The frustration of an oh-so-close 2008 has turned into resolve in 2009 for the Leavitt Hornets.

Last season was shaping up as the most memorable in Turner since the gold ball-winning days of the 1995 and 1998 for the Hornets. They rolled through most of their Pine Tree Conference Class B opponents, clinched home field advantage in the playoffs with an emotional win at Gardiner and looked poised for a run to Super Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

But then there were those pesky Morse Shipbuilders, who have swatted the Hornets frequently in recent years. They handed them their only regular season defeat, then shut out Leavitt’s potent offense in a 7-0 playoff semifinal. Morse went on to its first Class B championship game in 36 years. Leavitt was left to wonder what might have been.

“We lost to Morse twice in the last 30 seconds of the game on the goal line with a turnover. That kept us from playing a little bit further,” Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway said. “We want to take care of the ball a little bit better, try to stay healthy and have a good attitude and see if it gets us there.”

Morse looms again as an obstacle, perhaps the obstacle, for Leavitt this season. In fact, many observers have the Shipbuilders pegged as the favorite. And with running back Pat Wolfe, QB Michael Walton and linebackers J Cavanagh and Jay Underwood back, they will be stout on both sides of the ball again.

Leavitt has a wealth of experience as well, returning 15 starters led by quarterback Eric Theiss. The senior improved his strength and speed during the offseason and will be one of the top double threats in the conference.

After splitting carries with Tyler Green last year, Josh Strickland takes over the starting tailback spot with a rare combination of speed and power.

“He’s just a little bit under 230 pounds,” Hathaway said. “He went to the BC camp this summer and did awesome. He ran 4.6 (seconds) in the 40, and he was fairly fresh off his physical therapy from the knee surgery he had over the winter.”

Jon Letourneau, Buck Bochtler, Ryan Labbe, Nick Urquhart, Luke Witham and Jordan Hersom are Hathaway’s other offensive weapons. The Hornets are always strong in the trenches, and this year will be no different with Matt Pellerin, Mat Porter and Luke Wiley anchoring both sides of the line.

“Those three guys have been starting on the defensive line since they were sophomores. I’d like to play linebacker behind those guys,” Hathaway said. “We’ve got four guys back in the secondary, so if we can find a couple of linebackers and a couple of defensive ends to replace those four guys we lost, we should be pretty good there.”

Gardiner features one of the top big-play threats in the conference in Forrest Chadwick, who will be moving from tailback to quarterback this year. Quarterback Kyle Bishop and a veteran offensive line leads a resurgent Waterville program. Hampden Academy has its own explosive player in the versatile Nolan Turner. Oak Hill and Maranacook defected to Class C, so Winslow, Belfast and MDI figure to round out the playoff field, with Nokomis and newcomer Camden Hills looking to play spoiler.

Pine Tree Conference Class B predicted order of finish

 1. Morse

2. Leavitt

3. Gardiner

4. Waterville

5. Hampden Academy

6. Winslow

7. MDI

8. Belfast

9. Nokomis

10. Camden Hills

Leavitt players to watch

Jon Letourneau, slot/CB

Matt Pellerin, C/T/DT

Mat Porter, T/DT

Eric Theiss, QB/DB

Josh Strickalnd, TB/DE

Luke Wiley, G/DT