Consider this fact: Marshwood and Kennebunk have combined to represent the South region in the Class B state championship game 11 of the past 12 seasons.

Or this one: Kennebunk has won three straight games against Marshwood by stopping a 2-point conversion attempt, including last season’s regional semifinal.

Yes, Marshwood (4-2) at Kennebunk (5-1) is the southern Maine football game of the week.

Last week, Marshwood won a nail-biter at home on Thursday, beating Falmouth 33-28 on Brady Isabelle’s 86-yard touchdown catch with 1:22 to play. Marshwood is ranked third in Class B South, and if the Hawks stay there, they’d host a quarterfinal against the sixth-place finisher (Biddeford or Gorham).

Kennebunk, ranked seventh in the Varsity Maine poll and No. 1 in the Class B South Crabtree standings, suffered its first loss to a Class B South opponent during third-year coach Keith Noel’s tenure, getting shut out Saturday at Westbrook, 20-0. The Rams lead Westbrook (5-1) by two points in the Crabtree standings; the top two teams get a regional quarterfinal bye.

KEYS TO MARSHWOOD VICTORY

• Get some control over Kennebunk’s inside run game. “Our biggest issue the last few years has been their size and depth,” said Marshwood coach Alex Rotsko. “We just have a hard time stopping their power run game.” The Hawks have a small roster and eight two-way starters. It’s in their favor to be the team with the ball setting the tempo.

• Continue to make explosive plays on both sides of the ball. The Hawks have home-run hitters in wide receiver Brady Isabelle and running back Greg Castoras. The defense, featuring linemen Malachi Garrett, Ethan Reichert and Jack McManus, and Castoras as a heavy-hitting linebacker, repeatedly forced Falmouth QB Tres Walker into uncomfortable scrambles and had seven tackles for loss in the second half.

KEYS TO KENNEBUNK VICTORY

• Clean up special teams play. Both coaches cited special teams mistakes as major factors in their losses. Kennebunk had two botched punt snaps against Westbrook, handing possession over at its 20 and again inside its 40. The Blue Blazes took advantage both times to score touchdowns.

• Get a lead and then extend the lead. The past two seasons, Kennebunk has been the superior team in this matchup (Marshwood had that claim most often from 2012-21 while winning six state titles), but the Hawks have been able to take the Rams to the wire each time before Kennebunk pulled out the win. That seems like a playing-with-fire scenario in which the Rams would eventually get burned.

• Tidbit: This is the fifth straight season Kennebunk has hosted Marshwood in the regular season and the seventh consecutive meeting between the teams in Kennebunk. The Rams are 5-1 in that span, the only loss coming in a regional semifinal in 2021.

MARSHWOOD IMPACT PLAYERS

• Junior RB/LB Greg Castoras (58 carries, 649 yards, 6 TDs)

• Junior QB Michael Sbrizza (53 of 93 passing for 913 yards, 9 TDs)

• Senior WR/DB/K Brady Isabelle (30 catches, 513 yards, 6 TDs)

KENNEBUNK IMPACT PLAYERS

• Senior RB/LB Austin West (872 yards, 11 TDs rushing; two TD passes)

• Senior QB Sam Matthews (608 passing yards)

• Senior WR/DB Jaiden Homa (23 catches, 408 yards, 4 TDs)

LAST MEETING

Nov. 8, 2024: Kennebunk, 29-27 (OT) in B South semifinals

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

• “We could easily be 6-0 but we could just as easily be 1-5. It’s been that close, but I think that’s been the case up and down our league.” — Marshwood coach Alex Rotsko.

• “(Marshwood’s) backs all run hard. Their line plays hard. Maybe they only have 15 kids that get in the varsity game, but they’re playing hard to the end.” — Kennebunk coach Keith Noel