Witches get big return by Ortego

Ed Ortego wasn’t planning to be back as head football coach at Brewer High School this fall, until his wife suggested he return for one more season.

Ortego’s wife, Nancy, moved back to Louisiana – where the family had lived until relocating to Maine in 1995 – last fall to take a teaching job in the nursing school at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, while Ortego remained in Maine.

Ortego planned to join his wife in the Bayou State after the most recent school year, but she helped changed his mind, at least for the short term.

“I’ve elected to coach for one more year,” said Ortego, a biology teacher who will remain at Brewer through the first semester of the 2005-06 school year before moving back to Louisiana. “It was a tough decision, and I wouldn’t have come back this year if she hadn’t suggested it.”

Ortego has compiled a 15-5 record in two seasons at Brewer, leading the Witches to a pair of Pine Tree Conference Class B playoff berths. Brewer picked up its first postseason win since 1970 with a 27-6 semifinal victory over Leavitt of Turner Center last fall before falling to Winslow 14-0 in the Eastern Maine Class B final.

Ortego spent 20 years as an Air Force fighter pilot before retiring to start a new career as a teacher and coach.

He served as a strength coach at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, working with the football team for a year and then joining the men’s basketball program, where he worked with the likes of Shaquille O’Neal.

He then was a high school coach in Baton Rouge for three years before moving to Maine.

Brewer, which is seeking its fourth straight playoff berth overall, opens its regular season Friday, Sept. 2, against Morse of Bath at Doyle Field in Brewer.

Rams on track after SLWS

The preseason practice routine has returned to normal for the reigning Eastern Maine Class A champion Bangor High football team.

It’s Week 2 of double sessions, with one practice in the morning and one in the late afternoon.

That represents a change from Week 1, when the Rams held two practices early in the day to accommodate eight players on the team who not only were getting ready for football season, but were changing out of their pads to don the uniforms of the Bangor Senior League baseball team that competed in the 2005 Senior League World Series.

That contingent consisted of quarterbacks Alex Gallant and Ian Edwards, as well as Tom Crews, Kyle Vanidestine, Shane Walton, Tyler McDade, Jimmy Batchelder and Tyler Brookings.

“We didn’t condition them much, and [offensive coordinator] John Tennett was very careful about Alex and Ian throwing very much because they were pitching on the baseball team,” said Bangor coach Mark Hackett, whose team will host Skowhegan in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. Saturday at Cameron Stadium before opening the regular season at Lewiston on Friday, Sept. 2.

Hackett and the Bangor football team had a similar conflict in 2004, but one difference this year was the Rams changed the times of their double sessions so they weren’t in conflict with Bangor’s Senior League games.

Bangor’s games at this year’s SLWS were all at 8 p.m., except for its first game, which was at noon on Sunday, Aug. 14, a day before football practices began.

“The way it worked out I think actually helped us,” said Hackett. “We think it’s great for all those kids to be playing baseball in the World Series in front of those big crowds.

“If we started the season this week, and we didn’t have another week of double sessions, I’d be a little more nervous. But the way it’s worked out this year, I think we’re right on schedule.”

Ernie Clark can be reached at 990-8045, 800-310-8600 or via e-mail at eclark@bangordailynews.net