SOUTH PARIS – No, Paul Bickford didn’t envision his team’s playoff hopes going down the drain when his star tailback was sidelined just minutes into the season.

Jimmy Bower, one of the top tailbacks in the Pine Tree Conference, aggravated an ankle injury early in the season-opener with Mt. Ararat. Bickford, the Vikings’ head coach, just turned to Bower’s senior backup, Mason Olmstead, and let him put three years of hard work and patience to good use.

“When it occurred, I didn’t bat an eye because of the caliber of kid that Mason is,” Bickford said.

Olmstead bided his time either on the sideline or on defense (at outside linebacker) for the first three years of his high school career, so even though he didn’t want to finally get the opportunity this way, he recognized that it was an opportunity nonetheless.

“I knew when Jimmy got hurt that was my chance. If I was ever going to have a chance, that was it,” Olmstead said. “I had to wait my turn.”

Olmstead didn’t make an immediate impact, although the swarming defenses of Mt. Ararat and Biddeford may have had something to do with that.

By the third game, though, he was setting up his blocks so that he could exploit his good open-field speed and toughness in his 5-foot-9, 180-pound frame. The result was a breakout performance against Edward Little where he rushed for 257 yards and a touchdown in the Vikes 13-12.

“It was never a question going in (that he was going to jell with the rest of the offense), because everybody likes Mason a lot and everybody responds to him,” Bickford said.

“I’ve seen huge improvement for the past three years. He’s the kind of kid who always says Coach, what can I do to get better?” he added.

The Vikings could become appreciably better with Bower expected to return for tonight’s game with Lewiston.

After rushing for over 1,000 yards last year, Bower, a junior, certainly won’t have to wait his turn like Olmstead did to get back on the field. But Olmstead isn’t going back to the sideline for an extended stay, either.

“He knows I want to play. He knows I can get it done,” he said. “Jimmy’s always there, and he can take reps, too.”

“It’s a good position for us to be in,” Bickford said. “I’ve told Mason he’s earned the right to play and Jimmy has, too. It’s a good situation to have two guys back there that I have all of the confidence in the world in.”