Football sign up to be held Friday

    A new league name doesn’t change the goals of the Knights of Houlton, who are readying for their fourth season of football.
    Sign ups for the Houlton Knights varsity, junior varsity and junior high teams will be held on Friday, May 29, at 6 p.m. in the Houlton High School gymnasium.
     All area residents in grades 7-12 are eligible to play. No experience is necessary, and volunteers are welcome to join as coaches, officials or referees. 
    The name switched from Aroostook Football League to the Maine State Eight Man Football League. The Knights in their third season had more than 35 players participating in football.
    “Those numbers put us more on par with what we had the first year when we fielded two teams,” said coach Brian Reynolds.
    This season, Reynolds is expecting to have more players tryout than last year, since 10 or 12 will be moving up from the junior high team. The Knights lose four players to graduation, but Reynolds said, “those will be huge holes to fill.” Graduating are Brandon McGuire from Houlton, Chris Steeves from Woodstock, N.B., along with Johnny Smith and Phil Brown from Hodgdon. 
    The Houlton Knights will be playing rivals Caribou and Madawaska, along with a new entry into the league from Fredericton, N.B. Last year, the team played opponents from Milo, Howland and Bradford/Corinth, but according to Reynolds, these teams have opted to proceed with plans to play 11-man football downstate.
    The Houlton Knights will be fielding a varsity, junior varsity and junior high team.
    “All the teams will play a full schedule with the varsity and junior varsity teams making a trip to Fredericton to play,” said Reynolds. “The junior high team will compete against teams from Madawaska and Caribou/Presque Isle.”
     The football preseason begins in June with optional Saturday afternoon conditioning, with regular season practices starting on August 1, to prepare for the season kickoff Jamboree in Caribou on September 5.
    The regular season schedule is as follows: September 12, Houlton Knights at Madawaska, 12 p.m.; September 19, Houlton Knights at Fredericton, N.B., 12 p.m.; September 26, Houlton Knights at Caribou Huskies, 1 p.m.; October 3, Madawaska at Houlton Knights, 5 p.m.; October 10, Fredericton at Houlton Knights, 5 p.m.; October 17, Caribou at Houlton Knights, 5 p.m.
    The playoff schedule is set up as follows: October 24, fourth seed at first seed, 1 p.m.; third seed at second seed, 1 p.m. with the losing teams play a consolation game at 12 p.m. and the winners playing for the title at 2:30 p.m. on October 31.
    For more information, call Reynolds at 694-1871.