AUBURN — If Jack Shapiro had his way, every kid wearing Red Eddies maroon would one day get to experience a championship.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thrill,” Shapiro said Friday night at the Red Eddies’ high school football home opener. “It’s something you never forget. Those memories are with you your whole life.”

He’s not just blowing smoke. Shapiro was a sophomore on the 1977 Red Eddies squad who won the championship. How great is his bond to the Edward Little team and to Auburn at large? So great that nearly 40 years later, he still travels from his home in Bolton, Massachusetts, once or twice a year to support the team.

And, you know. To relive those glory days on Walton Field.

“It hasn’t changed a bit,” said Shapiro, 54, and sporting the same EL football jacket he wore back in the day. “The school looks the same. The stands look the same. It’s so great to be back.”

You know what else was the same? The buzz of a high school football opener, with all of its familiar sights and sounds.

At 7 p.m. sharp Friday, a Bangor Rams kicker sent the ball airborne and like that, the new season had begun; a season where anything is possible.

“I think we’re going to make the playoffs,” Scott Whalen said. “And I think the Grandstand Club is going to make a lot of money.”

You can forgive Whalen’s optimism, considering he’s a longtime Red Eddies fan and president of the club. On Friday, he started preparing for the big game at 3:30 p.m. and four hours later, he was still out there — cheering for the team and whipping up hot dogs and burgers for the fans – admirable considering that Whalen’s own kids graduated from Edward Little more than a decade ago.

“You do it to give back,” said Terry Whalen, Scott’s sister and a fellow Grandstand Club volunteer.

There was a buzz about the Red Eddies’ nascent season, all right. Nearly two hours before game time, fans were already setting up on or around the bleachers with their coolers, their EL bling and their high hopes.

Maybe it’s just routine optimism, but there have been rumors that the Red Eddies have a real shot at the postseason this year. The fans talked about it Friday night but in low, cautious tones.

The risk of jinxing things is high on opening day.

“It doesn’t matter,” said 71-year-old Terry Michaud, whose grandson is on the team. “I don’t come to see them win; I just come to see them play. Win or lose, I’m here. It’s just great to see all these parents and grandparents here to support the team.”

“There’s a lot of camaraderie here,” said Sue Trumble, also cheering on her grandson, running back Calean Pelletier. “It’s so much fun.”

Shapiro would agree with that assessment. He had to suck in his gut to fit into his old school jacket, he said, but he remembers the feeling of winning the championship like it happened last week.

“The whole town just went bonkers,” he said. “It was such a great thing to be a part of.”

“We had a hard time getting off the field,” said John Higgins, also a sophomore when the Red Eddies won it all, “because there were so many people here.”

Like Shapiro, Higgins would love to see the Red Eddies bring the championship back to Auburn. And who knows? Opening night is a fresh start. Everybody has the same record and anything can happen.

“They’ve looked real solid so far,” Higgins said. “Offensively, they look real good.”

By the time the Red Eddies made their first play of the season, running the ball into the Rams’ zone, the stands were nearly full and more fans were lined up at the ticket gate.

The weather was perfect, the cheers were loud and the night had a big-game feel. Younger boys passed footballs back and forth on the grass next to the school. Younger girls stood near the sidelines admiring the cheerleaders.

Untarnished optimism ruled the night.

“It’s going to be a great season,” predicted Louise Whalen, yet another member of the Grandstand Club.

On opening day, there was absolutely no reason to question the prediction.