DOVER-FOXCROFT – Bundled up against the cold, Chris Almy mingled Friday afternoon with Foxcroft Academy football players as they practiced for their state championship game the next day in Portland.

As the teenagers grunted and chanted while maneuvering through their exercises, Almy flitted here and there, sometimes speaking with them, sometimes barking a command.

By day, he’s a lawyer, serving as district attorney for Piscataquis and Penobscot counties. By nights, weekends and almost any other time during football season, he is a volunteer assistant coach for the Dover-Foxcroft football team.

Friday’s practice was hardly routine: The school was preparing for a Class C state championship. On Saturday, the team, coached by Paul Withee, a math teacher and 16th-year head coach, lost a 12-7 heartbreaker to Lisbon in Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

But Almy hopes something else is never lost on the team members:

“You want them to recognize that they’re not just a member of a football team but also of a community, and that they have a responsibility to the community, and when they get older perhaps they can sense that and carry that into their adult lives.”

Withee said he has found that his assistant coach is as passionate about keeping his football players out of trouble as he is at putting criminals behind bars.

So when Almy approached Withee this fall with the idea of having the freshmen players spend a day in a courtroom with him to see how the judicial system works, Withee supported it. “I would think that the education they’re getting out of the court system is just as valuable as spending the day in classes,” he said.

Almy said he had been considering the idea for some time.

“It gives me a way to get acquainted with these guys in a different setting,” he said. “It may be that kids who are on the edge may make different decisions because of this experience.

“One of my goals is to just acquaint these young kids with what goes on in the courts and, hopefully, get them to realize that, you know, participating in sports and especially in the football program is a lot better than spending your time in an idle way that could get you into trouble.”

Not surprisingly, the courtroom visits have left some strong impressions on the players.

“I wouldn’t want to be in a situation where I had to stand in front of a judge and have him tell me what my life would be for the next month or year,” said Foxcroft Academy freshman Dan Moriarty.

The experience made him more determined to be on the “good side,” and he said he would like to become a lawyer.

Freshman Connor Paydos saw the business side of Almy that is far different from what Almy exhibits on the field. “I definitely would never want to go to court in my life,” he said.

Almy said he is fascinated by their reactions. “They get to see what happens to people if they get in trouble. They get to see how serious it is. They get to see the idea that people can go to jail and the consequences of misbehavior. And let’s face it: Kids who play football are quite often right on the edge.”

Almy, 56, has been coaching at the school for nearly eight years.

He can exhibit considerable energy beyond the football field and the courtroom.

On Sunday, Almy competed in the Brewer Turkey Trot 5-kilometer race, finishing in a respectable 19 minutes, 49 seconds.

Withee said Almy just started showing up for practices at Foxcroft Academy.

“We’d be trying to run off some plays, and [Almy] would be in the middle of where the guys were that were supposed to be running the plays and then I’d have to start yelling at him,” Withee said.

Seeing Almy’s interest, Withee asked the prosecutor if he wanted to become involved as an assistant coach. “He would ask a thousand questions. He was like a sponge. He couldn’t get enough of it,” Withee said.

Now Almy has become so comfortable on the field and among the football players that he gets yelled at more than anyone else, Withee joked. “He’s always talking with officials or getting on the field,” he said. “He’s a live wire. He’s so passionate about what he does … and the players look up to him.”

Almy said he has two goals. “One, I love football, but my other goal is to work with kids because I feel there is a benefit when there is a person in public office – especially when you’re dealing with prosecution – and you can give kids the sense that you’re not just a prosecutor but you’re involved in the community in some other way.”

Almy is a former steering committee member of Womancare, the domestic violence project in the Dover-Foxcroft area. Through that relationship, the Foxcroft football team each year participates in the Womancare 5-K race-walk.

Withee said the courtroom experience turned out to be positive. “Their eyes are open. They’re a little na?ve, and they go into a courtroom and see that all of sudden now you’re going to be in jail and someone is going to make decisions for you,” he said. “It’s a real eye opener for a lot of kids.”