Friday Night Quarterfinals

As the football playoffs kicked off, I headed to Gardiner for a B North quarterfinal between the Tigers and Messalonskee and despite the warmer weather, fall was definitely in the air.

Considering their close game in the regular season and Gardiner's win over Oceanside last week, the consensus was this could go either way. Varsity Maine was slightly tilted in Messo's favor and the Model had Messo by 1.9.

But the game was all Messalonskee. They controlled the game and when they weren't in control, they were converting on 3rd and long and even managed to bait Gardiner into jumping offsides on 4th and short, which led to this:

If only the coaches had thought of that! What an innovative concept they should consider. Maybe they could also just run the plays that lead to positive yardage or only dial up the blitzes that will get to the quarterback. If only the coaches would try that. Some days you long for the COVID season with no crowds.

The game to go to, without a doubt, was Houlton and Orono.

Fifty Six to Fifty.

That sounds like an absolute banger. Put it on ESPN classic right now. Or WHOU Classic.

Elsewhere:

And

I don't have the numbers, but Zeb Foster [basketball player] is having a hell of a year.

That'll give us updated Gold Ball Odds for Soccer, Field Hockey, and Football. Spoiler: Messo will be a pretty big underdog against Falmouth, as will everyone else.

Here's an updated tally of the Model's picks in the playoffs so far:

Football: 15-1 (93.8%)
Boys Soccer: 52-8 (86.7%)
Girls Soccer: 49-10 (83.1%)
Field Hockey: 27-1 (96.4%)

Running pretty hot.

A Bangor player who's had a few concussions has taken a proactive step to ensure he can help future football players after he's gone.

Bangor High football player will donate brain for concussion research

Fionn Parker-Cummings suffered concussions while playing football, and hopes his experience can help contribute to sports medicine.

Bangor Daily NewsLarry Mahoney

For a high schooler to have this sort of awareness and empathy is so encouraging.

In the Celtics' game last night, Grant Williams didn't exactly make people wish he was still in Boston.

We'll always have that Game 7.

The long-awaited college basketball debut of Cooper Flagg (against Maine!) is Monday.

UMaine men’s basketball opener will be Cooper Flagg’s Duke debut

UMaine’s Athletics Department will be compensated $90,000 by Duke for playing the “guaranteed” game versus the nation’s top talent on the road.

Bangor Daily NewsSam Canfield

Game of the Day

The soccer and field hockey schedule today is loaded with fantastic matchups. I'll be at the double-header at Medomak Valley, but Scarborough @ Falmouth looks like it could be an absolute classic. The Model has Falmouth as a very slight favorite, partly because they won the regular season matchup back in September. Since then, Scarborough has gone 8-0-1.

On the girl's side, C South is looking great, with the top 2 games being the semifinals of #2 Hall-Dale vs. #3 NYA [82.8 Stax Index] and #1 Maranacook vs. #4 Traip [82.6 Stax Index].

If you're further south, #3 Freeport visits #2 Cape Elizabeth. Cape won the matchup in September, 2-1, and they played to a 0-0 draw at the end of the year. Cape is favored by just under a goal.

The Model's picks for the rest of today's games are after the jump.