A regular-season game between Class A powerhouse Thornton Academy and reigning Class B champion Marshwood is among the intriguing matchups of the 2021 Maine high school football schedule, released on Thursday.
Creating the schedules for all classes, including both small- and large-school eight-man football, was the result of “great collegial effort from athletic administrators that includes liaisons from each classification region, (Maine Principals’ Association) football committee members and Maine Football Coaches Association liaisons over the past 13 months,” said Brewer Athletic Director David Utterback in an email.
Maine was one of only four states that did not play tackle football during the pandemic-altered 2020-21 school year. Football and wrestling, the other sport not played in Maine in 2020-21, were given the official go-ahead by the MPA on May 26.
The schedules do not have specific dates or times for games, but do show the week-by-week order for each team. The complete schedules can be found here.
The eight teams in Class A will play a nine-game regular-season schedule, as they did in 2019, with one crossover game against a Class B South team and another against a Class B North team. Two years ago, Thornton Academy edged Marshwood, 28-27, in Saco. This fall, the teams will meet at Marshwood in North Berwick in the second week of the season.
In Week 7, Class B North power Brunswick will host 2019 Class A champion Bonny Eagle. Brunswick Coach Dan Cooper and Bonny Eagle Coach Kevin Cooper are cousins.
Class B, C, and D 11-man teams will play an eight-game schedule. The nine Class D teams will play only within their division, with each team getting a bye week. Both Freeport and Poland will make long trips to traditional small-school powers Bucksport and Foxcroft Academy.
Eight-man teams will play seven regular-season games. The addition of former Class A power Cheverus to the large-school division is notable. The Stags’ home games will be against Yarmouth (Week 1), Lake Region, Gray-New Gloucester and Sacopee Valley.
Thornton will meet old rival Biddeford in a preseason exhibition at Waterhouse Field on Aug. 27 or 28. The last time the rivalry game, dubbed the Battle for the Bridge, was played in the regular season was in 2014.
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