FAIRFIELD — The Lawrence football team has its offensive and defensive schemes in place for the Class A state championship game against Cheverus.

On Wednesday, the Bulldogs prepared for Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland by practicing at Alfond Stadium on the Colby campus.

“This team hasn’t been on turf,” Lawrence coach John Hersom. “It was important for us to get on turf to get a feel for it.”

Lawrence (11-0) and defending Class A state champ Cheverus (11-0) will face off at 11:06 a.m. on the turf at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

The Bulldogs practiced Wednesday and Thursday at Colby to get a better feel for the field.

“We looked good on it,” Lawrence running back/wide receiver Spencer Carey said. “It felt really good to get on it. It was good to experience that so we know what to expect.”

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Added Anthony Sementelli: “It was awesome. We had a great practice (Wednesday).”

A few of the team’s skill position players competed on turf fields during summer seven-on-seven drills.

Quarterback Alex Leathers said the turf does provide a bit of a different feel than grass.

“It’s different,” he said. “It’s different getting tackled on it. Landing on it just feels different.”

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Hersom said the itinerary for Saturday is finalized right down to the final minutes leading up to kickoff.

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The team will meet at the high school at 7 a.m. before boarding a bus to Portland at 7:30.

“We hope to be in Portland by 8:40, and we’ll head right into the locker room,” Hersom said. “We’ll get them taped up and get them into comfortable clothes. We’ll let them do some stretching on their own. We’ll bring food, like some light snacks — apples, bananas and granola — and really just let them unwind.”

The Bulldogs will be allowed to send a group onto the field at 9:50 a.m.

“That hour in the locker room will go by fast,” Hersom said. “But it’s good because we’ll be the first teams getting ready to play. I think it would be a little uncomfortable if we had to sit around all day.”

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Pine Tree Conference Class B champ Leavitt (11-0) will play in its third consecutive state championship game.

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The Hornets will play Western B champ Wells (11-0) at 6:06 p.m. Saturday.

Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway said he reviewed games against Waterville and Mt. Blue while prepping for Wells, which runs the Wing-T offense.

“Waterville, at its base, runs something similar,” Hathaway said. “

Waterville probably ran it the best in our conference. Defensively, we’ll see a lot of what Mt. Blue does. (Wells) will go with a 4-4 base, so at least we’ve had some exposure to that.”

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com


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