Comparison to ’70 Witches inevitable

To say that Ralph Payne was a good football player in his day would be a gross understatement.

One night, an eon ago, I sat in Brewer athletic director Dennis Kiah’s family room, along with Payne, and watched films of the 1970 Brewer football team.

You may have heard of it. It’s the one that went 11-0, scored 448 points and won the state Class A championship. The one that was ranked fifth in the nation and No. 1 on the East Coast.

It was a team of which legends are made. Stories of mythical proportions are told. When I first heard the stories, I was told they would dress 100 players for home games. Now it’s 150.

They would dress at the high school and march down to Doyle Field. One hundred players, in cleats walking down Wilson Street. Legends say the noise was deafening. That the Witches’ opponents would stop their warm-up to see what was causing the noise.

Then Brewer would take a lap around the playing field and come to a stop, the opposition completely surrounded by Witches.

It was an intimidating sight. So much so that legend has it opposing coaches kept their teams on the bus until Brewer made its entrance.

Ralph Payne was no myth. He was the real deal. After watching the tapes and watching him run the ball, I wrote a story about Payne. I called him a ghost for the way he made defenders miss.

Payne’s football career ended after high school. Although Penn State was interested in him, Payne wasn’t prepared for college.

But, man, could he play. He combined speed, power, and grace, unbelievable grace. He was Astaire in cleats. Dancing, spinning.

He was at the Witches’ game last Friday night against Old Town. He said it was the first game he’d been to this year. He splits his time each day between loading trucks for UPS and working his family farm in Orrington.

And Ralph Payne has seen them play. He likes the way they look, the way they play.

“I think they look good. They seem to have a real balanced attack. They’re not one-dimensional. They have a couple of good backs, and the quarterback throws a nice ball,” Payne said.

It has been 32 years since Ralph Payne last wore a Brewer football uniform, but he can still make people miss.

It has also been that long since Brewer was this deep into the season undefeated. The Witches are 7-0 and headed to Belfast Friday night for a Class B showdown with the Lions.

Asked the inevitable comparison question, Payne laughs. He talks about a former teammate recently having a 50th birthday party and that a bunch of them talked about going to the Belfast game.

But that’s not answering the question. It was mental Astaire, dancing around the question.

“I’m trying to be gentle and be as diplomatic as possible,” Payne said, chuckling.

But the answer is coming, maybe.

“We played in a different era. The only way to prove something would be to play it on the field. Since that can’t transpire, it’s easy for me to stand back, and of course, I’m totally biased, but we won’t go much farther than that.”

For years, Payne played flag football to keep in shape. But he has given it up.

“I’m past playing now. I have to work every day. The sprained ankles. The pulled muscles. Playing at 50 might be a thought. But it would be a bad one.”

But back to the question.

“When we played, we played in the Class A league. We played Portland, Cheverus, Biddeford and Bangor. When we played, soccer wasn’t played, so we got all of those extra athletes.”

He won’t come right out and say it, but it’s there. The 1970 team was better, and that’s not to take anything away from the current Brewer team. It is good in its own right.

But it’s hard to beat a legend. Especially a legend with Payne’s moves.

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600, dperryman@bangordailynews.net.