The Lewiston football team takes the field prior to Friday’s game against Brunswick. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

It was a tough week for the people of my hometown. On Friday, Lewiston commemorated the one-year anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history. Nearly 1,000 people gathered at The Colisèe for a ceremony honoring the 18 victims, and the many others who were impacted by that night of senseless violence.

Across town, the Lewiston High football team put together one of its best performances in recent memory, riding a 30-point second quarter to a 51-0 win over Brunswick.

Lewiston High’s sports teams have done an incredible job of lifting the spirits in a city that has dealt with unthinkable trauma over the past year. Last November, the boys soccer team celebrated an overtime win in the Class A state championship game less than three weeks after the shooting. The competition cheering and boys ice hockey teams soon followed with championships of their own.

“The athletes here at Lewiston High have shown a unity and resilience that has been inspirational to watch,” Lewiston Athletic Director Jason Fuller said.

Those events “gave our community something to celebrate, even in the darkest hours,” he added.  “All of our teams tried to honor the victims and those injured with their effort and success on the field.”

We’ve seen the power of sports to lift people time and again. In Boston, we’ll always remember what the 2013 World Series title meant in the wake of the bombing at the Boston Marathon earlier that summer.

The power of sports is real. And it’s on display in Lewiston again this fall.

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It’s been long debated when the Patriots should have started rookie quarterback Drake Maye, and Sunday we were reminded why many thought it would be better to keep him on the bench.

Shortly after running for a 17-yard touchdown against the Jets, Maye was hit in the head by Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood. It was the final play of the day for Maye, who was ruled out with a concussion.

This was always the concern: A young quarterback with a bright future being exposed to injury playing for a struggling team.

Maye’s injury wasn’t a result of poor play along the offensive line. He was scrambling for a first down when he was injured on a clear helmet-to-helmet hit by Sherwood, which somehow wasn’t penalized.

The Patriots ultimately won the game when Jacoby Brissett led a fourth-quarter rally. But the loss of Maye might be far more important to this team than the outcome of any game.

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The Red Sox hot stove has been ice cold through October, but that should change soon. Players become free agents the day after the final game of the World Series, but cannot sign until five days after that. The Red Sox can talk to players and their reps, but that five-day window is meant for teams to have an exclusive period to retain their potentially departing players.

Teams can also extend a qualifying offer to any pending free agent, a one-year offer that is amounts to $21.05 million this year. If the player doesn’t sign, the team receives draft pick compensation should he sign with another team.

The Sox could make such an offer to outfielder Tyler O’Neill. The right-handed O’Neill was one of President of Baseball Operations Craig Breslow’s best acquisitions last winter, leading the team with 31 homers and posting an .847 OPS in 113 games.

O’Neill missed 49 games, first with a concussion and then with a leg infection, yet played more games than he had in a season since 2021. He will turn 30 next season, but has the kind of right-handed pull power that plays well at Fenway Park.

Breslow will have to make a tough decision on O’Neill in the coming days. It will be the first of many he will face this winter.

Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN.