Foxcroft’s big hitters learned game quickly McPhee, Pelletier started sport aas freshmen

DOVER-FOXCROFT – They may be two of the least experienced players in the Foxcroft Academy football program.

But Josh Pelletier and James McPhee may also be two of the biggest hitters in the state.

Neither began playing the sport until arriving at Foxcroft as freshmen in 2002. Pelletier had played soccer, while McPhee grew up in Baileyville, where football wasn’t part of the local athletic equation.

Four years later, they are two pivotal members of a Foxcroft team that will attempt to win its second Class C state title in the last three years Saturday when it faces Lisbon at Portland’s Fitzpatrick Stadium.

Pelletier and McPhee have the look of linemen, with Pelletier at 6-foot-3, 235 pounds and McPhee at 5-foot-11, 215. And Pelletier does anchor the Ponies’ offensive front as a starting tackle, while McPhee has rushed for more than 800 yards from his fullback slot.

But they may be even more important to Foxcroft’s 10-1 run this fall on defense, where they work side-by-side at inside linebacker.

“James played there last year along with [graduated Fitzpatrick Trophy finalist] Bobby [Gilbert], so he had that year of experience,” said Foxcroft coach Paul Withee. “Josh had always played defensive end and was a force, but I thought that if I kept him at end a lot of teams would probably just go to the opposite side.

“I wanted to try him standing up to see if he had all the things you look for as a coach to play inside linebacker. It’s a great place to play in our defense because you get the opportunity to make a lot of tackles.”

Pelletier adapted to his new position well enough to lead the Ponies in tackles, with McPhee not far behind.

And a week ago, they sparked a defensive effort that limited Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln to 49 rushing yards on 27 carries as the Ponies earned a 28-14 victory in the Eastern Maine final.

We just clicked together,” said Pelletier. “At the beginning of the season I had no idea what I was doing at linebacker. James was trying to help me, but I was completely clueless. But we just talked to each other, and now we read our sides perfectly.”

McPhee sees their success as a complementary relationship.

“Most of the time Josh closes up the middle, while I’m a little faster and can get to the outside,” he said. “If they see him in the middle they usually try to bounce to the outside, and I think I’m fast enough to get to there most of the time.”

That athleticism is enhanced by their participation in other sports, including wrestling, in which Pelletier is a two-time Class C state champion at 215 pounds while McPhee is the reigning champ at 189.

“When you’re wrestling you definitely have to stay low in your stance,” said Pelletier, “When you tackle someone, you can’t always stay up high, you have to get down low in a stance. You’ve got to get low and explode and use your hips and legs and arms.”

In one sport, it’s a tackle. In the other, it’s a takedown.

“I made one tackle last week where I grabbed the guy’s leg and all I could think of was doing a double-leg takedown, so I grabbed his other leg and took him down,” McPhee said.

McPhee, Pelletier and the rest of a Foxcroft defense that has allowed an average of just 7.6 points per game over the last eight weeks face one more challenge this year – that of a Lisbon offense led by senior running back Levi Ervin, who reportedly is drawing the recruiting attention of Division I-AA college coaches.

The Ponies feel well equipped to address that challenge.

“We’ve got two kids in the middle who are pretty special in Josh and James,” said Withee after the EM final. “They run a lot of things down and can make you look pretty good as a defensive coach with the things they can do on the defensive side of the ball. But I think we’ve got a lot of kids who really understand about flying to the football, staying at home with their responsibilities, and really, really getting at it.

“I think that’s one aspect of our game that I thought was going to be good, but it’s gotten better and better each week. It doesn’t hurt to have two behemoths like those guys, and they’re just great kids. They’ve done a tremendous job.”