Brewer football eager for test Damon is new Bapst coach

For the first time since its storied, undefeated, state championship season in 1970, Brewer’s varsity football team is 3-0.

Despite fielding a very young team with only three starters back on offense and four on defense, the Witches have excelled out of the gate with a combination of youthful enthusiasm, a leaner lineup, and a friendly opening schedule.

“A lot of people thought us playing two Class C teams wasn’t a big deal and then we played Fryeburg, which hasn’t won yet, so there are a lot of people who don’t totally believe in us,” said co-captain Ryan Hahl, one of only five seniors on the team.

The Witches, who have put 86 points on the scoreboard while giving up only seven, are coming off back-to-back shutouts, but they have a supreme test this week in fellow unbeaten and new kid on the Class B block Scarborough, which is in its first official season under Maine Principals’ Association auspices and a member of the Campbell Conference.

“We can’t afford to get too excited,” said senior split end-linebacker Ben Lam. “We need to show fans and other teams that we’re not just getting lucky and beating up bad teams. That’s why I can’t wait to play Scarborough.”

What’s the difference between last season, when Brewer limped out to an 0-5 start, and this one?

“I think it’s the whole mind frame our team has this year. We’re a lot more confident,” said Chris Cote, the Witches’ other co-captain who has been beset by injury troubles the last two years.

Head coach Josh Emmett said Cote is one of the main factors behind the team’s reversal this year.

“He’s playing better than we ever dreamed. He’s a special, tough, tough kid. He’s a real poster child for what you want in a football player,” Emmett said. “He missed a lot of time with a hip injury as a sophomore and last year, he played with a broken arm. This year he’s doing things that even in my best hopes, I never expected.”

Cote is one of the four chambers comprising the heart of Brewer’s split-six defense: the linebacking corps. The other three are Hahl, Lam, and Eric Trask.

Another key is Brewer’s secondary as Spencer Dunbar, Seth Emerson, Sean Collins and Jeremiah Richter have dealt out punishing hits usually seen from linebackers.

Emmett thinks Brewer’s youth may actually be a positive, especially with the strong veteran influence the seniors are providing.

“They had a lot of success as freshmen and JV. They expect to win and there’s no complacency there,” he said. “The challenge is keeping their enthusiasm welded to a desire to improve. Another good thing is they know they have a lot more work left to do.”

End of an era

Ray Thibodeau, the only varsity hockey coach John Bapst of Bangor has ever had, died unexpectedly from kidney failure and other complications last week at the age of 54.

Thibodeau coached Bapst from its inaugural 1991-92 season through last winter. He retired last spring because he wanted more free time for grandson Cameron.

“He said he just thought it was time so I reluctantly accepted his resignation,” said Bapst athletic director Mike Thomas.

The new coach is former Bangor Youth Hockey president and coach Doug Damon.

Thibodeau will be remembered for the tough, fair-minded way he handled his team.

“He was a great man and a gentleman, very much so,” Thomas said. “He was an old-school disciplinarian type. A hard driver, but fair. The kids genuinely liked him and that was evident because so many of them were at his funeral.”

Stars and Stripes forever

The coaches on Bangor’s football team came up with another way to honor America in addition to the moment of silence and the National Anthem Saturday night.

Their homage to the United States of America in the wake of last week’s terrorist attacks will last the entire season.

The coaches bought several sheets of stickers full of one inch-by-two inch United States’ flags and put a sticker on the back of each player’s helmet. Bangor’s players then offered their extra stickers to visiting Mt. Blue of Farmington. The Cougars gratefully accepted and put them on the backs of their helmets as well.

“I thought it was a great idea by our coaches,” said Rams tailback Buddy Nickerson. “It’s just another way we can remember the attacks and be patriotic.”

Andrew Neff’s High School Report is published each Wednesday. He can be reached at 990-8205 or aneff@bangordailynews.net.