Week 1 of the Maine high school football season usually results in some upsets and some breakout stars.
With the knowledge that the unpredictable will happen, here are five storylines we think are worth following this week.
How will Noble fare without Jamier Rose?
The Knights reached the Class A South final last year behind senior quarterback Jamier Rose, who won the Fitzpatrick Trophy, and a strong cast of seniors. Mark Lapointe, a 6-foot-5 junior, has taken over the reins from Rose. Coach Keenon Blindow has built a solid all-around program and does have 14 seniors, but adapting to life without a player as dynamic as Rose is difficult. Meanwhile, Windham, the Knights’ opponent in Thursday’s opener, has the ear-markings of a team on the rise in Class A North, featuring quality linemen like Ethan Nguyen and Caden Valle and junior RB Parker Sperry, who rushed for over 1,200 yards last season, when the Eagles went 3-7.
Can Cordell Jones throw the football, too?
Portland’s all-around star has shown he can do just about anything on the football field, as he demonstrated last year with a Maine Gatorade Player of the Year award in the Bulldogs’ Class A championship season. And he has thrown some passes while in the Wildcat formation, but this year he takes over as the full-time dual-threat quarterback. The UMaine commit is sure to still be a running threat, but Friday’s home opener against Oxford Hills will provide a look into a new facet of Jones’ game as well as being the first game for Nick Cliche as head coach.
What about Fryeburg Academy?
The past two seasons, many of the Raiders’ top players have been from outside the United States, and Fryeburg has gone from being a consistently good Class C team to one of the top teams in Maine regardless of class, rolling to last year’s state title. This year, at least nine foreign countries are represented on the roster posted on the school website. Fryeburg, which has just one returning starter on defense and three on offense, officially moves into Class B North with Friday’s opener at Skowhegan. Will this year’s newcomers, as well as the many players from neighboring towns, keep the Raiders rolling?
How long will it take Greely to adjust in 11-man?
The Rangers finished the 2024 season as a dominant eight-man club, winning the Large School title in their third season as a standalone team after shelving their 11-man program following the 2018 season and then being in a co-op with Falmouth. In recent seasons, teams moving back to the 11-man ranks have had limited success. Greely opens its Class C South season Friday at York, which went 3-6 last season.
Lisbon returns to the field
The Greyhounds made news for the wrong reasons last season when a hazing incident led to their final four games being canceled and the subsequent decision to not renew coach Chris Kates’ contract. Walter Polky takes over a program that will be trying to rekindle its tradition of football success, starting with Friday’s home game against Dirigo.
