By Kalle Oakes,Staff Writer
Levi Ervin and Elijah Trefts aren’t just top-notch football prospects.

LISBON FALLS – Maine Class C football coaches, even those who have prospered through as many autumns as Dick Mynahan of Lisbon High School, consider themselves blessed to work with one NCAA Division I prospect in their careers.

Imagine the joy of standing on the sideline every Friday night or Saturday afternoon and watching Levi Ervin run through daylight created by Elijah Trefts.

And let’s forget about their sheer ability for a minute. In a stunning development, they’re great kids, too.

“They force our younger kids to take the long way around with everything we do,” Mynahan said. “We don’t take any shortcuts.”

As three-year varsity starters seeking their second journey to the Class C championship game, the tall, explosive Ervin and the imposing, immovable Trefts have made scouts salivate since their first finals appearance at the end of their sophomore season.

Within a few weeks of that narrow loss to Foxcroft Academy at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland, Trefts received his first official mailing from a college football program.

The maize-and-blue letterhead gave it away: Greetings, from the University of Michigan.

Trefts got to see the Big House when he was invited to an elite football camp in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 2004. That’s when the letters and pamphlets really started rolling in.

“I have boxes and boxes of them,” said Trefts.

Trefts stayed closer to home and attended the University of Maine camp this past summer. Maine is near the top of his short list of choices for next season and beyond.

“I’m not sure I want to make the commitment to play Division I-A. I’ve played three sports for as long as I can remember,” Trefts said. He noted that while I-AA would limit him to playing only football, as well, the I-A lifestyle is more of an all-football, all-the-time mentality.

Being a high-honor student has opened doors for the 6-foot-5, 285-pound gentle giant.

Trefts has visited Yale. He intends to tour Columbia University later this fall. He hopes one of those schools will offer an academic scholarship package, because Ivy League institutions are forbidden from offering the full boat for athletics.

He’ll miss one specific aspect of the small school atmosphere.

“I like playing offense and defense,” Trefts said. “I won’t be able to do both (in college).”

Ervin expects that most of his Division I suitors have made that decision for him, already.

Although he’s arguably the most prolific Class C running back in the state this season, on pace to score 28 touchdowns if Lisbon advances to the state game, Ervin is projected as a defensive player at the next level.

With good speed and ample room to add muscle to his lithe, 6-5 frame, not to mention his love of contact, Ervin could emerge as a stopper at safety.

“I’ll play anywhere they want me,” said Ervin.

Like his classmate, Ervin’s mailbox began filling up after his contributions to the 2003 Western Maine championship team at wide receiver and defensive back.

He has attended high-profile scouting combines in Orono and at Boston College.

For now, Ervin has narrowed his Division I selections to Maine and New Hampshire. He’s also looking at Division III Bates, where he has attended football camp.

“I want to go to a school that really wants me,” Ervin said.

His value as a player has increased as a result of his unwillingness to rest on obvious physical gifts.

“I would say my strength is where I’ve improved the most. I go to the gym every day, and all day in the summer,” Ervin said. “We lift (weights) together as a team.”

Ervin and Trefts’ leadership skills are also blue-chip.

High-quality student athletes have been the hallmark of Mynahan’s tenure as coach, from Jon Tefft on the 2003 team to Dave Wellington of the 1997 state champions to current Lisbon athletic director Jeff Ramich, who played for Mynahan in the mid-1980s.

Two in the same class, though? Hard for the coach to comprehend his good fortune.

“They show up at practice and they take control,” Mynahan said. “They say a lot of the things they’ve heard me say for three years. I don’t even need to say them.”

Trefts was the only returning starter on this year’s offensive line. Ervin, who was an all-purpose back in the past, has lined up in a more traditional role and taken handoffs from a new quarterback.

They’ve taught the next wave of Greyhounds how to hone big-time talent without big-timing your coach or your teammates.

“I’ve worked hard in school and worked hard in football. I realize I might not make it to the NFL,” said Trefts, “but I’m in a position to play college football at a pretty high level.”