WESTBROOK – Most years, it’s easy to identify the two outstanding players at the Campbell Conference post-season banquet. They’re still hobbling after chauffeuring their teams deep into the playoffs.
Levi Ervin rose from his table near the back of the room at Verrillo’s Conference Center and walked almost robotically to the podium. Travis Fergola’s journey to the front of the hall was a bit shorter, but he still stepped gingerly and shook hands gently with a heavily bandaged finger.
The two seniors’ aches and pains probably went away for at least a few minutes Sunday evening.
Lisbon High School’s Ervin backed up the previous night’s Class C championship celebration by winning the John Taglienti Award, symbolic of the premier player in his division. Fergola, of Mountain Valley High School, took home Western Class B’s equivalent, the Bruce Campbell Award.
Ervin rushed for more than 1,700 yards and led a Lisbon defense that allowed scarcely more than three points per game, giving the Greyhounds their first state title since 1997.
“It means the world to me. I bleed black and white,” said Ervin, who wore those colors to two state finals in his three years as a two-way starter at Lisbon. “I’ve never had more pride in anything than I have in my school and my town.”
Fergola, a fullback and linebacker, led Mountain Valley to the Western Class B regular-season championship.
The Falcons extended the state’s longest winning streak to 21 games before falling to York in the sectional championship game on Nov. 12. Fergola suffered an ankle injury on his first defensive series and played only sparingly the rest of the afternoon.
His junior season ended in Mountain Valley’s first-ever state championship.
“It’s a real big surprise,” said Fergola. “I have great respect for everybody else who wears a uniform in Class B.”
Fergola was an offensive lineman for most of his career, and his primary role as an offensive player this season was as a blocker for tailback Aaron Arsenault. Local schools enjoyed a clean sweep of the major awards. Fergola’s head coach, Jim Aylward, was named Class B Coach of the Year. Brad Bishop of Livermore Falls earned the Class C Coach of the Year trophy for guiding the Andies to the playoffs after an 0-3 start. Mountain Valley matched Greely and Wells with five all-stars each in the B’ division, while Lisbon and Jay each placed five players on the C’ squad. Ervin joined Jason Brooks (1997) and Jon Tefft (2003) as Taglienti Award winners from Lisbon. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound safety is considering Maine and New Hampshire as well as several Division III schools.
“We started talking in eighth grade about maybe winning a state championship someday,” Ervin said. “It’s amazing. I’m still really speechless about it.”
Fergola is the sixth Campbell Award winner from Mountain Valley, tying Wells for the most ever. He also intends to play college football and has placed Maine, Holy Cross, Bates and Colby on his short list.
“Being part of the Mountain Valley tradition was just awesome,” Fergola said.
Comments are no longer available on this story