It’s unofficially official. This will be Gary Parlin’s final season as head football coach at Mt. Blue High School.
“I haven’t put in my resignation or anything,” Parlin said, “but that’s the plan.”
Earlier this season, Parlin told his team that this would be his last season. He plans on retiring from both coaching and teaching after this school year.
“I’ve been doing it for 35 years. I really think our program is in a strong position,” Parlin said. “It’s probably time.”
After he earned his 100th career win, in Week 2 of the 2012 season, Parlin foreshadowed his retirement, saying at the time he planned on coaching three more seasons after the 2010 season was over.
This is Parlin’s 21st season as the Cougars’ head coach. Known for introducing the spread offense to Maine high school football in the 1990s, Parlin currently has 129 wins, two championship game appearances and one state title — won last season when the Cougars were the only undefeated team in the state.
Parlin is second in career wins at Mt. Blue, behind his predecessor, Ray Caldwell. If he could just coach on Friday nights, he would continue, Parlin said, but part of the fun of the job is working with students all day in school, too.
“The best part of coaching is, I have interactions with these guys all day long,” Parlin said.
The Cougars (3-3) play at Brewer on Friday.
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Messalonskee became the first team to beat Brunswick this season by playing strong defense. Entering the game, Brunswick averaged 47 points per game, but Messalonskee prevented the Dragons from reeling off big plays in the 21-14 overtime win.
“We did some things with our front prior to Brunswick snapping the ball, and I think it worked to confuse them a little,” Messalonskee head coach Brad Bishop said.
Bishop said linebackers Dylan Bragg and Robert Schlosser played well.
“Our linebackers played a much better game,” Bishop said. “They’re seniors, but they don’t have a lot of varsity experience.”
Offensively, Messalonskee expected the play action pass would be an important part of the game plan. Once the game started, though, it was apparent the Eagles were winning the battle at the line of scrimmage. The Eagles ran for 260 yards.
“We really moved them off the ball,” Bishop said. “We held the ball for long stretches of time.”
Messalonskee (3-3) plays at Hampden (4-2) on Friday.
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Bonny Eagle beat Massabesic 47-14 and, with the win, Scots’ coach Kevin Cooper joined his father Pete Cooper in the 100 win club.
A Lawrence High grad, Kevin played for his father, winning state titles in 1983 and 1984. Before coaching at Lawrence, Pete Cooper coached at Madison. Kevin led Bonny Eagle to Class A state titles in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008.
“I’m awful proud of him. He’s done a great job down there,” Pete Cooper said of his son. “He really built that program.”
Kevin Cooper built the Bonny Eagle football program from scratch, making a school known for soccer into a football powerhouse.
“When he told me he was applying for the Bonny Eagles job, I thought he was crazy,” Pete Cooper said.
Pete and Kevin Cooper join an exclusive club. As far as Pete could recall, the only other father-son coaching duo to win 100 games each are Lawrence “Doc” Hersom, who won three state titles at Edward Little in the 1970s, and John Hersom, who won the 2006 Class A title at Lawrence and also coached Messalonskee.
The Scots, now 6-0, take on Thornton (4-2) this week.
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In an 0-6 season, a bright spot for Madison has been the play of sophomore quarterback Chase Malloy, who is starting in place of injured Cody Soucier.
On Saturday, Malloy completed 11 of 16 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns at Waterville. The previous week, he threw two touchdown passes against Winslow.
“He’s filled in very well for Saucier, who’s been out with an injury. Very smart. Makes great reads. He’s probably the smartest quarterback I’ve had here,” Madison coach Scott Franzose said. “He probably knows coverages better than I do. He makes good, quick decisions with his feet. We think he has a bright future here.”
Madison could end the season on a strong note. The Bulldogs have two home games remaining, against Camden Hills (1-5) and Hermon (0-6).
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Winslow took many of its starters out of its 60-6 win over Hermon on Saturday late in the second quarter. The Black Raiders move on to face 4-2 Foxcroft and 6-0 Waterville in their final regular-season games. With the lack of reps in Saturday’s game, the Black Raiders know practice this week is tremendously important.
“The week of practice will be very, very important,” Winslow coach Mike Siviski said after the win over Hermon, “just because we’ve hardly played our starters a complete game yet.”
The Black Raiders are 6-0 and have outscored their opponents, 260-63. Other than a 28-12 win over Belfast and a 21-0 win over Nokomis, which was scoreless at the half, Winslow’s starters have played sparingly in the second half of games this season. That certainly won’t be the case against Foxcroft and Waterville.
“(The Hermon) game is not the game we want to have before we play these big teams,” said Dylan Hapworth, who rushed a 52-yard touchdown on Winslow’s second play from scrimmage against Hermon. “(Practice) is really important. We need to get in better shape.”
In Foxcroft, Winslow faces a team that has lost two straight. It’s also a rematch of last season’s Class C state final, which Foxcroft won, 22-20. Last fall, Winslow won the Western C title and Foxcroft the Eastern C title. This fall, after realignment, the schools are in the same region.
“We definitely feel like we have some unfinished business against them,” Winslow quarterback Bobby Chenard said.
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Around the state: In Friday’s 61-0 win over Mountain Valley, Leavitt extended its shutout streak to 18 quarters . The Hornets (6-0), have outscored their opponents 237-0 over their last four games… Cheverus’ 52-7 win over Thornton on Saturday was a statement to the rest of Class A that the Stags are the team to beat again this season. After winning back-to-back state titles in 2010 and 2011, Cheverus lost the West A regional final to Thornton last season. On Saturday, the Stags led the Trojans 42-7 at the half… You think the last couple weeks of your teams’ schedule are hard? Look at Bucksport. The Golden Bucks (6-0) close the regular season with back-to-back games against currently unbeaten opponents, MCI and Mattanawcook.
Sports Editor Scott Martin contributed to this report.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
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