MADISON — The Bulldogs were not supposed to win this game. Even some of their players, Danny Moreshead said, had doubts.

In fairness, a young, sophomore-heavy team coming off a winless season with a first-year head coach isn’t the team you’d necessarily expect to claim a victory right off the bat. Yet that’s exactly what Moreshead’s Madison/Carrabec football team did Friday night when it traveled to Hampden Academy and earned a 16-14 win.

“We were underdogs, and I don’t think anyone really believed we could pull it off,” Moreshead said. “Even our guys, I don’t think some of them were so sure about themselves. This is the first time I think they truly understand that they are better than what they think.”

Defensively, Madison/Carrabec got a great effort from just about everyone as six players recorded one or more tackles for loss. Austin Hay had five tackles, 1 1/2 sacks and 2 1/2 tackles for loss from the Bulldogs, and Noah Lattin had a sack, 2 1/2 tackles for loss and an interception.

Lattin also aided Madison/Carrabec in the pass game as he caught six Quinn Cornforth passes for 56 yards. Cornforth completed 14 of his 24 total passes for 106 yards on the evening while adding 66 yards and both of the Bulldogs’ touchdowns on the ground.

“We were anticipating going with the run game, but Quinn had an unbelievable game passing the ball, and our receivers really stepped it up and were catching just about everything thrown to them,” Moreshead said. “As far as defense goes, we just did an awesome job swarming to the ball and making good tackles.”

The win, Madison/Carrabec’s first since a 25-21 victory over Waterville on Oct. 11, 2019, was certainly one for the Bulldogs to savor. It was also one of which those around the state were forced to take notice as it was televised on WABI in Somerset, Waldo, Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis and Washington counties.

“The stage was as big as possible going up against a large school with the game on TV, and that’s a lot of pressure thrown at us,” Moreshead. “Again, I don’t think anyone in the state thought we were going to win that game, but I think that put a chip on their shoulder and pushed them to work harder. … It’s a great feeling. I’m really happy for our kids.”

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It wasn’t the result he wanted to begin the season, but Friday’s loss was one that left Gardiner head coach Pat Munzing optimistic as he turned his attention to Week 2.

Gardiner opened the 2022 campaign with a 34-28 loss to Biddeford at Waterhouse Field. The culprit in the loss, Munzing said, was what he called “mistakes of the mind” — errors that he’s confident his Tigers can correct as the season unfolds. 

“After the game, we kind of talked in the end zone, and that was our focus: those small things that are things we can easily pick apart and clean up,” Munzing said. “We just had some things with alignments and different routes and patterns, and those are things we can go back and improve on.”

A Gardiner Area High School receiver is tackled by Oak Hill High School’s defense during a scrimmage Aug. 22 in Wales. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Some of Gardiner’s alignment issues came as the team was missing Jake Ramsey, the team’s top offensive tackle, against a Biddeford team priding itself on speed. Another key mistake came on a punt from the home team that a Gardiner player inadvertently touched, resulting in a Biddeford recovery that led to the go-ahead touchdown on the ensuing drive.

Nevertheless, Gardiner remained in the game, even after Biddeford scored another touchdown to make the score 34-22. The visitors quickly drove back down the field to cut the deficit back to one score, and although his team failed to recover the ensuing onside kick, the fight Gardiner showed left Munzing energized.

“We gave ourselves a chance at the end with that onside kick with 10 seconds left to get one more shot at it, and that’s all you can ask for,” Munzing said. “We battled right to the very end and the last whistle, and that was really good to see.”

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Mt. Blue fans who came out to Caldwell Field on Friday night were treated to the Cougars running away with a 50-8 victory over Brunswick in the season opener, the first under new head coach Matt Friedman.

What fans may not have realized, at least initially, was that the Cougars used 22 different starters — 11 on offense, 11 on defense — to start the game. With programs struggling for numbers, the move is a rarity now in the state, particularly central Maine.

And it was a move purposely planned by Friedman.

The Mt. Blue football team takes the field prior to playing Brunswick on Friday night in Farmington. Dave Dyer/Kennebec Journal

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Friedman said after the win. “We’ve got the players this year to do it, and hopefully, we stay healthy. We’ve got a few players who are down right now. When we get those guys back, we’ll be able to continue to do that, because I feel like it really helps us stay fresh.”

The move certainly worked Friday night. Mt. Blue quarterback Jayden Meader was 13 of 17 passing — with two of his incompletions being drops — for 188 yards and three touchdowns. Charles Stevens also had five receptions for 90 yards and two touchdowns.

“I expect nothing less from this team,” Meader said. “We’ll be good. … We’ve just got to come out and execute, no matter who it is. I feel like we did that well.”

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Championship rematches in the regular season are rare; title rematches in Week 1 are rarer still. Yet Class D punts the North-South split in favor of a statewide setup, and the schedule-makers took advantage by pitting champion Foxcroft against runner-up Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale in Friday’s season-opening rematch of the 2021 title game.

It was a sequel that didn’t disappoint. Again, Foxcroft prevailed, this time in the form of a 28-27 overtime win over Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale. The Ponies scored a touchdown and made the extra point to begin overtime, then stuffed the Ramblers’ 2-point attempt to win after the home team responded with a score of their own.

It would have been reasonable, perhaps, if a Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale team that had come so close to beating Foxcroft for the Gold Ball last year had revenge on its mind opening the season against the same team. Yet head coach Dave St. Hilaire said he told his team to not dwell on past history.

“It wasn’t a redemption thing,” St. Hilaire said following the game. “It was more, ‘Hey, we can’t get last year back, so this is your season; this is your team. Let’s go out and play like you want to play and set the tone for the season.’”

Staff reporters David Bailey and Dave Dyer contributed to this report.