PITTSFIELD, Maine — At the depths of their football growing pains, the Maine Central Institute football players identified a goal that may have seemed unlikely at the time.
Barely 24 months later, the Huskies have evolved from a youthful, winless 2012 squad to a veteran team on the brink of the school’s first football state championship since 1974.
MCI (10-0) will face defending state champion Oak Hill of Wales (10-1) for the Class D title at 2:36 p.m. Saturday in Portland.
“Our kids made a commitment two years ago,” said MCI head coach Tom Bertrand, “and I guarantee there’s no team that’s trained harder during the offseason than we have. It’s just nice for the kids to get the reward for that and have the chance to play for a state title.”
The finalists feature explosive offenses and defenses that have grown increasingly stifling as the weather has chilled.
“Honestly, they’re a lot like us,” said Bertrand. “If I was to compare them to somebody I’d compare them to us.”
MCI is paced by senior halfback Jonathan Santiago, who led the LTC in rushing as a junior and was among the conference leaders this fall until being sidelined by injury for nearly a month. He’s come back to rush for 265 yards and four touchdowns in the Huskies’ first two playoff wins.
Classmate Eric Hathaway — also sidelined for several weeks by injury — and junior fullback Alex Bertrand add a physical presence to MCI’s rushing attack, while junior quarterback Greg Vigue teams with seniors Austin Tolman and Mitchell Hallee to provide a productive passing game.
MCI’s defense has yielded just one touchdown in postseason victories over Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln (20-0) and Bucksport (21-7).
Oak Hill, which outscored Bucksport 42-35 last year for its first state crown since 1982, has been nearly as stingy in playoff wins over Maranacook of Readfield (7-6), Dirigo of Dixfield (25-6) and Lisbon (7-6).
Coach Stacen Doucette’s Raiders feature senior running backs Kyle Flaherty and Alex Mace. Each has exceeded 1,000 rushing yards this fall — Mace with 1,378 yards and 19 TDs, while Flaherty has 1,156 yards and 13 scores despite missing three games because of an injury.
“I think they have the two best players in Western Maine Class D on their team, their running backs,” said Bertrand.
MCI’s football team bused to the Class C state final between Foxcroft Academy and Winslow after its 0-8 season in 2012 to get a feel for the atmosphere of playing for a state crown.
Oak Hill, though, has the vivid memory of walking off the artificial turf of Fitzpatrick Stadium as a champion just 12 months ago.
“You have to take into account that they’re the defending state champions,” said Bertrand. “They’ve been down there and done it. This is new to us. We’d like to think our experience in the postseason is going to be a plus for us, but this is certainly a big game.
“We’re excited about going down there and playing, and we’re certainly not intimidated by that fact, but we’re respectful of the fact they’ve been there, they’ve done it, and they hold the title we want,” he said.
