A gorilla ran out onto the field during Edward Little’s win over Bangor on Friday night.

Here are a few more things about the first week of high school football:

Winthrop/Monmouth had the biggest first week in the tri-county area, if not the state. The Ramblers opened the season on the road against Lisbon. The two teams are the favorites to end Oak Hill’s reign over Class D South, and possibly end the Raiders’ three-year stranglehold on the state championship.

Saturday’s season-opener was supposed to be a slugfest. Instead, Winthrop/Monmouth landed a few early haymakers, led 21-6 at halftime, and never looked back en route to a 31-12 victory.

It was the stunner of the week, not because the Ramblers won, but because they won so convincingly.

However, as far as the D South race goes, Oak Hill still has something to say.

The Raiders started their season with a 38-18 win over Maranacook on Saturday while displaying big-play capabilities that they weren’t supposed to have this season.

The victory was far from perfect for Oak Hill, especially on the defense, which gave up too many big plays to the Black Bears. That could mean one of two things: either the Raiders are an imperfect team, or they have room to grow and will be a better team as the season goes along.

For what it’s worth, Oak Hill is sticking to its story of being hunters, not the hunted.

“A lot of the teams that we’re going to play, we’re underdogs,” Raiders senior Steven Gilbert said after Saturday’s win.

Vikings hang in, Eddies win

Oxford Hills/Buckfield and Edward Little made statements this week in Class A North.

The Vikings gave regional power Cheverus a fight before falling 33-18. The Red Eddies, meanwhile, defeated Bangor 18-8. That win could put Edward Little only one win away from unofficially clinching a postseason berth , since all but one A North team move on to the regional playoffs.

It has only been one week, but A North is looking a bit more wide open than was expected. Not only did Cheverus struggle to put Oxford Hills/Buckfield away, but Portland, last year’s Class A runner-up, fell to Scarborough 14-13.

Individual standouts

• Mountain Valley’s Kyle Farrar scored five touchdowns in the Falcons’ 63-6 win over Gray-New Gloucester on Friday.

• Leavitt slot Caleb Bowen had 90 yards rushing on seven carries and caught three passes for 74 yards and a touchdown in the Hornets’ 27-21 loss to Westbrook on Friday.

• Ramblers quarterback Matt Ingram completed 8 of 14 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns and ran in another score from 38 yards out.

• Oak Hill quarterback Matthew Strout, making his first varsity start, led the Raiders in rushing with 83 yards on 11 carries. He also completed 4 of 8 passes, three of which went for touchdowns.

About that gorilla

During the second half of Edward Little’s matchup with Bangor at Walton School on Friday, the Red Eddies were flagged for having too many mammals on the field.

On a Bangor pass play toward the sideline, a gorilla suddenly appeared in the vicinity of the play, flailing its arms and sort of looking like it was playing defense.

An Edward Little player focused on actually playing defense didn’t see the gorilla and ran it over. The gorilla went down and its head went flying. The person behind the costume — on film, it appeared to be a teenage girl — got up and returned to her seat in the bleachers.

She was reportedly ejected — if not for trespassing, then for breaking the first rule of mascotting: keep your head on at all times.

Monday Morning Quarterbacks everywhere realize that people who have gorilla suits need to find reasons to use them. But there are safer ways than running out on the field during the middle of a football game.

lhorton@sunjournal.com