When Maine Central Institute head football coach Tom Bertrand thinks about 2016, which ended with the Huskies winning the state championship for the first time since 1974, he’s quick to point out the success of this season didn’t begin with the start of training camp in August.

“It’s been a long time building. A lot of guys with some hard work and dedication have been a long time building this,” Bertrand said.

The Huskies came close in 2014 and 2015, finishing as Class D runner-up each season to a strong Oak Hill team. This season, MCI finally broke through, with a 20-14 come from behind win over Lisbon, winning with a touchdown on the final play of the game.

After coaching MCI to its first state championship in 42 years, Tom Bertrand is the Morning Sentinel Football Coach of the Year. Scott Franzose of Madison and Brad Bishop of Messalonskee also were considered.

This was Bertrand’s 15th season as MCI’s head coach, and he earned his 100th career win with a 35-5 victory over Orono on Oct. 14. In 2012, the Huskies suffered through a winless season. Since then, MCI has been a Little Ten Conference powerhouse, reaching the conference semifinals in 2013 before winning the last three league titles. MCI’s last conference loss came in the 2013 playoffs. Players point to Bertrand’s dedication to the program as a key to the Huskies’ run of success.

“I remember him showing up for practice, saying ‘I woke up at 3:30 this morning to watch film.’ Me thinking, what kind of person gets up at 3:30? It’s unreal how he’s dedicated,” senior Eli Bussell said.

Added senior Josh Buker: “He works at it all the time. He spends many nights trying to get the game plan. It’s not just him, it’s the entire coaching staff. The day after games, 6 o’clock, they’re in their rooms, studying for the next team. They’re 100 percent dedicated to the team.”

Despite numerous losses of key players to graduation, Bertrand expected the Huskies to be competitive again this season. A big win over Bucksport in week two of the season cemented those thoughts, and it served as a building block for success later in the season against other eventual playoff teams.

“We realized, we are a pretty good team this year,” Bertrand said. “We had confidence when we got to the games later against Dexter and Orono.”

Coming off back-to-back losses in the state championship game, the Huskies talked a lot about finishing the job.

“There’s still that feeling of emptiness. We talked a lot about them creating their own identity,” Bertrand said.

Buker said before the state championship game Bertrand talked to the team about playing for something bigger than themselves.

“Before the game, Coach said we want the Gold Ball, but we’re playing for each other, we’re playing for the community,” Buker said. “It took him two years to realize that it’s not 100 percent about the Gold Ball. We just had to play hard. He said win or lose, we’re going out swinging. We’re leaving it all on the table.”

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM

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