ROCKPORT — After adding a last minute eighth football game to the schedule, the Camden Hills varsity football team is once again looking at only playing seven games this season.

In the afternoon hours of Wednesday, Sept. 11, Dirigo announced the district and school administrations decided to cancel the remainder of the team’s varsity season, in favor of possibly playing a junior varsity schedule instead, due to safety concerns of its limited, and continually shrinking, roster. 

Camden Hills, which cancelled its varsity season in 2015 for the same reasons, was slated to travel to Dirigo on Friday, Oct. 4 for the Windjammers’ fifth game of the regular season. 

Each varsity football team in the state is allowed eight regular season football games. 

The Windjammers had only been counting on playing seven games when preseason practices began in August as the Rockport-based school could not find an opponent to play the week of Sept. 6, the first week varsity teams in the state can play regular season contests. 

Camden Hills ultimately filled that open date with a road trip to Old Town, who had a late opening on its schedule when Orono High School opted to play a junior varsity schedule this season and not field a varsity team. 

The Windjammers entered the Old Town contest at a disadvantage as the Rockport school’s preseason scrimmage against Oceanside, slated for Aug. 30, was scratched due to student illnesses. 

Camden Hills ran past Old Town 40-21. 

As of publishing time, it is not clear if the Windjammers will be able to find a replacement opponent. 

Of the other six schools being impacted by Dirigo’s decision, the Windjammers are slated to play three of those schools (Spruce Mountain, Mountain Valley and Freeport) this season and have already played one of the impacted schools (Old Town). 

Dirigo’s lone game played this season was against Lake Region, who is on the Windjammers’ schedule. 

The only two schools being impacted by Dirigo’s decision not already slated to play Camden Hills are Oak Hill and Madison/Carrabec. 

Oak Hill and Madison/Carrabec are slated to play each other Oct. 4, the date Camden Hills now has open. 

This is not the first time the Camden Hills football team has had a team scratched from its regular season schedule.

In 2017, Traip Academy cancelled a mid-September contest against the Windjammers when Traip opted to scrap the remainder of its varsity season. 

Reach George Harvey and the sports department at: sports@penbaypilot.com.