This is the week the Pine Tree Conference Class B gets interesting.

There are four undefeated teams in the PTC B — Brewer, Brunswick, Messalonskee and Skowhegan. Beginning Friday night, they start a midseason round robin that will basically determine which teams get the two first round byes in the upcoming playoffs.

Over the next three weeks, each of these four undefeated teams will play at least two of the others. For Brunswick and Skowhegan, the next three weeks bring games against all three of the other unbeaten teams.

The fun begins Friday, when Brunswick plays at Messalonskee while Skowhegan plays at Brewer.

“I think it will be a little more clearer after this weekend,” Brunswick coach Dan Cooper said. “We have four undefeated teams going at it this weekend. It’s going to be interesting.”

The big games continue Sept. 30, when Skowhegan hosts Brunswick. On Oct. 7, Brewer plays at Brunswick while Skowhegan is at Messalonskee.

This is a key three-week stretch,” Cooper added. “You also want to try and stay healthy. You don’t want to get too beat up in these weeks coming up.”

Through the first three weeks of the season, none of the these four teams has been tested much. Including Skowhegan’s 33-32 win at Lawrence on opening night, their combined average margin of victory is 31 points.

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Last season, Mount View won seven games, including the first playoff win in program history. With the graduation of a strong senior class, there were questions as to whether or not the Mustangs would again contend for a playoff spot in the Little Ten Conference. Through three weeks, it’s apparent Mount View is again a team that will be in the LTC playoff mix.

A 41-14 thumping over Mattanawcook on Saturday improved the Mustangs to 2-1. Mount View has a pair of big games in the next two weeks, traveling to Houlton (2-1) before hosting Bucksport (1-2). The long tip to Houlton is just one of four long bus rides the Mustangs have this season. Not including the short jaunt to Pittsfield to take on Maine Central Institute, Mount View’s road games to Stearns, Houlton, Ellsworth and Washington Academy combine for 924 miles of round trip travel.

“We’ve got some road trips, for sure,” coach Haggie Pratt said.

Offensively, the Mustangs have depth similar to last season, in which a number of players contributed. First-year starting quarterback Rayno Boivin is becoming adept at running the Mustangs option-heavy offense, Pratt said. Players such as Devan Davis, Darrin Cook and Colby Furrow are sharing the carries.

“We have several good athletes with potential to score at any time,” Pratt said. “We always seem to find someone to pick us up.”

In the coming weeks, Pratt looks to see defensive improvement.

“We have to step it up defensively. We’re not tackling well. We still have some confusion on coverages. That’s what we need to improve to be a playoff team,” Pratt said.

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Twice in the second half of Friday’s 7-0 win at Mt. Blue, Lawrence tried to execute a fake punt. The first one, on fourth and 16 from the Mt. Blue 44-yard line, was successful when punter Gunner McAllister ran 16 yards for the first down. The drive ended with a turnover a few plays later.

The second fake came late in the game. With the Bulldogs clinging to their seven-point lead, McAllister tried it again, this time on fourth and 8 at the Cougar 38. This run went for just 1 yard, and Mt. Blue took over on its own 37.

“That’s something I just see, and I take advantage of it and I do my best,” McAllister said. “I saw how close we were to the first down. I took my chance. It was a gamble.”

Neither fake was called by the Lawrence coaching staff. After the game, coach John Hersom said while he likes McAllister’s aggressiveness, the fake punt is something that needs to be used carefully. On the second one, Hersom said while a first down would have given the Bulldogs a chance to run out the clock, he’d rather have seen a punt to pin the Cougars deep, forcing them to drive the length of the field for the touchdown.

“(McAllister’s) confident. He’s a confident football player. We weren’t instructing him to do that. The first one was him reacting on his own a little bit, when he got the first down. We definitely wanted to punt the ball and get it deep (in the fourth quarter),” Hersom said. “He’s a good athlete. He can make some plays. We’ve just to limit when we try to do that.”

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This season, Skowhegan players are wearing a tribute to a fallen teammate, along with a tribute to longtime Skowhegan coach and former athletic director Don Finley.

Last year, player Scott Brown died in a drowning accident. This season, Brown’s younger brother is a member of Skowhegan’s freshmen team, so Skowhegan freshmen are wearing a No. 11 sticker on their helmets to remember Brown’s number.

To honor Finley, who died last December after a long illness, Skowhegan added “Fin” to the S on its helmets. The tributes to both Brown and Finley are small reminders that both are still in Skowhegan’s thoughts and hearts, coach Matt Friedman said.

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Oak Hill (2-0) returns to action this week when it hosts Medomak Valley on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

The Raiders were idle last week.

“The bye week is always tough but it gave us an opportunity to step backward and reassess and get better,” Oak Hill coach Stacen Doucette said. ” We went back to fundamentals.”

Medomak, of Waldoboro, is 1-1 and is coming off a 15-6 victory over Maranacook. The Panthers are one of four 1-1 teams in Campbell Conference Class D. Winthrop/Monmouth (3-0) sits atop the conference.

“The conference is the most competitive it’s been in recent years,” Doucette said. “There is a lot of depth in the conference.”

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Kents Hill is set to open its season Saturday at Evergreen League rival Hyde School in Woodstock, Connecticut.

The Huskies are coming off a tough 1-7 season but fourth-year coach Steve Shukie said he is optimistic this one will be better.

“For starters, we have a lot more numbers,” he said. “Last year we finished with 16 or 17 kids, and we were just a few injuries away from not finishing. We just weren’t competitive. It was a tough, tough situation. But this year I have about 30 kids out, which is really good for us. This year should be a lot different.”

Shukie added three post-graduate players, including 6-foot-4 quarterback Mike McCarthy, of Buffalo, New York. Wide receiver/corner back Johnny Chimpoulis and tailback Amari Bartley are the others who could make an impact.

“Those guys should step in right away and contribute,” Shukie said.

Four-year wide receiver Tory Brown also will help lead the offense.

Shukie added that he also has eight linemen he plans to rotate, including returning starters Darius Hinds (tackle, defensive end) and Jake Fernandez (guard).

The Huskies will play their home opener Oct. 1 at 3 p.m. against the Tilton School.

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Around the state: After going 0-8 last season, Freeport is showing improvement. The Falcons improved to 2-1 with a 27-0 win over Gray-New Gloucester this past week… With Portland’s win over Windham, there are no undefeated teams in Class A North. In Class A South, Thornton Academy and Bonny Eagle are both 3-0… The big game in Class B South this week is Biddeford (3-0) at Westbrook (2-1). Each has a win over two-time defending state champ Marshwood. In another big Class B South game this week, York (2-1) is at Kennebunk (3-0).

Sports Editor Bill Stewart contributed to this report.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM

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