ORONO — When a high school football player named Michael Cole told the University of Maine that he wanted to come to Orono, the coaches shook hands, smiled — and looked over their shoulders.

“Michael was a guy we were so excited to get up here, to say he was coming to Maine,” Black Bears head coach Jack Cosgrove said. “Then we worried about others chasing him after his commitment.”

Cosgrove was concerned bigger programs like Connecticut or Rutgers — schools which had once shown interest in Cole — might figure out that Cole really was a prized recruit and trump Maine’s offer.

But Cole made it to Orono, which is about a nine-hour drive from North Brunswick in central New Jersey.

In this, his redshirt sophomore season, Cole has become a force on the defensive line — recording 10 sacks among his 44 tackles. He could be a key player Saturday when the Black Bears play a second-round NCAA playoff game against Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C.

The Mountaineers’ offense is a dynamo — 30 points a game — but their line has allowed 24 sacks.

That is where Cole could be a leader for the Black Bears’ defense.

“Naturally gifted kid who works hard,” said defensive line coach Dennis Dottin-Carter, a former stellar Maine lineman himself.

Cole always has been considered gifted. A 6-foot-2, 265-pound lineman for North Brunswick Township High School, he was considered among the top 100 recruits in New Jersey. Colleges began contacting Cole when he was a sophomore.

North Brunswick has produced its share of recruits — including Maine senior running back Pushaun Brown. But Cole remembers another recruited player from his school.

“We had a kid and he was getting letters from all the big schools. He got a huge head about it,” Cole said. “I told myself that I wasn’t going to be like this kid. I’m just going to do what I do.”

Rutgers showed interest, but not with a full scholarship. Connecticut looked at Cole, and then offered a scholarship to a taller defensive end.

Towson, Northeastern and Stony Brook all wanted Cole. He only took one recruiting visit, to Orono, and committed to the Black Bears.

“Maine had just made the playoffs (in 2008), so I figured they were going to be good,” Cole said. “Pushaun said he liked it here. The big thing was the team; everyone on the team is real close.”

In college, Cole has shed weight and is a quick 245 pounds. Dottin-Carter said Cole is still strong enough to hold his ground.

Cosgrove said Cole’s heart is still the same size — huge.

“He plays the game with a great passion,” Cosgrove said. ” One of those guys you enjoy watching play.”

Not only does Cole sack quarterbacks, he blocks kicks — a field goal and two extra points this season. Both conversion blocks were returned for two points for the Black Bears.

“I just shimmy my way through,” Cole said

Cole will try to get through Saturday and help keep Maine’s season alive.