Games you can't miss this season

There are good high school football games in central Maine every weekend. You just need to know where to find them. Here’s a week by week look at the regular season, and I’ve taken all the guesswork out of it.

Week 1: Mt. Blue at Messalonskee, Friday; Skowhegan at Bangor. Saturday. Mt. Blue and Messalonskee should both be improved this season. The problem is, they play in the same division with Skowhegan, Lawrence and Bangor, three of the top teams in Class A. Both the Cougars and the Eagles need this win in the first week.
On Saturday, the winner of the Skowhegan/Bangor game could be considered the early favorite in the Pine Tree Conference.

Week 2: Edward Little at Lawrence. Lawrence head coach John Hersom is a graduate of Edward Little. Both these teams should be in the mix in the PTC A.

Week 3: Skowhegan at Lewiston. Like Week 2, this is a tough crossover game in the PTC A.

Week 4: Livermore at Winthrop. By this time, we’ll see if a revamped Winthrop team is making a move to go deep in the playoffs.

Week 5: Lawrence at Skowhegan, Friday; Waterville at Leavitt, Saturday. Skowhegan and Lawrence were both undefeated when they met in Week 7 of the regular season last year. Lawrence won that game, but the Indians took the rematch in the playoffs. This game will be important to playoff seeding.
On Saturday, Waterville and Leavitt meet in a game that could have playoff implications in the PTC B. Waterville and Leavitt have the talent to end up in the top half of the conference, but it doesn’t always work out that way.

Week 6: Skowhegan at Edward Little. This is the third and final crossover week for the PTC A. It wouldn’t be a shock if this game was between division leaders. It’s also a rematch of last season’s conference championship game, won by Skowhegan.

Week 7: Lawrence at Bangor. Last season Lawrence and Skowhegan were both undefeated when they met in Week 7. It’s possible that could happen when the Bulldogs and Rams play this week, if they both get by the Indians earlier in the season.

Week 8: Pick a rivalry game, there’s plenty. Lawrence at Messalonskee, Skowhegan at Mt. Blue, or Oak Hill at Maranacook on Friday. On Saturday, Winslow is at Waterville in the Battle of the Bridge.