 2 seed. The No. 3 seed then goes to the winner of the head-to-head between the remaining two teams.

Lewiston (4-4) was eliminated from the playoff race when Messalonskee beat Bangor.

* * *

How dominant was Lawrence’s defensive effort in Friday’s 10-7 win over Brunswick? Let’s take a look.

The Dragons went into the game averaging just more than 338 yards of offense per game. Lawrence held Brunswick to 105. Sixty of that came on the Dragons’ final possession, when their scoring drive was kept alive after Lawrence muffed a punt.

Brunswick averaged 268.7 yards per game on the ground, but Lawrence held the Dragons to 54 yards on 33 carries.

The Bulldogs held Brunswick to seven first downs, just one in the first half.

* * *

The season is over at Nokomis, but the Warriors played their best football in the final weeks of the regular season. Nokomis won its final two games to finish at 2-6, and the confidence and momentum that comes with ending the season on a high note should bring some excitement to the program.

“I think it means a lot,” coach Haggie Pratt said. “It’s a 180-degree finish than we’ve had since I’ve been here, since Nokomis has had football. We were in so many games this year, it was nice to get a couple wins at the end.”

After defeating Camden Hills in Week 7, the Warriors dug a hole and buried a football to say good-bye to the 21-game losing streak they snapped with the victory over the Windjammers.

“We had some fun with it,” Pratt said.

In the week leading up to the finale at Madison, Pratt noticed a more upbeat team in practice.

“Getting that win (over Camden Hills) brought some enthusiasm,” Pratt said.

The Warriors were young. At Madison, Nokomis started three freshmen and a sophomore on defense. Offensively, the Warriors will return three linemen with plenty of varsity experience.

“The kids had confidence that they could win,” Pratt said.

* * *

Around the state: Among the teams making their playoff debut this week is Freeport. The Falcons went 5-3 this season, just their third as a varsity team, and play at Maranacook on Friday. … Rivals York and Wells will meet for the second straight week when they play in a Western B quarterfinal game. Wells beat York last week, 26-21. … Orono’s Dominic Mowrer isn’t well known outside of the Little Ten Conference, but he should be. The senior has 1,199 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com