BIDDEFORD – Walk onto the field at Biddeford High School and you might not be sure of just who you are watching.

It’s supposed to be a practice session for the 2000 Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic, the midsummer football game that pits senior all-stars from the East against their West counterparts.

So what are all these players from Eastern Maine schools like Bangor High, Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln, Rockland and Winslow doing with a sticker from Western Maine’s Edward Little of Auburn on their helmets?

It’s all part of the atmosphere of the Lobster Bowl, in which the best recently graduated football players in the state spend the week living at the University of New England, getting to know one another and practicing three times a day, six days of the week. The players bring their schools’ emblems to trade among the group.

“You try to get as many stickers as you can on there,” said Mt. Blue of Farmington defensive back J.R. Moreau.

Another activity in which the players, cheerleaders and coaches participated earlier this week was a trip to the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children in Springfield, Mass. The group left Monday morning and spent the day interacting with the patients whom the Lobster Bowl benefits.

Kickoff for Friday’s game is at 7:30 p.m. at Waterhouse Field here. All of the net proceeds of the game benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children.

“It was an awesome trip,” said John Bapst of Bangor’s Matt Fisher, an all-LTC Class C defensive back. “We got to see the facilities and play with the kids. It was a good time.”

Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln coach Tom Whitney, who is the East head coach, said he was impressed with the players’ interaction with the children.

“They were just amazing at the hospital,” he said. “A lot of the kids signed and gave away their hats. It gave them some free time, and they were very respectful, very gentlemanlike. I think it puts things in perspective for them.”

Cataract changes Cooper’s plans

The football rivalry between Bangor and Brewer has cooled over the years as the two schools no longer play each other in the regular season, and Rams’ standout Stuart Cooper decided to put a Brewer football sticker on the back of his helmet.

Three months ago Cooper was set to finish with his football career and accept his appointment to West Point, where he would join an older brother who also had a commission to the prestigious U.S. Military Academy.

But one phone call at the end of May changed all of that, and now the recent Bangor High graduate is heading to St. Anselm’s College in Manchester, N.H. He’ll get to play football in the school’s fledgling program and be with his girlfriend, but it won’t be the same.

Cooper has a cataract in his left eye and is nearly blind in that eye. He can play football, but the Army told him he wasn’t commissionable.

He was disappointed to hear the news, he said during a break from Tuesday’s afternoon practice session.

“My older brother is going to be a senior so I’ve learned all about the Army and I like the whole organization, the tradition,” said Cooper, who was twice a second-team all-Pine Tree Conference pick. “It’s like one big family. It was a letdown, but now I get to go to college with my girlfriend [Melissa Turner].”

West Point called him in late May, which is too late to apply to most schools. But St. Anselm’s has a rolling admissions policy, by which a school accepts students as they apply rather than having a cutoff application date. Cooper applied and was accepted.

“I lucked out,” he said. “They told me that if West Point accepted me, I was probably perfect for them. I plan on playing football, or at least trying out.”

Bard to play in second all-star game

Practices leading up to the Lobster Bowl can get intense – three-a-days in the summer heat can do that to you. But at least one member of the East team can appreciate the amount of practice that the senior all-stars go through in the week leading up to the game.

Patrick Bard, the Winslow quarterback who is also a baseball standout, is one of the only Lobster Bowl players to be invited to both the Senior All-Star baseball game and the Shrine football game. Lisbon’s Jeremy Shorey was invited to both but was picked by the Milwaukee Brewers in the Major League Baseball draft and signed with the Brewers so he will wind up missing both games.

Bard said there’s big difference between the all-star baseball and football games.

“In the baseball game, while the game was going on, we were all down in the dugout, talking, because we only had one night to meet each other,” said Bard, an LTC player of the year nominee and a two-time first-team all-conference quarterback. “Here you come down for a whole week, go swimming, order pizza, spend time on the buses. It’s great. You can’t go two feet without hearing one person telling a story about a memory from this past season.”

Six players Maine Maritime-bound

Friday’s game may signal the end of Bard’s high school career, but it also heralds the beginning of his college years, which will begin this fall at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine.

Other East football all-stars headed to MMA include Old Town linebacker Seth Holmes and Bucksport linebacker Ronnie Hutchins. Bard said they have already formed a friendship.

“We’ve talked and we’re all pretty excited about being teammates again,” Bard said. “It’s kind of a preview of next year for us, so it’s been fun.”

West all-stars who plan to attend Maine Maritime include York High’s Ben McKay, Eric Whitaker of Fryeburg Academy and Winthrop’s Zach Therien.

Tickets for game are still available

Advanced reserved tickets for Friday’s game are $10. General admission tickets are $7 in advance and $8 at the gate on game day. Call the Kora Temple in Lewiston, 782-6821, for more information.