PITTSFIELD, Maine — All high school football teams fancy themselves as family, with the personal sacrifices players make for the benefit of the group in this most physical of sports serving to forge relationships that often extend far beyond mere blood, sweat and tears.
Alex Bertrand knows that well.
As a junior fullback and linebacker for the Maine Central Institute football team, he’s become part of what the Huskies describe as their “brotherhood,” a team that plays together and stays together whether on the football field, in the weight room, or anywhere else around school.
But the family aspect of Bertrand’s relationship with the team doesn’t stop outside those lines.
His dad is MCI head coach Tom Bertrand, and younger brother Adam is a freshman on the football team. Together the Huskies’ quest for their first state championship since 1974 truly has been a family affair.
“I love playing for my dad,” said Alex, whose Huskies fell to Oak Hill of Wales 41-21 in Saturday’s title game at Portland’s Fitzpatrick Stadium. “It’s a little hard at times because he is my father and I am a player, but I don’t know what it would be like with him not being my coach. I love him being my coach.”
Tom Bertrand, an offensive lineman and linebacker during his playing days at MCI, returned to his alma mater in 2001 as head coach after a stint at Stearns High School in Millinocket — MCI won its last regional title in 2000 by defeating Bertrand’s Minutemen 22-14 in overtime of the LTC championship game.
And Alex Bertrand and younger brother Adam soon were integrated into the Huskies’ football feeder system.
“We started the program when I first got here, and Alex was one of the first ones to be part of the first- and second-grade team. We got going right there,” said Tom Bertrand, a 1990 MCI graduate who now serves as the school’s dean of student life.
Tom Bertrand has been an active participant in his sons’ sporting development, whether in football, basketball or baseball.
“Through youth football he’s been hands-on with all of the kids who are here now,” said Alex. “That’s helped a lot now that we’re in high school.”
Now that the sons are on the father’s high school team, the football relationship is even more direct.
“We’ve been waiting a long time for them to come up through,” said Tom. “It’s bittersweet because now they’re old enough to be up here so they’re nearing their adult years, but certainly I’ve been looking forward to coaching them for a long time.”
And, indeed, while the football relationship among the Bertrands is now as close as it gets, it’s never been very distant.
“They’d travel with me to trade films and they’d come scout games with me, and they’ve always loved it a lot,” said Tom. “Now we talk football a lot, not so much about ‘You screwed up here,’ or ‘You should be doing that,’ but the love of football permeates through our entire household. It’s something we all share.”
Separating family relationships from team roles can be challenging at times.
“You try too hard to make that distinction but it’s there,” said Tom. “You want to be objective and fair and everything else, but when it comes down to it they’re your sons and it certainly plays a factor but it doesn’t take away from the experience at all, for sure.”
And the sons are understanding of the need for such a distinction, at least during practices and on game day.
“He’s very positive, he sets the example for where our team needs to be, but it’s hard sometimes,” said Alex, one of the team’s four captains. “There’s times when I need to push myself harder and he expects more out of me than some of the other players, but that’s just my job to show him I can do it.”
Both Bertrand sons played significant roles in helping MCI complete its season with a 10-1 record.
Alex was the Huskies’ leading tackler during the regular season, with 76 stops to go with three quarterback sacks, two fumble recoveries and a pass interception. He also was among the team’s leading rushers with 388 yards and eight touchdowns on 88 carries — as well as providing his share of crushing lead blocks for backfield mates Jonathan Santiago, Eric Hathaway and quarterback Greg Vigue.
“I could easily be an offensive lineman,” he said.
Adam Bertrand has seen regular duty on special teams and provided a boost on offense and defense during much of the regular season when both Santiago and Hathaway were sidelined by injury.
The younger Bertrand averaged 8.0 yards per carry and scored two touchdowns on offense while contributing 22 tackles and two fumble recoveries on defense.
“I love having him on the team, but he is my brother,” said Alex. “He’s quicker and faster than me, but he’s inexperienced just like any freshman would be. Once he gets to be a senior, he’s going to be a really good football player.”
Both Bertrand sons will be back next season, defending the Huskies’ titles of LTC and Eastern Maine Class D champion.
It will be different, however, because while their family ties will be as strong as ever, the MCI football brotherhood will undergo a transformation inevitable with graduation each year.
“Both of them are struggling right now with as you finish a season knowing that it’s going to be over and knowing they’re not going to be able to play with these seniors again,” said Tom Bertrand. “But they’ve seen it year after year being ballboys coming up through and now they’re actually living it, so definitely it’s an emotional time.”
