The Lawrence football team learned a lot about itself after a hard-fought yet sloppy 20-10 victory over Cony in the Pine Tree Conference Class A championship game last Saturday.

“We learned about execution and how to focus,” Lawrence coach John Hersom said. “Cony played inspired football the whole game, but we learned we need to pay attention to all the little details.”

The Bulldogs (11-0), said senior captain Anthony Sementelli after practice Monday, also learned something else.

“We’re beatable,” he said. “We won the game but it wasn’t even close to our best game. We know we have a lot of stuff to work on, which is good. We want to peak this week.”

The Bulldogs will have to for a shot to upend potent Thornton (10-1) in the Class A state title game Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland. The time of the game will be determined this morning.

“We had a wakeup call to Cony,” Lawrence captain Luke Lawrence said. “We’ll definitely come ready to play.”

Advertisement

And certainly prepared.

The Bulldogs have played on consecutive Saturdays in the PTC A playoffs. The team also has practiced a few days at Harold Alfond Stadium on the Colby College campus.

Furthermore, Lawrence is in its second consecutive Class A state title game, which players Monday said should help them this week.

“We’re used to playing under the lights so playing on these Saturdays helps,” Lawrence said. We’ve been practicing on turf for a couple of weeks, so we should be used to it now.”

Added quarterback/safety Spencer Carey: “Being in the second year, we are better prepared for it.”

Lawrence hopes to practice at Colby today and Wednesday.

Advertisement

• • •

Mt. Blue (11-0) will play for a state championship for the first time since it lost to Bonny Eagle in the 2005 Class A game.

Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin said he learned a lot from that experience.

“In 2005, we changed a lot of things,” he said. “We were able to go down to Fitzpatrick Stadium and practice on that field a week before the game. We just changed a lot of our routine. We’re going to be more consistent this time.”

The Cougars will practice today at Kents Hill to familiarize themselves with a turf field. It will be the lone practice of the week on turf.

“We thought it would be a good day to go over there,” he said. “We’ll work on some offense, defense and special teams. But we want to make this as regular a week as we can.”

Advertisement

Playing on turf isn’t the only challenge facing the Cougars.

“We’re not a Saturday team at all,” Parlin added. “The one game we did play on Saturday (at Mt. Blue on Oct. 20) was a Friday decision to change because of the weather.”

• • •

Winslow had plenty of objectives this season.

One of the biggest?

“We wanted to play when it was dark and cold,” Winslow coach Mike Siviski said, “and it’s dark and cold.”

Advertisement

The Black Raiders will play Foxcroft in the Class C state title game Saturday. It’s Winslow’s first appearance in a state game in six years.

Siviski said the Ponies present quite a few challenges.

“They present a real challenge to our defense and our offense,” he said. “Their skill level is very, very high.”

The Black Raiders, like Mt. Blue and Lawrence, are trying to secure practice time on a turf field. Colby and Thomas College are possibilities.

“It’s a work in progress,” Siviski said. “The turf is quite different. We’ll see.”

• • •

Advertisement

Coaches scrambled on Sunday to swap game films with their counterparts.

Hersom and Thornton coach Kevin Kezal met early Sunday morning in Freeport to exchange film.

The two swapped tapes from every game they played this season.

“We agreed to do that,” Hersom said. “Most of the time coaches just swap their two most recent games.”

That’s what Parlin and Marshwood coach Alex Rotsko agreed to swap.

“We made the swap in Kittery and we traded just our last two playoff games,” Parlin said.

Advertisement

Siviski and Foxcroft coach Danny White also exchanged two films.

• • •

Around the state: Marshwood is the only team to win a state title in all three classes — and it did so in a four-year stretch. The Hawks won a Class C title in 1986, a Class B title in 1988 and an A title in 1989. … Foxcroft will play in its fifth Class C game in eight years. It’s 1-3 in its previous four appearances. … Thornton will play in its first Class A state title game since 1988, when it beat Lawrence 47-13.

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.