CHICAGO – Senior running back/linebacker Jared Turcotte of Lewiston High School has been named the Gatorade Maine Football Player of the Year, the company announced Friday.

Turcotte, a 6-foot-1, 220-pounder, carried the ball 229 times as a tailback for 1,813 yards, scoring 17 touchdowns. He caught three touchdown passes and threw for another.

At linebacker, Turcotte had 113 solo tackles, three interceptions – returning one for a touchdown – and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.

Turcotte was also the team’s punter and placekicker. Lewiston finished with a 6-3 record, losing to Bangor in the semifinals of the Pine Tree Conference Class A playoffs.

Turcotte, who maintains an “A” academic average, volunteers on the Student Leadership Team for the area’s Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence and is a member of Lewiston High’s School of Health Science, open only to elite students who wish to pursue a career in medicine.

Turcotte, along with other state winners, is now a finalist for the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year to be announced in mid-December.

State winners are selected not only for their outstanding athletic performance, but also for meeting high academic-achievement standards while demonstrating exemplary personal character on and off the field.