With the end of the Maine high school football regular season in sight, two local teams remain unbeaten in their 2025 campaigns so far.
The Hermon Hawks and John Bapst Crusaders are among the seven teams left undefeated statewide. Both teams are 6-0 with two regular season games remaining before the playoffs.
Hermon dispatched Brewer 36-0 on Friday night to remain atop its Class C North division, and John Bapst of Bangor overpowered Belfast 54-22 on Saturday night to keep its lead in Class D North.
The other teams holding on to unblemished records are Cony of Augusta in Class B North, Greely of Cumberland in Class C South, Thornton Academy of Saco and Bonny Eagle of Standish in Class A South, and small school 8-man team Old Orchard Beach.
Hermon is looking to defend its Class C North title from a year ago, when it went to the state championship for the first time before falling to Fryeburg Academy.
Hermon has gone from not even having a football program 15 years ago to a consistent contender in Class C North.
“This is one of the best places to play in the state,” head coach Kyle Gallant said after his team’s homecoming win two weeks ago. “If you haven’t been to Pottle Field on a Friday night, you’re missing out.”
John Bapst is heavy on senior leadership, including eight senior captains.
“We always say as coaches, you don’t have to be a captain to be a leader. I think our senior class embodies that,” John Bapst head coach Dan O’Connell said earlier in the season. “I think there’s eight captains because I think on any given day, any one of our seniors can lead the program in decision making — on or off the field — that will make us successful.”
Gallant was a standout player and later assistant coach under O’Connell at John Bapst before taking over the Hermon program.
John Bapst next faces Oak Hill High School of Wales on Saturday at Cameron Stadium in Bangor, with the Raiders bringing a 4-2 record into the 7 p.m. game.
Next up for Hermon is the 4-2 Nokomis Regional High School team from Newport, which will travel to Hermon on Friday for a 7 p.m. game at Pottle Field.
The Hawks and the Crusaders are the only Bangor-area teams left unbeaten this football season, but they aren’t the only ones near the top of the standings. The 4-2 Bangor Rams are currently sitting in second in their Class A North division, behind the 4-2 Portland Bulldogs who lead the standings based on their strength of schedule.
Bangor’s two losses came at the hands of Portland and Class A South leader Thornton.
The Rams took care of Windham 42-14 on Friday night and have a game against Winnacunnet High School from Hampton, New Hampshire, this Friday at 6 p.m. at Cameron Stadium.
Bangor rallied from a 27-14 fourth-quarter deficit to beat Winnacunnet 28-27 in New Hampshire last season as quarterback Kyle Johnson had touchdown runs of six and four yards and also ran for a game-winning two-point conversion with 41 seconds remaining.
