DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — When Waterville hosted Foxcroft Academy to open the high school football season two months ago, there wasn’t a flake of snow to be found.
Waterville pulled away to a 36-14 victory, in part due to a defensive strategy designed to contain Foxcroft senior halfback Peter Boyer.
Those teams are scheduled to meet again Saturday with a berth in the Eastern Maine Class C championship game on the line, but this defensive challenge will be vastly different for the Purple Panthers.
While Boyer amassed 1,262 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns in leading Foxcroft to a 6-2 regular-season record good for third place in the division behind top-ranked Winslow and No. 2 Waterville, no longer is he a singular offensive threat for the Ponies.
The shift of junior Hunter Smith from wide receiver — he’s a college prospect at that position — to quarterback in Week 3 of the season has been among the most notable positional shifts of the season statewide.
With Smith adding nearly 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground since moving behind center, the duo combined for more than 300 rushing yards a game over the final six weeks of the regular season, helping the Ponies come within a one-point loss to Winslow of being unbeaten during that run.
That success continued during last week’s 35-20 Eastern C quarterfinal victory over Mount Desert Island.
“We knew coming into the season we were going to be challenged getting Hunter the ball enough,” said Foxcroft coach Danny White. “After the first two weeks of the season we made the move and it was the combination of a couple of things, not getting him the ball enough and Peter having to work really hard to get going.
“Since we made the move Peter’s gone from five yards per carry to about nine, and we just couldn’t afford to go through the season with Hunter just catching the ball four or five times.”
Both Boyer and Smith come from athletic backgrounds.
Boyer’s father, Donald, played offensive tackle at Temple University, while older brother Donnie now plays at Carnegie Mellon University.
Smith’s dad also played quarterback at Foxcroft, but Dean Smith is better known as one of the top basketball players in University of Maine history as well as the namesake for the Dean Smith Award, presented annually to the university’s top scholar-athletes.
The sons have rapidly growing athletic resumes of their own. Boyer also stars in the sprints and shot put in indoor and outdoor track, while Smith is an all-conference basketball player and last spring won the Class C state championship in the high jump.
Together Boyer and Smith have found similar success on the gridiron with their complementary styles.
“Hunter has that ability to run by people, where Peter is more likely to run through people,” said White. “I think they really complement each other in that regard, where Peter will really wear down a defense and get them on their heels and Hunter’s fast enough to run through any seam.”
Boyer and Smith also are capitalizing on the space created by the Ponies’ new spread formation behind the blocking of a developing offensive line that includes Brandon Brock, Clay Carroll, Sean Cody, Brandon Dyer, Kaleb Faloon, Jimmy Smith and Matt Storer.
While the linemen engage in their blocks, Smith and Boyer often leave defenses guessing as to which one will carry the football until the last second.
“We’ve got to be kind of like Tom Brady and Gronk, we’ve got to have that connection where we do a lot of reads and meshing so at the snap I can either give the ball to Pete or take it,” said Smith, referring to the relationship between the New England Patriots’ quarterback and tight end Rob Gronkowski. “We both have to be of the same mindset.”
Last week the Ponies added a twist to their typical run-oriented attack — an aerial game.
Smith, who completed just four passes during the regular season, went 6 for 10 for 78 yards and two touchdowns during the playoff win over MDI.
“Developing the passing game really opens up the run game,” said Boyer, “because it makes the defense have to worry about both.”
The complementary relationship extends to the defense, with Boyer at inside linebacker and Smith at free safety.
“Peter has allowed Hunter to play an honest safety position, whereas in years past we may have been a little bit too aggressive in the secondary and relied on those kids to make more tackles,” said White. “Hunter still makes his fair share of tackles but he’s been way more involved in the pass game because he knows he can rely on the guys up front to make plays.”
The Purple Panthers (7-1) likely will again focus on Boyer, but Smith’s presence in the Ponies’ backfield should serve to divide their defensive attention.
“They’re an entirely different team than they were when they lost to Waterville in Week 1,” said MDI coach Mark Shields. “Now [Smith] touches the ball every play, and when you’ve got your best athlete touching the ball every play, that’s a smart offense.
“Waterville’s going to have to scheme him up, and he’s a tough guy to scheme up.”
