Opponents of the fledgling Gray-New Gloucester varsity football team have invariably been walking away winners so far, but that doesn’t mean some of them haven’t been leaving the field shaking their heads with some grudging respect for the Patriots.
Two players in particular, junior Josh Shobert and freshman Nick Audet, have turned some heads in the Campbell Conference.
The duo could provide the Patriots with a formidable inside-outside combination for the next two years, and provided a glimpse in last week’s 42-26 loss to Lake Region. Tailback Shobert rushed for 136 yards on 22 carries, scoring his first TD of his varsity career on his last carry of the night, a 24-yard dash. Audet, a rugged 6-0, 215-pound fullback who scored the first points in Patriot history in Week 1, added his second rushing TD of the season on his way to 42 yards on 12 carries.
Head coach Hank Girardin touted Shobert’s elusiveness and breakaway speed in the preseason, but Audet has been a pleasant surprise with his ability to contribute despite limited football experience.
“Last year was his first year (of organized football),” Girardin said. “He’s got a ton to learn.”
That goes for much of the rest of the squad. The Pats have only seven seniors on the roster and just four of them were in the starting defensive lineup last week. Teams have tried to exploit that inexperience by putting more misdirections, counters, traps and play-action into their game plans.
“We’re getting better,” Girardin said. “Guys don’t adjust (because of the inexperience). Guys don’t make reads. If they line up and come right at us, we’re great. When (Lake Region) did that, we stuffed them pretty good.”
Sting operation
Only six high school football teams have scored more points than Leavitt over the first four weeks of the season. Heady stuff, considering that the Hornets had to replace a quarterback, a fullback, their best receiver and two Division I offensive linemen due to graduation.
“We lost so many starters on that side of the ball,” said Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway. “You think about losing Ryane Staples (now at Colgate) and J.P. (Jon Pirruccello, now at Maine) and you’re not sure what to expect.”
The Hornets actually have turned their offense up a notch or two, averaging more than 50 points per game in three consecutive victories over Old Town, Morse and Maranacook.
Tyler Angell is lighting up Eastern Class B defenses, topping the league in passing efficiency (26-for-40, 507 yards, 6 TDs, 1 interception).
His backup, Evan Barker, is 14-for-16 for 165 yards and three scores.
“We ask him to make a lot of split-second decisions,” Hathaway said of Angell.
Angell has stepped up as a running threat while Chris Brewer sat out the last two games with a knee injury and now leads the Hornets with 354 yards on the ground. Brewer (238), Corey Witham (183) and freshman Tyler Green (177) also are among the top ground gainers in the PTC.
Witham and Ben Boulay have combined for 28 catches, nearly 600 yards and eight TDs.
“We have a multitude of guys on offense who have provided a spark for us,” said Hathaway. “We’ve been able to frustrate defenses, because they can’t key on everybody.”
This week’s test is a Saturday night trip to Belfast, when the Hornets will face one of the leading scoring defenses in the league.
Down with the sickness
It’s a phenomenon usually associated with the winter sports season, but fast-moving illnesses have posed a problem for some of the Eastern Class A football playoff contenders.
Skowhegan was weakened by a bug prior to its Week 1 loss to Lawrence. Last week, it was Edward Little thrown for a loop by various viruses prior to its home game with the recovered Indians.
“We had some cases of viral meningitis and strep throat,” EL coach Jim Hersom. “Fortunately, everybody’s all right. We had to mix things up a little bit.”
Senior Garner LaValley overcame the maladies to gain important inside yards and make a half-dozen tackles in the Red Eddies’ 14-13 loss.
“He wasn’t able to practice much during the week,” Hersom said, “so he did a nice job playing pretty much the whole game.”
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