Joe Esposito, a running back and linebacker who led Portland High School to the Class A North championship this fall, has been named the 2015-2016 Gatorade Maine Football Player of the Year.
The 6-foot-1, 198-pound senior rushed for 1,795 yards and 26 touchdowns on 256 carries in 11 games this season for coach Jim Hartman’s Bulldogs, who finished with a 10-1 record.
He ranked second among Class A North rushers during the regular season with 1,057 yards and 16 touchdowns on 143 carries, then added 738 yards and 10 more touchdowns in three postseason games as Portland remained undefeated until falling to Thornton Academy 24-14 in the state championship game Nov. 21.
The Class A North Player of the Year also caught seven passes for 198 yards and four touchdowns, while defensively the two-time All-Region first-team selection recorded 124 tackles, 1½ quarterback sacks, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions, one he returned for a touchdown.
“Joe Esposito was the best player we saw this season,” Oxford Hills of South Paris head coach Mark Soehren said. “He is big, fast and strong. He is fundamentally the best player we played against.”
Esposito also has maintained an A average in the classroom and was named to the Class A North all-academic team this year. A Portland High School ambassador for incoming freshmen, he has volunteered locally with the Stuff the Bus food drive and as part of multiple community-service initiatives through his church.
He has yet to determine where he will attend college.
Esposito is the third Gatorade Maine Football Player of the Year to be chosen from Portland High School, following Quinton Porter (2001) and Carl Frye (2003).
Esposito joins Joe Fitzpatrick (2014-15, Cheverus of Portland), Ben Lucas (2013-14, Cony of Augusta), Andrew Libby (2012-13, Thornton Academy), Louis DiTomasso (2011-12, Wells), Peter Gwilym (2010-11, Cheverus), Jack Mallis (2009-10, Windham), Jack Heary (2008-09, Deering of Portland) and Justin Villacci (2007-08, Gorham) as recent Gatorade Maine Football Player of the Year honorees.
