The Cony football team has won consecutive games for the first time since it knocked off Edward Little and Brunswick in the middle of the 2010 season.

The Rams (2-1), who throttled Mt. Ararat 57-28 last week, will host Bangor (1-2) at Alumni Field on Friday night in a pivotal Pine Tree Conference Class A game. A victory would entrench Cony as a legitimate PTC A playoff contender.

“We’re trying to stay with the same focus,” Cony coach Robby Vachon said. “This is a huge game. It could have implications with only four teams going to the playoffs. We’re fortunate to get it at home.”

Cony junior quarterback Ben Lucas has thrown eight touchdown passes in the last two games to lead an offense that is averaging 39 points a game.

“We’re clicking on offense,” Vachon said. “We expect to be in every game.”

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Seven teams in the Western C Campbell Conference enter Week 4 with winning records.

The most surprising of that group could be Maranacook, which scored a key 22-21 victory over two-time defending Class C state champ Yarmouth on Saturday.

The Black Bears (3-0) have received several key contributions to compensate for the graduation loss of Luke Emery, the conference player of the year.

“I’m a little surprised, I guess,” Maranacook coach Joe Emery said on his team’s undefeated start. “Looking at the season, I was hoping to be 2-1 after three games. With Lisbon and Yarmouth, I was hoping to get one of those games.”

Maranacook got both, although the latter didn’t come easy.

The Black Bears led 22-7 going into the fourth quarter before the Clippers (1-2) stormed back to make things interesting.

“I think we learned a lesson to not let up,” Emery said. “When we had them 22-7 we should’ve stepped on the gas. Instead, we stepped off. But we still found a way to win and good teams do that. Good teams find ways to step up, and that’s what we tried to do.”

The Bears play at Boothbay (1-2) on Friday before a showdown the following week with Dirigo (3-0).

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Gardiner passed its first big test of the season, edging Waterville 21-18 on Saturday.

A bigger challenge awaits the Tigers (3-0) this week when Mt. Blue (3-0) and its potent offense rolls into Hoch Field on Friday night.

The Tigers are averaging 26.3 points a game and are holding opponents to 8.7.

“It shows we can play with the better teams in the (PTC B),” Gardiner quarterback Dennis Meehan said.

Meehan is providing steady play for the Tigers on both sides of the ball.

“He does everything for us,” Gardiner coach Matt Burgess said. “He’s a heck of a player. He looks comfortable on both sides of the ball.”

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Winthrop coach Joel Stoneton and his assistants met over the weekend to address what the team’s struggles are.

“We’re not happy,” Stoneton said. “We want to take a look at everything and see what we need to do to reboot. We’re very frustrated with where we’re at.”

Since blowing out Sacopee Valley in the opener, the Ramblers failed to score in their next two games.

They dropped a 48-0 decision Friday night to Lisbon, a week after losing 35-0 to Traip.

Lisbon (1-2) had played its first two games without several ineligible players.

“They had six guys we hadn’t seen before on film,” Stoneton said. “They had some players at key positions we just hadn’t seen. It was a completely different team from what we scouted. We thought we could play with Lisbon and we got blown out.”

The Rangers (3-0) and Greyhounds defeated the Ramblers with a bruising ground game out of power I formations.

Stoneton acknowledged the defense will have to improve for his team to get past Oak Hill (2-1) on Saturday.

“(Lisbon) had a good game plan,” he said. “We need to get better.”

• • •

Kents Hill opens its season in Andover, N.H., against perennial Evergreen League contender Proctor Academy.

The Huskies won their final three games of the season last fall to finish 4-4.

“We look solid,” Kents Hill coach Steve Gritti said. “We’re going to be a totally different team from last year. We’re doing a 180-degrees.”

The Huskies last season rode the arm of quarterback Bret Kidik, who threw for more than 2,000 yards. This year they will turn to running back TR Vernal of Raleigh, N.C.

“It happens in prep school,” Gritti said. “There is so much turnover year to year. You have to do what you can. Proctor will be a challenge but we’re ready.”

• • •

Around the state: Scarborough quarterback Dillon Russo has four touchdown passes and three touchdown runs, leading the Red Storm to a surprising 3-0 start. Scarborough has already matched last season’s win total… Two-time defending Class A state champion Cheverus has not been scored on in nine quarters. For the season, the Stags have outscored opponents, 127-6… The Little Ten Conference continues to be the league of blowouts. This past weekend, the closest game in the league was Orono’s 38-14 win over Bucksport. The average margin of victory in the six games was 43 points.

Staff writer Travis Lazarczyk contributed to this report.

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com