PITTSFIELD, Maine — The Maine Central Institute football team enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2014, winning its first LTC championship in 14 years.
The Huskies’ pursuit of its first state title since 1974 fell short in a loss to Oak Hill of Wales, in part because lingering injuries to three of their top ballcarriers sidelined them during that 41-21 defeat.
With an abundance of players on the roster and two victories by a combined 131-0 to their credit so far this year, coach Tom Bertrand’s club has displayed even more depth at key positions as it attempts to defend its regional championship and complete what players have described as its “unfinished business” — winning the gold ball.
“This year we’ve got more than 55 kids, which is the most I’ve seen in a long time,” said MCI senior quarterback Greg Vigue, one of the team’s captains. “With that we can work more guys in during practice and that makes us better when we get out on the field. We can get a lot more guys in, keep legs fresh and that benefits us in every way.”
Perhaps nowhere are the Huskies more stocked with capable contributors than at running back and receiver.
Eleven different MCI players carried the ball at least once during last Friday’s 67-0 victory at Orono, led by junior halfback Willie Moss and senior fullback and captain Alex Bertrand.
Moss amassed 150 yards and three touchdowns on just 10 carries while playing only during the first half of the Orono win while Bertrand, a returning starter at fullback and also among the team’s defensive leaders at linebacker, adds a power element to the ground game.
Junior Eli Bussell is another top rushing threat, with juniors Aaron Noonan and Josh Buker, senior captain Brandon McKenna and classmate Braden Monteyro among Vigue’s favorite passing targets.
“We’re talking about some guys who played a lot of reps last year and some guys who are hungry and itching to get a chance to show us what they can do right behind them on their heels,” said coach Bertrand. “It creates competition within the team, but healthy competition, so that when we call on a number he’s ready to go.”
That skill-position depth is complemented by emerging play at the line of scrimmage paced by senior two-way end Dillon Fitts and senior tackle and captain Curtis McLeod, who also occasionally lines up at fullback and anchors the MCI defense from his tackle slot.
They are joined along the line of scrimmage by classmates Elijah Harvey, Alex Jones, Mike Steeves and Mike Westgate.
MCI also benefits from having a fourth-year starter at quarterback in Vigue, who has grown even more comfortable running the Huskies’ no-huddle offense.
“He’s got so much more confidence, he’s physically much stronger and he’s so much more of a leader,” said Bertrand. “Alex is our rah-rah guy and Greg is the guy who instills confidence in us and Curtis [McLeod] is dominant up front and Brandon is just solid all around, so for us to have those four guys as captains is great, but we’ve got a lot of senior leadership.
“But Greg has definitely developed into one of those key leaders and our kids follow him offensively, for sure.”
Despite the one-sided nature of its first two games — MCI has led by at least 50 points at intermission in each contest — the Huskies are concentrating on fine-tuning what they can control and not concerning themselves with victory margins.
“We’ve got to be prepared every week,” said Vigue, whose team visits 2-0 Mount View of Thorndike on Saturday afternoon. “We can’t assume we’re going to blow a team out. We’ve got to work hard, we’ve got to take care of business up front. We’ve just got to do our jobs.”
