So, the Gardiner Area High School football team Friday night won the 131st meeting with Cony 14-13 before an estimated crowd of 3,900 at Hoch Field.

The experiment of placing the Cony/Gardiner football game at the beginning of the season instead of the end was an unqualified success Friday night in Gardiner.

One thing we do at the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel is take a look each Sunday at how former central Maine high school players are faring in college athletics. Many New England schools still haven't posted their fall sports rosters, but there's no shortage of local athletes playing field hockey in college.

The 131st Gardiner-Cony game is Friday night, and each team will debut new quarterbacks.

Nobody knows the pressure Wade Morrill feels more than Morrill himself.

Just 27, Morrill will coach the Valley High School boy's basketball team next season. Morrill takes over for Dwight Littlefield, one of the winningest coaches in Maine high school basketball history. Littlefield won 471 games and six state championships in 31 years at Valley.

Morrill, a 1999 Valley graduate, played on the first two of Valley's six consecutive state championship teams. He coached the Cavaliers junior varsity team last season, and teaches in the school now.

The Friends of Gardiner Football reformed this year after a 10-year hiatus. The organization folded when Rob Munzing stepped down as coach in large part because a number of parents left and no one picked up the ball.

Will Ryan Gay and Shawn Keenan be able to repeat as golf champions?

Will the Waterville girls soccer team be as stingy defensively after allowing just four goals last season?

Can the Waterville field hockey team repeat as Class B champions?

Is Lawrence still the football team to beat in the Pine Tree Conference?

Is the Richmond boys soccer team better than it was last year when it won the Class D state title?

The Winthrop football team returns eight starters on an offense that put up nearly a 30 points a game last season.

The Messalonskee cross country teams are both extremely young, so it is only fitting their coach is young as well.

The defending Class B state champion Gardiner Tigers are back to work, and new head coach Jim Palmer likes what he sees so far, anyway.

For high school football fans, fall has officially arrived.
High school sports across the state opened practice today, many with double sessions, as they prepare for the upcoming fall sports season.

The number 4 jersey has taken on special meaning at Maine over the last few years. Free safety Aaron Dashiell wore the number and was a two-time All American in 1999 and 2000. Linebacker Stephen Cooper took on 4 and is now playing in the NFL for the San Diego Chargers.

Number 4 was passed on to defensive back Brandon McGowan, who plays for the Chicago Bears. Defensive back Daren Stone wore 4 and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons. Last season, linebacker John Wormuth, known as Johnny Football to the Black Bears, wore the magic number and was a team captain.

"Expectations rise if you're wearing number 4," head coach Jack Cosgrove said.

This year, number 4 belongs to junior linebacker Mark Masterson. The Williamstown, N.J. native knows the significance of the number.

"A lot of good players had number 4, so hopefully I can continue the tradition," Masterson, who had 31 tackles last season, said. "It's really an honor. You can't replace a Johnny Football."

The University of Maine began practicing for the upcoming season on Monday. A handful of players from the central Maine area are on the roster, and a few of them could see significant playing time this year.

Junior Jordan Stevens of Temple is listed as a first team defensive end for the Black Bears after playing linebacker last season.

Steven Shea of Corinna, a redshirt freshman, is pencilled in as the starting right tackle on offense.

Stevens's former teammate at Mt. Blue High School, John Moloney, is competing for the kicking job, while Augusta's Gabe Hinds is a redshirt freshman quarterback.

Don Clark of Winslow is a freshman offensive lineman on the roster.

The Black Bears open the season on Aug. 30 at the University of Iowa. Maine's first home game is Sept. 13 vs. Stony Brook.