By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

Over the last decade, success for the majority of Western Class C has been determined by openings. Most teams have had to wait for a rare window of opportunity so someone other than Boothbay, Lisbon, or Winthrop could wrest the conference crown away.

Last year, Jay saw a hole open up as if it was running behind a well-executed trap play. The Tigers broke through for big yardage, going unbeaten in the Campbell Conference to become the first conference champion since 1996 from outside of the B-L-W triumvirate. Livermore Falls wasn’t about to pass up the chance, either, and dogged their rivals all season, right up to a memorable regional championship game.

The window may be closing this year, as the traditional powers appear poised for a return to the top of the standings. Jay and Livermore Falls won’t be going down without a fight, though, and some new challengers may step forth, too.

“I think the conference is as close as I’ve seen it in a long time,” said Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan. “Old Orchard Beach should move up. Madison should be improved. I think the team that could be the surprise team is Winthrop.”

Actually, the most surprising team may be Jay. With 11 starters returning, including seven on defense, the Tigers should put up a strong defense of their league title. But observers of last year’s high-octane offense may be shocked by the personality transplant this year’s unit has undergone.

“We’re doing a few different things,” said coach Mark Bonnevie. “You definitely won’t come to one of our games and see us throw it 45 times. If you come for four of our games, you might.”

The Tigers are stressing ball control this year, and more often than not that means the ball will be in the hands of junior fullback Trevor McCourt. McCourt ran for over 600 yards and 12 touchdowns last year in a pass first offense. Bonnevie expects he can take it to another level with more opportunities this fall.

Senior Mike Nemi is Justin Wells’ heir apparent at quarterback. The receivers are all new and the offensive line returns just two starters, so Bonnevie hopes his defense can keep the Tigers in games early in the season while the offense matures.

Speaking of the defense, the Tigers once again have a lot of speed, with Ryan Bourassa at linebacker and Nemi and Zane Armandi in the secondary.

Just as Jay will need to adjust to losing Wells, Livermore Falls has to find a way to replace an all-state talent in fullback Brad Bryant. Unlike the Tigers, however, the Andies won’t be changing their formula.

“We’re going to play ball-control and play defense. That’s our formula,” Andies coach Brad Bishop said. “We’re going to run the ball and minimize turnovers, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll punt and play good defense and get the ball back.”

Senior Ryan Webster steps in to fill the void at fullback, and while Andies fans should expect a drop off, it shouldn’t be a huge one. Webster nearly matched Bryant yard for yard in some games running as a halfback last year. Mark O’Shea and Karlton Jones could do the same for Webster as this year’s halfback tandem. They’ll run behind a young (two sophomores, three juniors) offensive line that returns two key components, tackle Mike Durrell and center Craig Jackman. Junior Mike Nichols draws the assignment at QB.

The Andies will need to play some of their best football early. They’re September schedule reads like this – at Lisbon, at Foxcroft, then home against Boothbay and Winthrop.

The only blemishes on Lisbon’s record last year came at the hands of the Tigers and the Andies, so one might not be able to make a case that last year was a down year for the Greyhounds. There’s no debating that they were quite inexperienced last year, however, and they are again this year, in a sense.

Coach Dick Mynahan lost two seniors and three other starters from last year’s squad. He says he’ll have five starters on offense this year who, for various reasons, didn’t play football last year.

Most of those returnees are along the front line, which makes the presence of lineman Elijah Trefts all the more important. He and fellow four-year letterman Levi Ervin, a dangerous running and receiving threat out of the backfield, were all-conference selections last year.

“The new guys up front have done a lot of work in the off-season,” Mynahan said. “I think if we can escape that injury bug, we’ll have the potential to make some noise.”

Running the Greyhounds option and power-I offense will be Chris Brunick, who moves from running back to quarterback. Nick Adams will be his back-up and see time at wide receiver, along with Carl Grady, who is one of those players returning after a one-year absence. Trefts, Ervin and linebackers Jesse Moan and Dan Willis will lead the defense.

Winthrop has been gradually rebuilding itself into a force again, and this may be the year patient Rambler fans are finally rewarded.

Coach Joel Stoneton has half of his starters back, including QB Travis Frautten and running backs Tavis Hasenfus and Russ Schmelzer. Four-fifths of the offensive line, Nate Smith, Adam Lyons, Tyler Camick and Kyle Bowden, is back, too.

“I feel like the experience card is going to be good for us,” Stoneton said. “We’ve got some real good skill players that we’re going to try to get the ball to.”

The defense will have to familiarize itself with some new faces at linebacker, but the Ramblers should start to resemble the fast, physical squads of the past.

This is a year of transition at Dirigo. The Cougars are going it alone having severed their two-year relationship with Buckfield, but their numbers haven’t suffered, what with 52 kids on the roster.

The new era also brings with it a new coach, Hart Daley, who had a big hand in resurrecting the program by starting up and then coaching the middle school team.

Daley will be reuniting with a lot of his middle school players, who have gotten a lot bigger and more experienced in the interim. The offensive line is huge. Sophomores Gavin Broomhall, Cameron Chartier and Jon Berry will provide the size, weighing in at 230, 250 and 300 pounds, respectively. Seniors Chris Gauvin and Scott Walsh and juniors Derek Robbins and Pat O’Leary provide the experience.

Junior Spencer Berry assumes the signal-calling duties for the Cougars. He has a couple of big targets to throw to in sophomores Levi Hutchins and Dakota Holmquist. Devin Brann, Joshua Daley, Keith Gaudet, Kevin O’Leary and Derek Daley will join Berry in the backfield.

“We want to play hard-nosed, physical football,” Daley said. “The kids are all capable of doing it. They’re all very determined and ambitious, and they’re all getting a little more mature, age-wise and size-wise.”

Size is normally a characteristic associated with Boothbay, although the Seahawks have been a bit smaller in recent years. But don’t expect its venerable double-wing offense, which features returning QB Roy Arsenault and running back Kostas Rigas, to be any less physical. Old Orchard Beach has nearly everybody back, including all-conference QB Mike Perrone, and should be in the playoff hunt. Much of the nucleus for Madison and Traip also remains intact, so both teams should be improved.