LEWISTON – Averaging about 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds, Ryan Coleman, John Collette, Evan Gardner, Justin Nickerson and Alex Pare aren’t the biggest front wall in the state, but the all-senior offensive line at Lewiston High School has some of the most impressive credentials within its confines.

For the last two years, they’ve blocked for two Pine Tree Conference rushing champions, including a Fitzpatrick Trophy winner. Lewiston runners have gained well over 4,000 yards with them paving the way.

With the exception of Collette, a guard converted from fullback, the Lewiston front five has been playing together since middle school. Last year was a trial by fire for the group, which came into the season with little varsity experience but was given the task of blocking for Jared Turcotte.

The line was dominant at times and at other times, such as a loss to eventual state champion Lawrence, overmatched. Often, it was Turcotte, who would go on to win the Fitzy and play at the University of Maine, who made the line look good, rather than the other way around.

“Honestly, if we missed a block when Jared was running, it really didn’t matter,” Coleman said.

But the juniors learned from blocking for such a disciplined runner and, more importantly, were immersed in the Blue Devils’ intricate schemes.

“The big thing is the mental part of the game,” Lewiston coach Bill County said. “You look at a football game from the outside, and it just looks like people hitting each other, but our schemes are fairly complicated. It takes a lot of time and effort for those kids to understand what their assignments are. When we opened up camp in August, these kids knew it all, so we really started 10, 15, 20 yards of where we did the year before.”

They also started physically stronger than last year because of their dedication to their off-season strength and conditioning. Lewiston implemented the “Bigger, Faster, Stronger Program,” a core conditioning program that assistant coach Dick Leavitt oversaw during the summer

“It’s really been the difference, especially in our offensive line,” County said. “I think the thing it brings us is durability. I don’t know if we’re so much stronger than our opponents, but we have not had a single offensive line injury. We haven’t lost one day of productivity up front because of injury.”

“Wes spent a lot of time together during the summer, and we’re more comfortable with each other,” Collette said. “We’re definitely stronger.”

They were surprised to find out just how strong earlier in the season.

“Nickerson and I went in for a double-team on this kid that was, like, 350 pounds,” said Pare, the center. “We picked him up off the ground, and we realized that we got a little bit stronger.”

The linemen knew they could be more physical this season, but they also needed to adjust to a different style of runner when junior Wesley Myers took over for Turcotte.

Myers, like Turcotte, doesn’t need a lot of daylight to break a big run. But the linemen said Myers has made them better blockers because they’ve had to be quicker, more on their toes for him because not only is he quicker getting to the hole, but a little bit more unpredictable.

“Jared was going through that hole no matter what. If it was (designed to run through the) four hole, it was four hole,” Gardner said. “Wesley will try to cut back around. He’ll go different ways.”

“Blocking for Jared last year was a little bit simpler, because we could just make the block,” said Nickerson, a guard. “With Wesley, we have to get there quicker, because he’ll choose the hole and you have to be as fast as him to get to it.”

Myers led the PTC with over 1,700 yards rushing during the regular season, while fullback Matt Letourneau finished among the top 10 rushers in the league with around 600 yards. But the line has been equally adept at blocking for quarterback Mason Giroux. With Giroux able to get comfortable in the pocket, the Blue Devils now have one of the most productive passing attacks they’ve had for some time, and the big guys up front appreciate that Giroux protects them as much as they do him.

“He’d rather take the blame for a mistake than put it on us,” Gardner said.

“He’s probably the most forgiving guy on the field,” Pare said.

Coleman, Collette, Gardner, Nickerson and Pare don’t plan to be so forgiving when the Blue Devils face Bangor tonight in the Pine Tree Conference semifinals.