The senior back returned to pick up the load for the Blue Devils.
By Randy Whitehouse
Staff Writer

LEWISTON – When he was virtually an entire continent away, Lewiston football was still very much on James Spaulding’s mind.

“Every night I would dream about coming back here and playing,” Spaulding said. “We’re playing Mt. Blue and it’s the playoffs and the snow’s coming down.”

Spaulding played varsity sparingly as a junior, picking up the crumbs left by the Blue Devils’ workhorse back, Jereme Madore.

But Spaulding knew last season that, if he was patient, his opportunity would come. He had been groomed as a JV starter as a junior to replace Madore this year. To that end, he’d dedicated countless hours to running and to the weight room so he’d be ready when his number was called.

Then Spaulding found out his family was moving to Washington state about halfway through his junior year.

Athletic director Paul Amnott gave Lewiston head coach Bill County the news, telling him there was a possibility Spaulding might be back for his senior year.

“We kind of spent the winter and part of the spring wondering where Jim was and whether we’d have him this year,” County said.

Spaulding said he spent “four or five months” in the northwest before moving back to Maine with his family. He never doubted he would get back to Lewiston in time to live his dream, even if it meant having to temporarily leave his immediate family and return to Lewiston.

He started communicating with County via e-mail, and he kept his off-season routine to make sure he was ready for the coming season.

“I worked for the YMCA and still weightlifted,” Spaulding said. “I played for a baseball team and still did my running. We had a hill there. I ran that. I just made sure I stayed in shape.”

When he returned to Maine, he worked out with one of his blocking backs, Steve Cobb, doing agility drills and running. He thought he’d be ready for his turn as Lewiston’s No. 1 running back, but he couldn’t be sure until the Blue Devils opened the season against Windham.

“The first carry I had was for, like, 50 yards. I thought: ‘This is what’s going to happen the rest of the year, the big runs, the good games, the fun, the winning,'” he said.

Though the big runs and the good games continued, the winning did not. Spaulding ran for 234 yards and four touchdowns in his first start, then followed that with 185 yards and another touchdown in the second game, a loss to Noble.

“I think a little more varsity experience would have helped him coming into this year, because it’s tough to follow Jereme Madore with the way he played last year,” County said. “But I think it helped his confidence that he opened with a big game against Windham and then had a big game against Noble.”

The Noble loss was the start of a five-game losing streak, which nearly cost the Blue Devils a return to the Pine Tree Conference playoffs. Part of the reason for the skid was that Lewiston’s secret was out. Opposing defenses started to key on Spaulding once they recognized that he has the size (6-2, 200 pounds) of a fullback and the breakaway speed of a scatback.

“He’s an unusual runner because when he breaks a tackle at the line of scrimmage and gets into the open field, that’s when you think he’ll get caught,” County said. “His speed as a sprinter is decent, but for a kid over 200 pounds, it’s exceptional.”

Spaulding has the speed and big shoulders to carry the Lewiston offense, which he’s been counted on to do more and more as the Blue Devils have turned their fortunes around. He’s rushed for over 1,200 yards and 16 touchdowns this season. In the last two weeks, when the Devils have needed wins to get into the postseason, he has carried the ball 80 times for 452 yards and seven touchdowns.

Spaulding doesn’t mind the workload. He’s waited his whole life and traveled thousands of miles to get here.

“When I get worn out, I just think about all of the time I’ve put in the weight room. This is what I’ve been waiting for. This is what I’ve been working towards,” he said.