By Travis Lazarczyk

Copyright centralmaine

BANGOR — When John Hersom, Lawrence’s head football coach, walked through the handshake line following his team’s game Friday night against Bangor, everyone he met got a firm handshake and a look in the eyes.

Everyone except one of Bangor’s assistant coaches. Jack Hersom, John’s son, got a handshake and a subtle pat on the right shoulder.

Playing Bangor these days, with Jack on the opposite sideline instead of running his offense as the Bulldogs’ quarterback, makes for a long week for Hersom, who has coached Lawrence for two decades.

“It’s not something that I really look forward to,” Hersom said, moments after greeting two of his grandchildren, Jack’s young sons, each decked out in Bangor maroon. “(Jack) puts a lot into what he does. I know we have to be quiet ourselves, between Jack and I, and just get our work done.”

From Jack’s point of view, playing against his father and the team he helped lead to a state title in 2006 as a junior, and where he won the Fitzpatrick Trophy in 2007 as the state’s top senior player, is no thrill ride either.

“We didn’t talk this week, to be honest with you. We’ll touch base after things settle and get back into normal stuff,” Jack said after his Rams took a dominating 42-0 win at Cameron Stadium. “We’ve done it for a few years now, so we’re kind of used to it. We try to approach it like it’s any other game.”

It’s not any other game, though. Family ties prevent that, as does the history between the teams. For a short stretch, from 2005 through 2012, Lawrence vs. Bangor was one of the most intense rivalries in the state.

They met 11 times over that stretch of eight seasons, including three playoff games. While Lawrence won 10 of those games, the rivalry rarely felt one-sided. Eight of the games were decided by fewer than two touchdowns, and trust me, that’s the hallmark of a close Maine high school football game in this era of blowouts and running clocks.

These teams played a 3-0 game in 2006, won by Lawrence, that was more exciting than a high-scoring shootout. They played each other in three Pine Tree Conference championship games.

“You always knew what you were going to get. That was the thing about playing Bangor. Playing at Lawrence, it was always a hard-fought game,” Jack Hersom said.

Bangor and Lawrence were never traditional rivals. Lawrence had a grudge match with Winslow for years, then Waterville. Skowhegan and Mt. Blue were also among the Bulldogs’ biggest foes in the old Pine Tree Conference. Bangor had Brewer, just across the Penobscot River.

What made the Bangor-Lawrence rivalry big during that run that began 20 years ago was the stakes. They always seemed to be high. Between 2006 and 2012, which was the final season of three classes in Maine high school football, either Lawrence or Bangor represented the region in six out of seven Class A state championship game. Each won one title, Bangor in 2001 and Lawrence in 2006.

Between 1987 and 2012, those were the only two Class A Gold Balls won by teams from the East.

“Those were some good, tough rivalry games with Bangor,” John Hersom said, but he wasn’t interested in reminiscing. He had a beat-up team that needed to regroup and get ready for next week’s game against Deering.

After the MPA expanded high school football to four classes in 2013. Bangor remained in Class A, an island a hundred miles from its nearest competition. Lawrence was slotted in Class B.

From 2013 through 2021, those teams never met in the regular season. There were a few preseason games, but those are full contact practices with whistles and flags. They’re not the stuff of rivalries.

In 2022, when teams started scheduling nonconference games across class lines, the rivalry was renewed. Lawrence won that year, 58-6. Since then, the Rams have reeled off three wins in a row.

Jack Hersom was pleased his team got the win, especially coming off last week’s 42-7 loss at Thornton Academy. He pointed at Lawrence players leaving the field.

“I think they’re going to have a good rest of the season,” he said.

The game over, Jack Hersom could put rivalries aside and talk to his dad.