DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — Many of the approximately 90 football players who arrived Sunday at Foxcroft Academy for training camp in advance of the 27th annual Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic spent the previous few weeks working out privately to prepare for the physical demands of the all-star experience.
But not Jeff Lewis.
The recent Bangor High School graduate didn’t even know he’d be part of the East squad for the annual charity game for the Shriners Hospitals for Children until the phone rang at his home late Sunday morning.
“Around 10:45 my coach [Alan Mosca] called me but I was still sleeping,” said Lewis, who played quarterback and safety as a senior at Bangor last fall. “He called my dad and my dad woke me up and then I called my coach back and got the word that I could come.”
Lewis figured his football career had ended when Bangor played its final game of the 2015 season, but given one more opportunity to play when a roster spot opened up on the brink of the Lobster Bowl camp, his was an easy decision.
“A lot of feelings were coming in but there was just no way I could turn it down,” said Lewis of the chance to play in the 27th annual Lobster Bowl, set for 4 p.m. Saturday at historic Waterhouse Field in Biddeford. “I just got all my stuff together and took the trip up.
“It was a no-brainer.”
Lewis missed the initial East team meeting but arrived in time for the first practice session.
“We had a young man drop out late,” said East head coach Bob Sinclair of Orono High School, “and when [Lewis] was asked he dropped everything and said, ‘I’m coming,’ and he’s been great.”
Lewis, who will attend Maine Maritime Academy in Castine this fall but doesn’t plan to play football for the Mariners, had been working out on his own but not with a particular goal in mind.
“I didn’t have the drive because I really had no reason to do it,” said Lewis. “I’m just relying on mental strength to get through it.”
Lewis admits the early stages of training camp — the East and West squads each had gone through seven practices from Sunday through Tuesday morning — were challenging.
“It’s been rough,” he said, “but by the end of the week I’ll be ready to go. Overall I feel football is more of a mental game. You need that mental strength to succeed.”
Even as a last-minute addition, Lewis said the benefits of competing in the Lobster Bowl will far outweigh its demands.
“It’s a good experience getting everybody from my conference on the same team and meeting people that I’ve been playing against for years now and coming together as a team to perform on Saturday,” he said.
Lewis will play defense as the East seeks to avenge last July’s 45-21 loss and score its third win in the last four years — the West holds an 18-8 overall lead in the series.
“On short notice [defense] is a little easier, but either way it would have been all right,” said Lewis. “I enjoy defense a lot because it’s pretty much just go.
“The big thing is it’s just one more time playing high school ball, going out there and giving it everything.”
