Most football teams would cringe if they lost the starting quarterback to an injury right before the playoffs. At Lawrence High School, the Bulldogs didn’t break stride.

When a shoulder injury prevented Spencer Carey from throwing the ball, Lawrence turned to senior Alex Leathers. With Leathers under center, the Bulldogs are 3-0, and will host Bangor on Friday night for the Pine Tree Conference Class A championship and the right to play in the Class A state championship game on Nov. 19 at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

“It’s been working out,” Lawrence coach John Hersom said. “We’re certainly fortunate to have both of them. Not many teams have a backup who’s a legitimate starter.”

Leathers split time with Carey in the first half of Lawrence’s 10-7 win over Brunswick on Oct. 21, before taking over completely in the second half.

“I felt kind of excited, because that’s what I always wanted to play, and I was nervous because the time was finally here,” Leathers said.

Leathers ran for a touchdown in the regular-season finale at Messalonskee, which was set up by his 52-yard run on Lawrence’s first play of the third quarter.

“My blockers really did it all,” Leathers said. “We had a nice play fake, and (Messalonskee) wasn’t expecting it.”

In last week’s conference semifinal win over the Eagles, Leathers threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Carey to help the Bulldogs pull away in the second half.

Leathers and Carey alternated at quarterback early in the 2010 season, before Carey took over the position full-time. Leathers moved to wide receiver, where he played until Carey’s shoulder injury.

“We knew Alex aspired to be a quarterback,” Hersom said. “We had the peace of mind to know he’d be there if we needed him.”

With Leathers at quarterback, nothing has changed with the Lawrence offense, Hersom said. The playbook hasn’t been scaled back. As a matter of fact, it’s growing, the same as if Carey were still the quarterback.

“Typically, we like to add a few things each week, a few things that might work against that (week’s) opponent,” Hersom said. “He’s a bright kid. He’s right into it.”

Added Leathers: “Every Monday is more of a mental practice. The coaches do a great job breaking everything down and explaining it to us.”

Leathers’ favorite play is the waggle, in which he rolls out and has the option to either throw or run the ball.

“I love running that play,” Leathers said. “Hopefully, the defense is going to bite on the run and I’ll have a couple wide open guys downfield. Or, I’ll be able to run. We have a couple good pulling guards who get out in front.”

Carey, who has played defense with his injury, has remained in the offensive mix as a wingback, and scored a pair of touchdowns in last week’s playoff win over Messalonskee. While Carey’s should is healing, Hersom said the Bulldogs will stick with Leathers at quarterback.

“Now that we have the continuity with Alex, we feel we’ll go with it,” Hersom said. “We’ll keep it going upward if we can.”

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

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