BREWER, Maine — Brewer High School football star Trey Wood will get the chance to follow his father’s footsteps into the Division I collegiate ranks.
The 6-foot, 240-pound halfback and linebacker will join the University of Maine football program as a walk-on beginning with the Black Bears’ preseason camp this August.
“The guys who get invited to camp in August are guys that we really think can contribute to the team in the future,” said UMaine football head coach Joe Harasymiak.
Wood starred on both offense and defense for coach Nick Arthers’ Brewer club and after last season was named a finalist for the James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy, symbolic of the state’s top high school senior football player and sportsman.
Wood rushed for 2,014 yards with an average of 6.5 yards per carry and scored 27 touchdowns and eight, two-point conversions for coach Nick Arthers’ Witches in 2016 after playing fullback on offense earlier in his career.
The team captain also made 83 tackles (25 solos) with a pass interception and three fumble recoveries as 8-2 Brewer reached the Class B North final before dropping a 14-12 decision to undefeated Brunswick, which went on to defeat Kennebunk in the state championship game.
Wood’s father, Ray Wood Jr., helped Orono High School earn back-to-back trips to the Class C state final in 1984 and 1985 and earned All-LTC first-team honors as a running back, defensive end-linebacker and place-kicker.
Wood Jr. went on to rank among UMaine’s leading rushers as both a sophomore and junior fullback in 1987 and 1988. He played for the 1987 club that qualified for the NCAA playoffs.
“We’ve been interested in Trey since the spring and summer of his junior year,” said Harasymiak. “He came to a bunch of our camps over the summer, did a great job, and then as he went through the fall had a pretty dominating season playing both offense and defense.
“His father played here, too, so he’s got some ties to the program, and we’re excited about getting him here in the fall.”
Harasymiak acknowledged the physical nature of Wood’s play at the high school level as one recruiting attraction.
“It’s hard to see that physicality in the camps because there’s no contact there,” he said, “but obviously in his highlight tape and Hudl film that we watched online from his games this past fall he dominated his opposition.
“Now what’s key for every kid who comes to a Division I school is that you’re always the best kid on your team in high school probably and now you’re playing with all the best players, so if he can transition that physicality to the college level and do those things he should have a great career.”
Wood also has competed in hockey and outdoor track at Brewer.
