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Last season, the Brewer Witches reached the promised land for the first time in six years.
“It was a good season, but not good enough,” said senior tri-captain and fullback-linebacker Eric Trask.
This season, they’ll try to go back and stick around a little longer.
After losing only four senior starters to graduation from a playoff team that went 7-3 last year, the Witches certainly think they have the makings of a successful potion to do just that.
“We have an opportunity this season,” said senior quarterback and tri-captain Sean Collins. “I remind the guys how people have looked at Brewer football in the past. This is a chance for us to change all that.”
Whether the Witches can rid themselves of a curse that’s prevented them from making back-to-back playoff appearances in at least 15 years depends on how powerful their magic is on the field.
“The expectations are different for us this year. Last year, we just wanted to compete and work hard and we were blessed with some success,” said fifth-year head coach and Brewer alumnus Josh Emmett. “Now they’re higher and we expect to win.”
In terms of depth and experience, two things the Witches didn’t have much of last year, Brewer appears primed to put a hex on LTC Class B opponents this season.
“We have a great backfield this year with plenty of guys who can run,” Emmett said. “We have three or four really good fullbacks, we’re in good shape with our linebackers, and I hope our attack is more differentiated because this is Sean’s third year at quarterback and we have about four or five really good receivers.”
Leading the ground game in Brewer’s wing-T attack is senior halfback and All-LTC first teamer Seth Emerson, the LTC’s third-leading rusher with 861 yards and nine touchdowns on 93 carries. Junior halfback Court Rancourt is another explosive runner with speed who should give Brewer a 1-2 punch.
Fullback is another area of strength as the Witches boast four who Emmett hopes to rotate in regularly. The two at the top of the depth chart are Trask and senior Josh Caldwell, who ran for 492 yards and 10 TDs last season.
Although the offensive backfield is a particular strength for Brewer, it’s by no means the only deep area on the team. In fact, despite having seven starters back on both sides of the line of scrimmage, Emmett expects only four or five players to be two-way starters.
“We could probably start 19 different kids and have maybe 35 or more get significant playing time in games,” Emmett said.
Although most players, especially the veterans on the squad, would like to get as much playing time as possible, the players are excited about the benefits that a more specialized starting lineup could provide.
“It’s pretty exciting. I think we’ll have a second-half team,” said Emerson. “And I think everyone will be able to concentrate better on their positions.”
“I think having more people involved will get everyone more excited about playing and feel like they’re a bigger part of the team,” said senior split end, placekicker, and punter Shawn Sutherland. “We won’t have to worry about saving anything for later. We can go all out every down.”
Defensively, the Witches will go all out from a split-six defensive scheme from a 4-4 defensive alignment up front. The split-six moves the defensive linemen more to the outside and plugs the center gap by moving up the two inside linebackers or covers the outside threat by moving up the outside linebackers, depending on the offensive formation.
“With a lot of the teams in this league being tight end-oriented, it should help us,” said Emmett. “It allows us to roll our coverage and funnel people to the point of attack.”
Emmett admits that his team is not only deeper than it was at the same point last season, it is much more experienced with many returning starters and players who logged an appreciable amount of game time last season.
“Last year, we were primarily sophomores and juniors. Now we’re mostly seniors and juniors,” he said.
And by the looks of things, it’s a motivated group of upperclassmen.
“We were really disappointed in the way we played in the playoffs,” said senior tri-captain and defensive lineman Matt Whalen. “I think with only four seniors, there wasn’t a sense of urgency, but now we need to take the next step and take care of some unfinished business.”
Whalen and Trask both said they don’t want to have a repeat of the 1996-1997 seasons, when Brewer followed up a strong 6-4 playoff season with an 0-9 campaign after jumping from Class B to A.
“It’s great to have a good season like last year, but to really get Brewer football back to where it used to be, we have to be a playoff contender every year,” said Whalen. “We don’t want to let anybody down. We want to get this program going again.”
To do that, the Witches must take another step. They took a big one last year by knocking off perennial power Belfast in the regular season, but then had their season ended rather rudely with a 36-8 loss to that same Belfast squad.
“I remember how that felt and I don’t want to feel that way again,” Trask said.
The next step involves being able to go toe to toe with established powers such as Belfast, Winslow, and Scarborough, another team the Witches are eager to get a rematch with after the Red Storm dealt them a 36-8 loss and a severe reality check midway through the 2001 season.
“We had a lot of lessons last year,” Collins said.
Now the Witches will see how well they’ve learned them.
BREWER WITCHES
2001 results: 7-3, third in LTC Class B
Head coach: Josh Emmett, 5th year
Key players: Sean Collins, QB, Sr.; Eric Trask, FB-LB, Sr.; Matt Whalen, DL, Sr.; Seth Emerson, HB, Sr.; Josh Caldwell, FB-LB, Sr.; Court Rancourt, HB-FS, Jr.; Shawn Sutherland, SE-PK-P, Sr.
Outlook: Brewer is poised to build on a successful 2001 playoff season and shapes up as one of the top three teams in the LTC ranks. Depth should help the Witches stay fresh and insulate themselves against injury problems. With the offense looking solid, the key to how long Brewer’s season lasts may rest with the defense, which must avoid giving up the big play – something the Witches were victimized by last season.
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