Bangor High School football’s opponent this week will travel three hours and cross state lines to take on the Rams. And they’re happy to do it.
For the third straight season, Bangor and Winnacunnet High School of Hampden, New Hampshire, will face off on the football field. The Warriors will be making the nearly 200-mile drive this year, visiting Bangor’s Cameron Stadium for a 6 p.m. game Friday night.
The unlikely interstate pairing is part of an experiment between Maine and New Hampshire football teams, which has pitted Class A schools in Maine against Granite State counterparts in an attempt to avoid bye weeks and ensure competitive matchups amid scheduling challenges.
The Maine Principals’ Association signed off on the cross-border battles in 2022, and the Bangor vs. Winnacunnet series launched in 2023. These games count toward season rankings for the Maine teams but are essentially treated as exhibition games in New Hampshire football, except in the unlikely event of a tie-breaker scenario in the standings across the border.
While the outcome of the two previous games haven’t gone Winnacunnet’s way, head coach Ryan Francoeur said the matchups with Bangor have provided a good opportunity for his team to come together, especially in years like this one when they are making the trip to Bangor.
“It’s been a nice team building experience for our guys to have a road trip as a team, you know, get the coach bus, watch a couple movies on the way up,” Francoeur said.
The games between the two programs have been competitive, especially the 28-27 comeback win for Bangor a year ago.
“I think it’s a great experience for our program, and they’re a very good football program,” said Bangor head coach Dave Morris. “They’re well coached. They’ve had some great players, and I think both times we played them, particularly last year, was a great challenge.”
Bangor enters Friday night’s game at 4-2 on the season, and Winnacunnet is 5-1.
Francoeur called Bangor’s Cameron Stadium “absolutely beautiful” and said his team is looking forward to the return visit.
“I know Bangor’s 4-2 and it looks like they’re having a really strong year,” Francoeur said. “They look like a really good team on film, we’re having a really strong year this year as well, so it’ll be a good kind of match up to see where we lie between state lines.”
This could also be the third and final year of the matchup, with Francoeur noting that New Hampshire football could be on the verge of a realignment that might remove the need for mixing Maine teams into their schedule. But for now, both coaches are happy for the chance to continue this nascent rivalry as long as it works in the schedule.
“We’re very happy with what we’ve made out of the experience,” Francoeur said. “It’s been a nice time, doing this with Bangor.”
He called the Rams team a “classy program” with “classy coaches” and said his program would be willing to continue the new tradition if it works in the schedule moving forward. Morris shared similar sentiments about Winnacunnet about New Hampshire high school football in general.
“The way in which they conduct their businesses as far as state high school football goes, we have a great deal of respect for that. So yeah, I think it’s a healthy rival kind of what we’ve developed in the last couple of years,” Morris said. “But we have a great deal of respect for Winnacunnet and New Hampshire football.”
And while both coaches try to approach these matchups just like any other game, they also acknowledge that the cross-border nature brings a new element to the contest.
“I don’t think you’re a competitive person if you’re not thinking about that a little bit,” Francoeur said. “We talked to the team this week — and not just about our performance on the field, but how we carry ourselves, and to play with class and play hard between the lines.”
While Morris said his Rams are looking to represent Bangor well every game, not just against a team from out-of-state, he thinks that any Maine team will have some excitement about the opportunity provided by these games against New Hampshire teams.
“I think there’s kind of a Maine pride there,” Morris said. “I think it’s healthy that you have that, but it’s not something that we spend a great deal of time on. But I think our kids are excited about it.”
