Justin Wells ascended to the starting quarterback position at Worcester Polytechnic Institute so quickly and unexpectedly that the Liberty League doesn’t even have a photo of the Jay High School graduate available to publish on its Web site.
Here’s a hunch that they’ll obtain one by next September.
Wells finished his freshman campaign at WPI with a mighty flourish, accounting for nearly 300 yards of total offense in a 40-33 victory over St. Lawrence University last Saturday.
For those exploits, Wells won the Boston Globe Gold Helmet Award, symbolic of New England’s Player of the Week in all of Division II and III.
On top of that, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound QB was an easy choice for Liberty League Rookie of the Week.
Wells backed up Rob Pantalone for most of the season, but an injury to the starter pressed Wells into duty against WPI’s chief rival.
He was responsible for four touchdowns in a wild game, completing 13-of-20 for 158 yards and two scores through the air. Wells lugged it himself nine times for another 131 yards and two more trips to the end zone.
The outburst represented WPI’s second-highest scoring total of the season. Division III WPI finished 6-3 by winning three of its final four contests, all on the road.
Wells was 25-for-53 for 331 yards and three TDs on the season without throwing an interception.
Prior to WPI, Wells was a four-year starter at Jay, where he led the Tigers to three consecutive Western Class C playoff berths, capped by the regional championship last November. He is an electrical engineering major at WPI.
Wells is one of six recent Maine high school football standouts suiting up for WPI. The others are Tyson Nason of Gorham, Joe Hernandez of Morse, Scott Guzman of Wells, Orry Cummings of Westbrook and Luke Fekete of Messalonskee.
Truth about dogs and ‘Cats
Samm Johnson started every game in her second field hockey season at the University of Southern Maine. The midfielder from Mexico (Mountain Valley) scored three goals, second on the team. Tri-captain Denise Minigell of Auburn (Edward Little) made 19 starts as a defender for the Huskies, scoring a goal and dishing out four assists.
In USM men’s soccer, Poland’s Kevin Young made 15 starts as a freshman midfielder, while Josh Hixon of Minot (St. Dom’s) also made six appearances at halfback.
Stephanie Jette (Fryeburg Academy) was the top USM women’s runner in the NCAA Division III New England Regional Cross Country Championship in Springfield, Mass. On the men’s side in the same meet, Steve McCarthy (Leavitt) competed for the Huskies, while Bates College runners Dan Johnson and Steve Monsulick of Kents Hill (Maranacook) finished fourth and 25th, respectively.
Better than middlin’ for Middlebury
Two local runners led the Middlebury College men and women to top-five finishes in the ECAC cross country championship meet on Nov. 5.
Junior Chris Pelliccia of Auburn (Edward Little) was the top men’s runner for Middlebury. His time of 26:22 was just over a minute off the pace, and Pelliccia’s performance pushed the Panthers to fifth place out of 38 teams.
Emily Jacobs, a freshman from Greene (Leavitt), ran neck-and-neck with senior teammate Jennifer Jorvig and finished 24th overall at 23:27. Jacobs and Jorvig hoisted Middlebury to fourth in the 29-team pack.
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