Depending on the interest in golf or cross country, Richmond will field a team in those sports now and then, But the only real fall sport in this town of 3,000 or so residents along the Kennebec River is soccer.

Staff writers Travis Lazarczyk and Bill Stewart are back with another edition of Gridiron Gurus. This week they focus on the Pine Tree Conference Class B clash between Gardiner and Waterville.

As always, here is how I voted in this week's media poll. I heard you, Edward Little fans, and welcome the Red Eddies to the top 10.

1. Bonny Eagle
2. Lawrence
3. Deering
4. Thornton Academy
5. Skowhegan
6. Mountain Valley
7. Massabesic
8. Gardiner
9. Edward Little
10. Winthrop

A third of the way into the season, high school soccer races are taking shape around the state.

Zara Saydjari, a former field hockey star at Skowhegan, is now a sophomore starting at the University of Michigan, which is ranked 19th in the nation in Division I. Michigan's record is just 3-5, but the Wolverines have played a schedule as brutal as any you'll ever see.

Is there room for soccer in Gardiner? I'm not simply talking about fielding boys and girls teams, that's been going on for a long time. The question is, can Gardiner field successful soccer teams along with strong football and field hockey programs?

Oak Hill struggled against two of the best teams in the Pine Tree Conference's Class B division, Gardiner and Leavitt, in the first two weeks of the season.

In the first two weeks of the season, the Winthrop High School football team outscored its opponents 89-28.

In Week 1, the Ramblers started substituting in its second string in the second quarter of a 46-13 win over Traip.

In Week 2, Winthrop cruised to a 43-15 win over Yarmouth.

Week 3 against Jay was supposed to be a test. It was more like a pop quiz.

This week, I sat down with Moe McNally, the field hockey coach at Gardiner for the last 30 years. Moe's a great person to talk to about field hockey -- the senior all-star game is named after her -- but I also got a chance to talk to her about the changes in high school sports over the last 30 years.

Only five of the 26 Maine high school football games Friday night were decided by seven points or less. I was lucky enough to see one of those five, and Lawrence-Bangor really was a good one.

Sports writers Bill Stewart and Travis Lazarczyk return with another edition of Gridiron Gurus. This week they talk about matchups between Lawrence and Bangor; Lewiston and Cony; Gardiner and Hampden; and Winslow and Leavitt.

There are a few big games this weekend, starting with Lawrence at Bangor on Friday night.

The Bulldogs and the Rams have played for the PTC A title the last two season, with Lawrence winning each time. Lawrence hasn't lost to Bangor in since 2004, and is 5-0 against the Rams under coach John Hersom.

Also on Friday, Waterville plays at Mt. Desert Island. Waterville is 2-0, MDI is 1-1, and both teams have high expectations this season.

On Saturday night, Winslow plays at Leavitt. Both teams are 2-0. Leavitt boasts the top rushing attack in the league, and will be a tough early season test for the Black Raiders.

Following Wednesday's game between the Winthrop and Hall-Dale boys soccer teams in Farmingdale, players gathered at midfield after the traditional handshake.

The shots were 21 to one and the penalty corners were 14-0 against her team. That's what Cony grad Natalie Fecteau faced in her first collegiate start.

With a 7 1/2-1 1/2 win over Brewer on Wednesday, the Messalonskee golf team improved to 6-0. The Eagles returned every player from a team that went 10-0 last season, missing the state tournament by three strokes.

Arian Kumlangngam, or AK as Winslow coach Scott Wood calls her, is lighting it up for the Black Raiders. She scored three goals in Tuesday's 4-0 win at Erskine to bring her season total to seven goals in four games.

It was good and bad to be Jordin McGinnis in the Nokomis-Winslow field hockey game Tuesday afternoon. The sophomore forward scored the game-winning goal, but sat out the last 10 minutes after taking her lumps from a ball and a stick.

X-rays taken Monday on Maranacook Community High School tailback Pat Norwood's right ankle came back negative, Black Bears coach Kevin Norwood said.

Hailey Chadbourne is already considered one of the best field hockey players in the state. As a junior, she set the Gardiner field hockey record for points in a career and announced she would play at Division I Iowa.

In two games last week, Chadbourne has shown why people think so highly of her as a player.

The heat and the workload finally caught up to Belfast running back Willy Fogg on Saturday in Winslow.

Defending Class A champion Bonny Eagle is ranked fourth in the East, according to USA today.

The Scots, who improved to 2-0 with a 42-0 win over Windham on Friday, sit behind No. 1 Gateway of Monroeville, Penn., No. 2 Don Bosco of Ramsey, N.J., and No. 3 River Hill of Clarksville, Md.

Bonny Eagle plays at South Portland next week.

The Leavitt Area High School football team has a new motivational prop. A wheelbarrow.

Desmond Nutter stood in the middle of the field, the rain pelting the Messalonskee High School fullback.

Cony football coaches and fans seemed relatively happy with their team's 14-0 loss to Lawrence on Friday night in Augusta. Considering the Rams recently went through a 27-game losing streak, it's easy to understand why. At some point, though, expectations will have to rise. They did at Lawrence, which went through a down period not that long ago.

Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel football beat writers Travis Lazarczyk and Bill Stewart filmed another edition of Gridiron Gurus. This week they talk about matchups between Lawrence and Cony, Maranacook and Hampden, Skowhegan and Mt. Ararat, and more.

Here's how I voted in this week's Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel/Portland Press Herald media poll:

1. Bonny Eagle
2. Lawrence
3. Deering
4. Thornton Academy
5. Skowhegan
6. Mountain Valley
7. Bangor
8. Gardiner
9. Waterville
10. Winthrop

Be sure to check out the entire poll in Friday's paper.

Waterville knocked off Maranacook 3-0 on Wednesday in a rematch of last year's Class B state final. Waterville played all last season under the radar and peaked at the right time, but everyone is after the Purple Panthers this season.

Good news for Gardiner Area High School football fans: Forrest Chadwick is practicing and could be ready to play this weekend.

Cameron Omsberg played just eight game last season due to an injury, but stilled managed six goals and eight assists.

Waterville grad Kristin Tormollan has already earned the starting job in her freshman year at Franklin Pierce University, and she's off to a strong start.

The Maranacook Community High School football team hopes to get Pat Norwood back this week for its game at Hampden Academy (Friday, 7 p.m.).

Question Pat Norwood's judgment if you like, but it's tough to question the Maranacook senior's heart.

The big question mark surrounding Lawrence football coming into this season, if a team with one loss in two years can have a question mark at all, was the lack of experience in the offensive backfield.

Starting halfbacks Shawn Champagne and Devon Costigan, quarterback Jack Hersom and fullback Isaiah Underwood all graduated.

Mt. Blue quickly learned the Bulldogs' backfield is hardly a mess.

Six different players had at least one carry in the first half of Lawrence's 41-0 Friday night win. The Bulldogs first scoring drive went 78 yards, all on the ground, and the team ran up 236 yards in the first half while building a 34-0 lead.

Lawrence had nine runs of 10 yards or more in the first half. As quarterback Ben Violette becomes more comfortable in the passing game, the Lawrence offense will be as dangerous and balanced as it was last season.

The plan wasn't for Zach Farrington to be the place-kicker for the Winthrop High School football team. Kevin Hart filled that role last year and did a nice job.

A few leftovers from Friday night's Cony/Mt. Ararat football game, won 28-26 by host Mt. Ararat.

If you can't bring the game to your living room, bring the living room to the game.

And that's just what a group of Messalonskee High School students did Friday night.

Messalonskee High School students Cameron Ray, Mike Bouchard, Joe Dumont, Jenny Stanley and Leigh Field had the best seats in the house for the season-opening football game against Bangor.

The couch.

"Without a question it's the best seat," said Ray, 17, of Belgrade, from the comfort of a plaid couch that was perched just beyond the south end zone at Messalonskee High.

At 6:15 p.m. Friday night, Bouchard arrived at Ray's home in his Chevrolet S-10 pickup, and the two loaded the couch into the truck's bed.

From there, it was off to Oakland for the game against the Rams.

Mike Berube, 17, of Sidney also assisted lugging the couch down the hill to the field.

Nothing screams high school football like a bunch of students bringing a piece of a living room to a football field.

Bouchard and Dumont are 17-year-old seniors from Oakland. Stanley and Field are 14 and hail from Sidney.

No word on whether the couch returned home safely.

As promised, I'm offering a few predictions on the upcoming high school field hockey season. These are not by category, or in any particular order.

The high school football season kicks off tonight and we are trying something new.

Anyone else find it hard to believe the NFL is underway? Seriously, it seems like just yesterday that Eli Manning and the Giants were -- sigh, I can't go there. Not yet. Not now.

The high school football season starts this weekend, and with that comes our weekly media poll.

Here is how I voted this week.

1. Bonny Eagle
2. Lawrence
3. Deering
4. Skowhegan
5. Bangor
6. Mountain Valley
7. Gardiner
8. Thornton Academy
9. Foxcroft Academy
10. Waterville

The high school season starts Friday, so I'll be doing a pair of blogs over the next two days. Tomorrow, I'll share my predictions on the upcoming season. Today, it's a look at some of the top games over the next week.

It's been a tough week for the Oak Hill football team.