Jared Turcotte knows about second chances.

Six weeks ago, the supremely gifted Lewiston tailback sat on an aluminum bench at Madison High School with his head in his hands and wondered if he’d ever get a second chance.

His left knee was wobbly and in pain. Based on the movement in the joint, the trainer thought he may have torn a ligament, or worse.

Turcotte wondered if he’d be able to play football again, not just this season, but ever. He wondered if his life was about to change.

“I was scared ,” he said.

The injury turned out to be less serious than initially feared, a partially torn MCL. He missed one game. The Blue Devils were a tentative team without him, and not surprisingly, they suffered their only shutout loss of the season (26-0 to Lawrence) with him sidelined.

Following a bye week, doctors cleared him to return against Mt. Ararat. The coaching staff held him back a little that night, but when Turcotte took the field in Topsham, all there was to remind him of his inner turmoil in Madison was the brace on his left knee.

The power, the speed, the devastating stiff-arm – it was all there, almost immediately. By Week 8, it was all back to 100 percent, and so was Lewiston’s confidence. After he shredded Brunswick for 334 yards and five touchdowns, the Devils started dreaming about a playoff rematch of what was The Game of the Year for 2005, Mt. Blue’s 35-34 squeaker over Lewiston in Week 2.

But those hopes were dashed when the Devils were done in by circumstances beyond their control Friday night. Skowhegan and Lawrence both won, erasing Lewiston out of the PTC playoff picture.

No disrespect to those two teams, but we wuz robbed – robbed of a second chance to see Blue-on-Blue again, robbed of at least one more chance to see Turcotte run this year.

Perhaps they did us a favor though, because there was no way we could take Lewiston’s final game of the 2005 season for granted, even if it wasn’t his best game of the year.

Running against a fired-up Edward Little defense yesterday, Turcotte had to earn every yard he got. He collected 201 yards and three TDs on 37 carries, putting him unofficially at 1,729 yards and 21 TDs for the season (in eight games, remember). Knowing it was the last time he would have the best spot in the house to watch Turcotte, senior QB Chris Ford enjoyed every bit of it.

“He sees the field,” said Ford, whose own unavailability for several games due to knee problems hurt the Devils’ playoff chances this year, too. “He makes the cut before the defense can get to him. They overpursue, he cuts back against them, maybe runs one or two kids over, then he’s in the end zone.”

While he’d had more dominant games running the ball, Turcotte proved he’s more than just a great tailback by changing the game in so many other areas (seven tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery on defense, a two-point conversion pass off a fake extra point).

He got his bell rung making a tackle late in the third quarter, and had to sit out a couple of series, but this time there was no doubt whether he would come back. When the offense took the field with an eight-point lead and 2:41 left, he was back in the huddle. Fittingly, the workhorse who averaged about 35 carries a game this year took the handoff on the final seven plays of the season.

After the game, he shook hands with his teammates, including the all-senior offensive line that helped pave the way for him this season. It felt like the end of an era to Turcotte.

“Without my offensive line, I’m nothing,” he said. “I feel like I’m a senior now. I feel like that was my last game, you know what I mean?”

But it’s not his last game. He’ll be back next year, running behind a new line. He’ll have a busy 10 months until then, playing basketball in the winter, keeping his grades up in the spring (he has a 94 GPA), turning some heads at football camps in the summer, reading countless letters and answering numerous phone calls from who knows how many salivating recruiters, all the while working toward the unenviable task of trying to top this season.

“I want to get faster, stay in the weight room, keep my bulk up (but) not gain too much weight,” said the 6-foot-1, 215-pounder. “I want to run a 4.5 (40-yard dash. He runs a 4.65 now) by the beginning of next year. I’ll have to work hard for it.”

Rest assured, he will. Success will not go to this young man’s head. His coaches, teammates, athletic administrators all talk about how grounded Turcotte is, how he’s as good a student or teammate or kid as they’ll ever know.

He may already be the best football player they’ll ever know.

“He’s the most gifted tailback that I’ve ever had, and I’ve had some great ones,” said County, who coached the likes of Jim Ray and Jeff Dube at Leavitt.

“And, of course,” he added, “the best thing about him is, he’s only a junior.”

If you missed him this year, don’t be so foolish next year. In Sept. 2006, you’ll get a second chance to see him. We all will.

Randy Whitehouse is a staff writer. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]