NEWPORT – The fledgling Nokomis football program enters its second year of club play well advanced of where it started a year ago, at ground zero.

“We’re 200 percent ahead of where we were last year,” said Warriors’ coach David Evans, the former Dexter, Stearns of Millinocket and Skowhegan head man. “The kids really have retained a good amount of what they learned last year, we’ve got almost everyone back, and they’ve got a great attitude and a great work ethic.

Nokomis has approximately 70 players out for football, including enough to field a separate freshman team.

The Warriors will play home varsity games at the school for the first time this season, and will play an upgraded schedule against Pine Tree Conference Class A programs. Nokomis likely will face a mix of varsity and junior varsity players from those schools, and the Warriors’ home games will be played on Saturday afternoons, beginning with the home opener at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, against Messalonskee of Oakland.

Nokomis opens its season on Friday, Sept. 2 at Brunswick.

“Last year we had to fight so hard to get a schedule,” said Evans, whose 2005 opponents included several developmental-level programs as well as subvarsity squads from schools from a variety of classes.

“We knew everybody in the PTC had a bye, most of those schools are close to us [geographically] and we play those schools in other sports, so [former athletic director] Carl Parker and I thought it made sense to play those schools this year,” Evans said.

The Warriors feature good size up front, led by 6-foot-5, 300-pound senior tackle Steve Shea, who has drawn some collegiate interest, and 6-2, 240-pound center Greg Boucher. Senior Joe Meyers is back for his second year as the starting quarterback, while classmates Matt Lear and Brian Boutillier share much of the ball-carrying load and Matt McDaniel handles tight end duties.

Nokomis is expected to seek to become a varsity program by 2007, and likely would compete in Eastern Maine Class B.

“Our hope is to convince the school board that it’s a worthwhile program to go to the varsity level,” Evans said. “It represents a logical next step.”

NOKOMIS WARRIORS

2005 results: First-year club team

Head coach: David Evans, second year

Key players: Steve Shea, OT-DT, Sr.; Matt McDaniel, TE-DE, Sr.; Joe Meyers, QB, Sr.; Matt Lear, TB-CB, Sr.; Brian Boutillier, FB-LB, Sr.; Greg Boucher, C, Sr.; Tony Della Porta, OG-NG, Sr.

Outlook: The Warriors move another year closer to gaining varsity status with strong participation numbers throughout the program and a more ambitious schedule at the high school level. Nokomis will play Pine Tree Conference Class A programs Brunswick, Messalonskee of Oakland, Mount Ararat of Topsham, Oxford Hills of South Paris, Lawrence of Fairfield, Mt. Blue of Farmington, Bangor, Edward Little of Auburn and Cony of Augusta, likely against a mix of varsity and junior varsity players.