By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

HEBRON – The week leading up to the Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl creates some interesting dynamics among the players.

Long-time rivals are now teammates, and things said in the heat of battle during the regular season are now best forgotten.

“I had to actually apologize to a couple of kids for some of the things I said to them last year,” laughed Oxford Hills’ Jeff Tifft, a wide receiver for the East. “Not that it was that serious, but just to lay the ground rules. But we’re really becoming a team here. No rivals anymore, except for the West.”

Rivals can turn into friends pretty quick when you’re lining up next to a guy three times a day in the hot July sun, as the 80 players did this week at Hebron Academy.

“We make a lot of new friends, even people I considered rivals. Like (Gorham running back) Tyson Nason is a really good guy, I found out,” said Mountain Valley’s Chris Lever, a defensive end for the West.

Old acquaintances have been renewed and new ones formed, but that’s over now. The in-dorm Playstation and poker tournaments have been decided. The moving speeches from Shriners Hospital patients and their parents have sunk in.

The participants in the 16th Annual Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic have been through a long, hot week of training camp. It’s been pure fun at times, pure drudgery at other times.

“Wake up, football, eat, sleep, football, eat, sleep, football,” as Lewiston’s George Foisy described it.

In past years, the routine was broken up by a trip to the Shriners Hospital in Springfield, Mass., but policies protecting patients privacy made the visit less feasible over the years. This year, the players and cheerleaders met in April to hear from speakers who have been helped by the Shriners.

“They had one of their patients come in and talk to us, and his mom and dad, too,” Tifft said. “And they really did show us how important the hospital was to him. It disappointed me that we didn’t get to go down there, because I know it’s a real important trip, but they did get the point across real well.”

Now it’s time for just football. That, and the game’s cause, the Shriners Children’s Hospital and Shriners Burns Institutes, will draw thousands of fans to Biddeford’s Waterhouse Field tonight at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for reserved seats, $7 for general admission and are available at the gate, the Kora Temple or from any Shriner.

The West leads the all-time series, 13-2, including a thrilling 15-14 win last year. The East won the 2003 classic easily, 55-8.

On paper, at least, this year’s game should come closer to resembling last year than the 2003 game. The East boasts some of the state’s top running backs, including Fitzpatrick Trophy winner Nick Tymoczko from Bucksport and Josh Aldus of Belfast, running behind a huge offensive line. They’ll match up with a West defense featuring the core of Mountain Valley’s championship D’ – Pat Knapp, Chris Lever and Korey Staires – along with Brad Bryant from Livermore Falls.

The West has plenty of offensive firepower of its own. Fitzy finalist Matt O’Donnell of Bonny Eagle and Jay’s Justin Wells will be throwing to a fast corps of receivers that includes Stevie Ray of Poland and Deering’s Mike Joyce. Balancing the passing game will be a running attack that includes Fryeburg’s Nate Broyer and Joel Ouellette of Jay. Charged with stopping them is an East defense led by all-state linebacker Jordan Stevens from Mt. Blue and defensive linemen Jon Pirruccello and Ryane Staples from Leavitt.

In a game like this, though, all of the talent on both sides of the ball sometimes cancels each other out, so the game can come down to mistakes, fluke plays and the forgotten part of the game.

“Something that always makes a tremendous difference in these games is special teams and defensive scores,” said Fryeburg Academy coach Jim “Fuzzy” Thurston, an assistant in the game many times over who is acting as the West’s head coach for the first time. “If we can pick up one or two of those, it can make quite a bit of difference.”

“In this game and other all-star games, you never know,” said Belfast coach Butch Richards, who will lead the East. “It can be a 0-0 smashmouth game, or you could see something like last year (where Biddeford’s Phil Bourassa took over late in the game and led the West victory). There’s so much speed and athleticism in this game that one player can dominate like that because of their athleticism.”