They’ve been on a collision course since Aug. 13 when football practices officially started.

Most observers felt the Bonny Eagle and Gorham High School football teams would be among the best in Western Maine Class A in the fall of 2007. Some thought they might meet in the final week of the regular season with the top seed on the line for the post-season playoffs. Still others figured there was a possibility both squads might be 7-0 when they finally faced off on Oct. 19. And no one who followed Maine’s high school football scene was surprised that all of these possible scenarios proved to be true as the Scots and Rams headed for their showdown.

The week before the game

Gorham is fresh off a 34-0 win against neighboring Westbrook when the players and coaches meet on Monday, Oct. 15. The Rams’ victory improves their season record to 7-0. Once school lets out, the weekly football routine begins.

The usual breakdown of game film and a lifting session in the weight room is what always awaits the Rams on Mondays – no matter the outcome of the previous game. “On Monday we go over film; on Tuesday we work on offense; and Wednesday is defense day,” said Gorham’s Ryan McMullen, explaining a typical week of practice.

But this typical week will be anything but typical. The regular season will end on Friday night and the opportunity exists to earn the top seed in the following week’s playoffs – provided the Rams can beat their newest gridiron rival, Bonny Eagle.

“We have been waiting to play this game all season. We have a lot of respect for Bonny Eagle and our players know that this will be a great test for us,” said Gorham football coach Dave Kilborn. “If we want to repeat as Western Maine champs and get the opportunity to play at Fitzpatrick Stadium, we must be able to get by our neighbors to the west. We enjoy playing Bonny Eagle. They are well coached and have a ton of guys that are very athletic.”

Coaches will always say their team needs to play the season “one game at a time.” But everyone affiliated with the Gorham and Bonny Eagle football programs has had Friday night circled on their calendars since the schedules were released.

“It’s always difficult when that game is in the back of everyone’s heads,” Kilborn admitted. “We were fortunate enough to have several ‘spread’ teams on our schedule toward the end of the season, and we used the opportunity to not only prepare for that week’s opponent, but also get more snaps against their own unique offense which will help us. We always look at our schedule and circle the big games. Bonny Eagle is always a big game for us.”

Just 10 miles down the road, the Bonny Eagle football squad is also beginning another week of lifting, meetings and practices. The Scots are also 7-0 having just knocked off a struggling Portland team. And while the junior varsity players compete in their usual Monday afternoon game, the varsity players start another week of multi-tasking that will include attending classes, finishing schoolwork and football, football, football.

“There is a definite difference (in intensity) this week. Rivalry games will do that and games against quality teams will do that,” said Bonny Eagle football coach Kevin Cooper. “We know that we have to prepare hard and then play very well in order to win this week. This brings a much deeper focus to practice.”

“We look forward to it,” Bonny Eagle’s Darren Lovely said about starting another week of preparation. “Sunday’s nice because it’s a day off and you rest your body, but come Monday, it’s kind of exciting because you’re wondering what’s the new game plan and how are we going to take care of business on Friday. Practice is kind of repetitive, but I think that’s why we’re so good at what we do.”

Though the weekly grind may seem boring to some, most of these young football players seem to revel in the comfortable consistency of it all – they know what to expect.

“We try to keep all weeks as similar as possible,” said Cooper. “We ask our players to really work hard to prepare both mentally and physically. That in itself is time consuming and very draining. I believe if we as coaches start changing things around, the focus becomes more on the change than the upcoming opponent.”

There’s good-natured joking in the Bonny Eagle weight room as players share stories while they lift weights in a crowded room across the hall from the gym. And yes, they’ve reached this point in the season because they understood that “one game at a time” concept.

“We certainly were not looking ahead during the Deering week. We respect Deering very much and had to play very well to beat them,” said Cooper, knowing that as the Gorham game neared, his players couldn’t help but look ahead a bit. “Last week, though, it was probably in the back of everyone’s mind, although I will say our players worked hard to prepare for Portland.”

Bonny Eagle’s players all agreed with their coach.

“Those first seven games have been preparing us for bigger things down the road and we’ve gotten a lot better throughout the season,” said Bonny Eagle lineman Kyle Wedge. “We’ve been looking forward to (the Gorham game) all season.”

John Onesti echoed Wedge’s sentiments. “We build up to these games,” said Onesti. “We always want to beat Gorham – any chance we get. If we beat them, it’s just that much more that we prove to everybody.”

“We always look forward to the Gorham game,” said Brandon Keene of Bonny Eagle. “The towns are so close, it’s a really big rivalry. Everybody says that they’re really good. Deering was a big test, but this one’s even bigger for us.”

“As the season goes on, the games get a lot bigger. We had the majority of our easier games toward the start of the season,” Keene continued, recalling previous meetings with Gorham. “For the past couple years, the only team that’s been able to stop Gorham’s offense is us. It’s definitely going to be a good game.”

“We listen to coach as best we can and we try to get our assignments down so we know what to do,” Darren Lovely said matter-of-factly. “And on Friday night, we’ll get on the bus and then get down to business.”

The Day Before the Game

There are no more days to cross off in the date book with the kickoff now just a little more than 24 hours away – one last day of practice and one final tune-up before taking on the only other unbeaten team in Western Maine Class A.

Both teams will finalize their preparations in the final full practices of the week and both teams will then be treated to the customary Thursday night dinner in their cafeterias. Moms, dads and athletic boosters prepare and serve hearty and filling dishes for the always hungry players on each team.

It’s not long before the food on their plates disappears and the talk at the tables turns to football and the following night’s opponent.

“We have great respect for Bonny Eagle and for everybody we play against,” said Gorham senior Justin Villacci. “Our skill players and their skill players – it’s an even match-up.”

“You just want to get through the week and get to the game,” said Gorham senior Evan Nash. “We’re just anxious, not nervous. We can’t wait to get out there.”

The home team has always prevailed in this short, but already intense series. Gorham won at home in the first Class A meeting between the teams in 2005. Bonny Eagle then returned the favor with a playoff victory in Standish one week later. And Bonny Eagle won the regular season game at home last year.

“They’ve never won here and we’ve never won there,” said Nash. “And we haven’t lost on our field in Class A. We’d like to keep that going.”

The winner of the game will get home field advantage throughout the regional playoffs. “That’s huge for both of us,” said Villacci. “Chances are the loser will have a tougher time getting to states.”

Not surprisingly, football was also the hot topic at the Bonny Eagle dinner.

“We take every team we play seriously. Every week we come out and play every team as if they’re the best team in the state,” said Darren Lovely about himself and his Bonny Eagle teammates. “We know they’re a good team; we know we’re good team. We’re going to give our best – 100 percent effort – win or lose.”

“It’s one of the biggest games of the year that we’re going to play,” said senior Ricky Hoyt of Bonny Eagle.

Game Day-or is it?

The X factor when it comes to any outdoor sporting event is the weather. The morning forecast on Friday, Oct. 19, was for a mostly cloudy day with increasing wind and showers. Conditions deteriorated as the day went on and by mid-afternoon a wet and heavy blanket of fog had descended on the football field at Gorham.

Gorham athletic director Gerry Durgin was in contact with Bonny Eagle athletic director Mike LeGage and the two agreed to postpone the game until Saturday evening at 7 p.m. The abysmal weather would likely have kept many fans at home and the playing conditions at game time would certainly have influenced the outcome. In fairness to those players and fans, the highly anticipated battle would have to wait one more day.

“We had a quick walk-through for about an hour on Friday night,” said Kilborn explaining what his team did upon hearing the news. “Most of the coaches then scouted some (possible) future opponents that we had not seen yet (at games that had not been postponed).”

“We did not do anything after the game was postponed on Friday,” said Cooper about the sudden change in plans. “We heard about the decision about a half hour before we were supposed to board the bus, so we did not really have time to plan anything. We met with the team and then they went home.”

One day later-it’s Game Day

The fog lifted, the rain stopped and the sun did its best to push through the clouds. A day usually spent recuperating from a game the night before was now spent watching the clock and wishing it were time to suit up and play. Bonny Eagle’s players got a taste of what was to come just after waking up.

“We brought the team in for a one-hour walk through on Saturday morning,” said Cooper. “Normally that is not our procedure for a Saturday game, but we felt since we did not do anything football-related with the team on Friday, we didn’t want to go a full 48 hours without reviewing our game plan.”

Many Gorham players went to see friends and classmates play in other fall sports tournaments the Rams were involved in.

“There was a lot going on at Gorham High School on Saturday,” said Kilborn. “I know that a lot of my players spent some time watching our other teams in (playoff) action. We officially started our defensive meetings at 5:20, but the guys were all there at 4 p.m.”

All of the guys on both of the teams were where they needed to be by mid-afternoon on Saturday. There was plenty of music in the Gorham locker room as ankles got taped and the maroon home game jerseys were pulled over shoulder pads.

The Scots boarded their bus just before 5 p.m. and arrived at Gorham looking focused and purposeful. And the teams soon shared the playing field going through the customary pregame drills. Players occasionally eyed one another and a huge turnout of fans circled the grass stage.

Two touchdown passes from Bonny Eagle junior quarterback Nate Doehler to senior wide receiver John Onesti and a touchdown run by Doehler were more than enough to offset the one touchdown run by Gorham senior tailback Justin Villacci and the Scots secured a 21-8 win and move to 8-0. (See accompanying game story)

Cooper said he didn’t think the delay played a factor in the final result.

“I don’t think the postponement hurt either team. I can say for sure that it did not hurt us,” said Cooper. “We went through (the same thing) the week before our Portland game. We talked to our players about good teams being able to handle anything that is thrown their way. I think our players did that on Saturday.”

The Next Game

Bruises have been iced and nagging injuries continue to be endured by players from both teams as they prepare for their playoff opponents. Getting to the quarterfinal round of play for these two talented and skilled teams was a given. Finding a way to get home field advantage for as long as possible during the postseason and getting a suitable matchup in the first round of the playoffs required lots of work – eight weeks worth.

Bonny Eagle’s win over Gorham gives the Scots the top seed in the West A tournament. The Rams’ only loss of the season leaves them at 7-1, but they plummet to fourth in the standings based on the Crabtree Index, which basically measures the quality of your opponents during the regular season. Thornton and Massabesic each finish with the same 7-1 records, but the Trojans and the Mustangs get the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds because their opponents’ winning percentage was higher than Gorham’s.

All that being said and with the dust still settling, Gorham opens the playoffs with a home game against a No. 5 Deering team whose only losses were to Bonny Eagle and the Rams themselves. Bonny Eagle opens the playoffs with a home game against No. 8 seed Kennebunk (4-4). The winners of those two games will meet in the regional semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 3, and another possible Bonny Eagle and Gorham showdown looms on the horizon.

“We have a lot to learn from our game with Bonny Eagle,” said Kilborn. “They are one of the best teams in the state and we feel we belong on the same field and we look forward to the opportunity to play them again. I hope they (the Gorham players) do not forget about that loss – you do learn a lot (from a loss) and we need to remember the feeling so it doesn’t happen again.”

“I think the players will have forgotten about the win by today (Monday),” Cooper said about his still undefeated squad. “We cannot afford to rest on our laurels. One poor performance and you’re turning in your gear and making plans for the off-season.

“I think it will help us in the fact that we beat Gorham in a battle of unbeatens last year and still lost in the semifinals while Gorham made it to the state game. The only thing the win on Saturday gives us is the right to play our playoff games at home – not anything else.”

Bonny Eagle knows each team has to prove itself each and every week during the playoffs. Last year, the Scots were upset in the regional semifinals by a determined Deering team they had already beaten in the regular season.

“This year’s team is different than last year’s. That is the thing about high school football. There is a new set of team leaders and key players every year and because of that, what you did last year only has a minimal effect the following year,” emphasized Cooper. “As far as this year’s playoffs: I think the only thing we learned from last year is how quickly everything can be over. You can go from being the No. 1 team to having your season end in a heartbeat. We obviously don’t want that to happen again.”