The final day of the football season has come and all but one team are in the top-two seeds in their respective classes, with Lisbon entering the Class D final as the number-three seed.
Adam Robinson has watched hours and hours of football and is ready to make one last slate of predictions to end the fantastic football season the state of Maine had in 2022.
Class A: No. 2 Thornton Academy vs. No. 1. Oxford Hills
Prediction: Oxford Hills 30, Thornton Academy 18
Elias Soehren, the star Oxford Hills quarterback and last year’s Maine football Gatorade Player of the Year, is back and ready to win a state championship in his final season.
Since Soehren has been back at QB, the Vikings have gone 6-0 and have had an average winning margin of 34.7 points per game. Last week in the Class A semifinal, Oxford Hills shutout Bonny Eagle 36-0.
The Vikings are a wrecking crew, thanks to players such as Teigan Pelletier, Jake Carson and Tanner Bickford. Oxford Hills can attack from all angles like it did when it beat Thornton Academy in Week 2, 25-20, when three different players scored.
On Saturday, Oxford Hills will finish its undefeated season and will avenge its loss to the Trojans in last year’s Class A final.
Class B: No. 2 Skowhegan vs. No. 1 Portland
Prediction: Skowhegan 30, Portland 24
Skowhegan, outside of two losses to Thornton Academy and Windham, has earned plenty of commanding victories over the season.
Adam Savage at quarterback can throw and run well. Savage scored four touchdowns in Skowhegan’s come-from-behind win against Falmouth in the Class B North final (28-20).
In the week before, Savage totaled 462 yards of offense with seven touchdowns.
He can do it all, the Skowhegan defense is strong and stifled Falmouth’s running game, and I expect the River Hawks to take home the Class B title Saturday night.
Class C: No. 1 Leavitt vs. No. 1 Medomak Valley
Prediction: Leavitt 45, Medomak Valley 8
Leavitt quarterback Noah Carpenter is just a junior but could possibly be the best quarterback in the state.
Carpenter accounted for four total touchdowns in the first half against Cape Elizabeth in the Hornets’ 43-0 victory in the Class C South final.
The junior has a variety of weapons to throw to or hand the ball off to, including Dayton Calder, Sawyer Hathaway and Brett Coburn. When they are covered, Carpenter can run by defenders and lay punishing hits to gain a few extra yards.
Leavitt will have to stop Hayden Staples and Medomak’s powerful run game, but I believe Leavitt will control the game and earn the Class C championship.
Class D: No. 1 Foxcroft Academy vs. No. 3 Lisbon/St. Dom’s
Prediction: Foxcroft 35, Lisbon 22
Caden Crocker got injured in the regular season matchup between the Ponies and the Greyhounds and Lisbon was able to hold possession for the majority of the game and won, 14-13, in Week 3.
Crocker is back and Foxcroft looks to be playing its best football when it counts.
Last week, the Ponies defeated No. 4 Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale 32-0 in the Class D semifinal after beating them by just one point in the season opener.
Lisbon quarterback Jimmy Fitzpatrick is a dual-threat quarterback and definitely has control of the offense, but taking this Foxcroft team down will take a lot of effective possessions, just like in Week 3.