BUCKFIELD – There are fewer maroon helmets and unstained, white uniforms on the sideline than players lined up on the field. The scoreboard clock counts down 10-minute periods instead of traditional 12s. And it’s a blustery Tuesday afternoon, with the huddled masses trying to beat impending darkness in Dixfield instead of enjoying Friday night under the lights in Livermore Falls or a sun-drenched Saturday afternoon at Lisbon.
Listen to the echo of Zack Mumau’s helmet rattling a Dirigo ball carrier’s shoulder pads, though, and you’ll recognize this as pure, American high school football. What’s more, it is distinctly Buckfield football, free from hyphens even if it’s anything but free to the pocketbook.
“It’s a good start,” said Mark Mumau, Zack’s father and first-year coach of the Buckfield Junior-Senior High School junior varsity football team. “Before this year, it’s always been Buckfield-Poland or Buckfield-Dirigo. Now it’s just Buckfield.”
For years, any student second grade and older in the towns of Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner has been able to play football. They’ve participated in everything from Sunday morning youth leagues to junior high programs, sharing the field with other small, neighboring communities.
A two-year relationship with Dirigo High School as a co-operative varsity football team produced four victories. With 34 of the 37 high school players hailing from its end of Route 140 and a feeder system in place, however, Dirigo elected to go it alone in 2005.
But Buckfield football lives on. Thrives, even.
Playing a JV schedule against Class C Campbell Conference clubs that aren’t afraid to throw selected varsity into the fray, Buckfield has won six of seven games, punctuated by a delicious 12-6 victory at Dirigo.
“We have a lot of personal conflicts with that team, so it felt really good to beat them,” said lineman Nick Brann.
“We’re 6-1, playing Class C schools, as a school with Class D enrollment,” added coach Mumau.
Just having fun
The Bucks put the “fun” in under-funded. They exhibit motion picture underdog qualities.
Only three players had suited up for a high school football game prior to this fall. Twenty kids dressed for the trip to Dirigo game. Eight of them carried the ball at least once. Five different quarterbacks took a snap.
“We weren’t sure what kind of success we would have,” admitted Zack Mumau, who fueled Tuesday’s emotional triumph with a sack and a fumble recovery. “We knew we had heart. Our season has definitely sparked some interest at the school.”
That’s precisely what the feel-good story needs if there is to be a sequel.
Buckfield is a club team, not officially recognized by SAD 39. According to Betty Plumley, who recently stepped aside after seven years as fundraising chairman for the Buckfield Buckeneers Football Association (nickname misspelling intentional), the boosters own the uniforms and equipment and pay the school to schedule games and provide transportation.
Mark Mumau estimated that the BBFA has spent over $3,000 this year.
“It would be great if the community and the school would take a much larger part,” said the coach, who praised the work of club president Armand Rowe and assistant coaches Randy Poulin and Dan Lavoie. “The kids deserve it. They do a lot of this by themselves.”
Long-term investment
For now, the players’ sense of ownership in the team and their us-against-the-world approach are a rallying point.
“I played middle school with a lot of the Dirigo kids,” said sophomore quarterback Justin Woodcock. “Now we’re pretty much a new team. I think we’re going to be good in the next year or two.”
Zack Mumau is one of three seniors and the lone holdover from the Buckfield-Dirigo team. Freshmen and sophomores comprise two-thirds of the 25-man roster.
The Bucks dare to dream that a return to varsity competition isn’t far off.
They hope that the MPA will reconsider a proposal that would increase Maine football from three classifications to four. Mark Mumau also believes school administration would consider adopting the sport if he could draw between 40 and 50 players.
“I believe there is another whole varsity team in the hallways of Buckfield High School,” he said.
Now wouldn’t be a bad time to get in on the ground floor. Buckfield saw the fruit of its labor against Dirigo, when the Bucks forced four turnovers and knocked down a pass in the end zone on the final play to preserve the watershed win.
“We’re a small team, but we respect each other,” Zack Mumau said. “That’s what counts.”
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