THORNDIKE – As much as Haggie Pratt enjoyed his time coaching football at Nokomis Regional High School, the opportunity to return to the Little Ten Conference was too good to pass up.
“I cut my teeth in the LTC,” Pratt said.
In the fall, Pratt will be prowling the sidelines at Mt. View High School. Pratt replaces Jack Brady, who coached the Mustangs for five seasons and led them to six wins and their first trip to the playoffs in 2011.
Mt. View went 2-6 last season. While under Pratt, Nokomis was 3-5, its best record since joining the Pine Tree Conference Class B division.
Pratt’s head coaching career began in the LTC at Dexter. When he attended a recent concussion symposium with the other LTC head coaches, Pratt was happy to receive a warm welcome.
“A lot of them didn’t know I was going to be there,” Pratt said. “There was a lot of slaps on the back, a lot of handshakes… I’m excited to be back in the LTC.”
The LTC Pratt rejoins is a little different from the one he left years ago. Starting next season, with the Maine Principals’ Association decision to expand high school football to four classes, the LTC is Eastern Class D. With the exception of Foxcroft Academy, which will play in Class C, the teams are by and large the old rivals Pratt had at Dexter.
Pratt said he went to a couple Mt. View games last season and has started looking at film from last season.
“I thought they had some pretty big kids. They did some good things,” Pratt said. “There’s kids there with some promise.”
Nokomis will play in Eastern Class C next season, after petitioning down a class and, along with Camden Hills, will be ineligible for the playoffs. Pratt said he expects the Warriors to be competitive in their new division.
“It wasn’t an easy decision (to leave Nokomis),” Pratt said. “I’m very attached to the kids there. I’ve made some great relationships. It seemed like I didn’t accomplish everything I wanted to at Nokomis. I just felt this opportunity at Mt. View was the right thing for me.”
Travis Lazarczyk – 861-9242
tlazarczyk@mainetoday.com
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