“Don’t get too attached,” Lewiston coach Bill County said with a wide grin as he eyed one of his seniors walking past him holding the Alan Clark Sr. Memorial Trophy, the prize awarded to the victors in the annual Battle of the Bridge.

“I’ll bring it to class on Monday,” Joe McKinnon replied, never breaking stride.

“You look good with that. It’s mine, but you look good,” County laughed.

Someone from Lewiston High School took the hardware home Saturday night. Everyone from Lewiston and Edward Little took home memories more precious than any trophy could ever be.

The 168th meeting between the two rivals played out like so many had previously. There were ebbs and flows of momentum and emotion. There were lots of hard hits, clean and not so clean. There were lots of penalties (19) and more than a few words exchanged in anger amongst the players.

When it ended, everyone got in line and shook hands. Some embraced. Then everyone gathered in a circle at midfield for the trophy presentation. There were words from the Clark family and from the two head coaches, County and his across the river counterpart, Dave Sterling. The words were about memories and pride and community.

After those words, the teams split up and then regrouped on either side of the 50 for more words. In the Lewiston huddle, there was the traditional post-game moment of silence, broken by County’s quaking voice saying, “I love you.” Players posed for pictures for their families. Most were with teammates, but a few of those pictures will have both maroon and blue jerseys in them.

Emotions were raw on both sides of the Androscoggin Saturday. This was the last game for 19 Lewiston seniors and 15 Edward  Little seniors. For the first time since 2005, neither side has a postseason to contemplate.

One team, Lewiston, had been considered a lock for the playoffs, perhaps even a conference title. But the disappointment wasn’t any less on the Edward Little side. The Red Eddies had high hopes coming into this season, too.

Hopes can be derailed by a lot of things in high school football — injuries, selfishness, complacency, poor focus, dissension. Even if all of that goes well, a little bad luck can render it moot. Some things can’t be controlled, some can, although when teenagers are involved, it’s amazing how quickly something that seems to be under control can spin out of control.

The Eddies knew their odds for extending their season were long by October and knew shortly thereafter that their season would end this Saturday on Walton Field. But they kept plugging away, winning two of their last four, including a hard-fought 21-14 victory over a hungry Oxford Hills team last week.

After he congratulated his players, Sterling paid tribute to his seniors, who didn’t get the multi-media attention their counterparts on the other side of the bridge did in the past but are just as likely to be heard from in the future.

“We’re losing some good kids like Luke Farrago, who’s one of the best tacklers in the state. Josh Delong is probably one of the best athletes, I figure, to come out of the state of Maine. I’m looking forward to him going to college and playing well. Alphonso Belnavis has been a great captain,” he said.

“We’ve got a number of kids in that class that stepped up to take on roles that I can’t describe as far as how they made a commitment to the people around them and just were willing to do it for a team. I couldn’t be happier for a group of kids,” he said.

County saw to it that his seniors understood that what Saturday and everything football that preceded it meant went far beyond the final standings.

“Obviously, they’re a little disappointed with how the year went,” County said. “They’ve  been playing football together since they were in the fifth and sixth grade. Matt Madden, my defensive coordinator, was their coach when they were tiny, just learning how to hold a ball.”

“Coming right up through, there’s been a lot of expectations for them,” he said. “Maybe they didn’t fulfill every one this year. But the theme of today was to come out here, make memories, do some things you’re going to remember for the rest of your life. And I think they did. I think they built some memories today.”