Cony quarterback Parker Morin slips away from Lawrence defensive lineman Cam Dostie during the Class B North football championship Nov. 11 at Charlie’s Field at The Maxwell Athletic Complex in Winthrop. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

This is the year.

No, that can’t be said for any one team in the Pine Tree Conference in 2024 — no one’s likely to dominate a league this competitive. What it is the year for, though, is one of the most entertaining seasons of Class B North football in recent memory.

“I think this is probably the best the conference has been in a while,” said Cony head coach B.L. Lippert. “If not every team, just about every team is going to be better than they were last year, and we already had some good teams last year. I don’t think there’s any team in this league I look at where I say, ‘They’re not very good.’ It’s going to be really fun.”

There’s a new level of excitement, then, with the first real Friday night lights of the 2024 season looming at central Maine’s largest schools. The contenders of last year will be there, but 2023’s also-rans have also improved to lay the foundation for what should be an alluring year of high school football.

Last year, Lawrence outscored opponents 307-49 in conference play en route to an 8-3 season and Class B North title. The key to that run was an offensive line of Davin Bolduc, Cam Dostie, Connor Mayo, Cameron Stewart and Zeb Hannah and a solid running back running behind it in Colton Carter.

Bolduc and Mayo are back on that line this season, as are Carter and Michael Hamlin, the Bulldogs’ experienced starting quarterback. Defensively, Lawrence shifts from a 4-3 to a 3-4 led by nose guard Jeremy Thompson, while Carter and Preston Roy hold down the fort at linebacker and Cole Quirion leads the secondary.

“We’ve got some good skill kids, and I think everyone realizes that in our league, and we’re happy have (Bolduc and Mayo) back for us on the line,” said Lawrence head coach John Hersom. “I think, defensively, we’re getting more comfortable in the 3-4. We changed it to fit our personnel a little bit better.”

Cony, which fell to Lawrence in the Class B North championship game, enters 2024 fresh off a 7-4 season a year ago. The Rams started the campaign 1-3 before rattling off six straight wins, though their season would end with a 27-7 defeat to the Bulldogs in which Lawrence gashed the Rams for 480 yards on the ground.

Yet with eight starters back on offense and seven on defense, Cony is ready to challenge Lawrence this year. Junior Parker Morin is back after passing for 2,557 yards and 24 scores, while Ethan Demmons leads a group that could be eight or nine deep at receiver. Bohdy King Jones and Steve Witham lead solid lines on both sides of the ball.

Gardiner’s Chase Burgess (33) tries to stay in bounds and avoid Nokomis defensive back Jeffery Carr during a football game Sept. 29 in Gardiner. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

“We ended last year playing really well for a long stretch of the season, so that’s obviously something you hope to build on,” Lippert said. “I like our depth at the skill positions, and we’re returning some really good offensive linemen up front. We’re excited about this group, and we can’t wait to see what they look like on the field.”

Morin is far from the only premier underclassman quarterback in the league as fellow junior Tatum Doucette made major waves for Messalonskee last year. As a sophomore, Doucette threw for 1,511 yards, 15 touchdowns and just six interceptions for the Eagles while going for 574 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

Hayden Pierce and Landon Rancourt replace Sam Dube at running back, while Drake Brunelle will take a bigger offensive role after catching 21 passes for 285 yards last year. Brunelle also intercepted 11 passes for a defense that returns standouts Denny Martin (defensive line) and Dawson Dingus (linebacker).

“We’d like to take the momentum of last year and really build off that,” said Blair Doucette, whose 7-2 record in his first year as head coach last season was Messalonskee’s best since 2000. “We’re a bit younger, but I think we’ve got the right people in the right positions, and hopefully, our senior leadership can step up for us.”

At Gardiner, Asher Nagy has won the starting quarterback job over Chase Burgess, though head coach Pat Munzing said the latter will still play a major role as a utility player. The Tigers also have one of the region’s top linemen in Kyle Doody and an experienced secondary in Brayden Elliott, Henry Gingras and Eli Manning.

“A big goal of ours last year was to get that first playoff win in a while and get going in the right direction, and we did that,” said Munzing, whose team went 5-5 with a B North quarterfinal win over Skowhegan. “I think we’re set up nicely for this year, but the league is tough. It’s going to be a tough game for us every week.”

After a 2-7 year in 2023, Skowhegan brings back five starters on offense and six on defense with receiver and defensive back Trevor Austin leading the way on both sides of the ball. The River Hawks, though, will be without starting quarterback Jason Aubin until at least Week 3 as he recovers from injury.

Mt. Blue went 0-9 a year ago, but the Cougars have their top running back and tackler back in Dane Cousineau. They’re also big up front with 6-foot-3, 305-pound Joey Hayden and 6-2, 310-pound Sam Rackliff leading a stout line that hopes to yield dividends for Matt Friedman in his third year as head coach.

Lewiston’s Jayden Sands jumps to catch a pass while under pressure from Mt. Blue’s Dane Cousineau during a last season game in Lewiston. Lewiston’s Ryker Paradis, left, is nearby. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Although Falmouth was 2-6 last year, the Navigators will be vastly improved this fall. First-year head coach Spencer Emerson has an elite running back in Indi Backman, and Thomas Gale, younger brother of Gaziano Offensive Lineman Award winner Will Gale, anchors the line. Falmouth has 47 players after dipping into the 20s last year.

Nokomis, the lone central Maine team in Class C North, is coming off a 4-6 season. The Warriors are moving some pieces around this year with Landon Rowell going from running back to quarterback, Seth Bowden going from corner to linebacker on defense and Noah Holden going from center to tight end.

“We’re still pretty young, but we’ve got a little old age, too,” said Nokomis head coach Jake Rogers. “I’m actually really excited with just the mix of youth and old guys we have because it’s pretty fun to have. … We have a lot of sophomores getting thrown into the fire, but they’re learning, working hard and getting better.”

League-wide, Hampden Academy and Hermon have made major improvements after posting winning seasons a year ago. Come playoff time, Nokomis will also have to look out for reigning regional champ Oceanside, which, while missing some standouts at the skill positions, has the size up front to repeat in C North.

“They were so good athletically last year that I think everyone ignored how good that front was and how well they coached them,” Rogers said of Oceanside. “They have just about all of those guys back, and they move, and they’re fast. They can line up in (I-formation) and run the ball on anybody, if they choose to.”