Steve Shukie did a little of everything as a Bowdoin College football assistant coach the last seven years.

“I really enjoyed it but the last few years I started thinking of getting out of the college game,” he said. “I wanted to start teaching but I still wanted to coach.”

The 30-year-old West Hartford, Conn., native found both at Kents Hill.

The school hired Shukie to teach history as well as coach the football and baseball teams. Shukie replaces Steve Gritti, who resigned.

“I’m excited,” Shukie said. “I can’t wait to get going.”

Shukie, a Johns Hopkins graduate, served as recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at Bowdoin since 2006. He coached the quarterbacks and wide receivers while at Bowdoin.

Kents Hill, which went 1-7 last season, opened the preseason Thursday. Shukie said that over time he will implement the triple option at Kents Hill, but not this year.

“We have a post-graduate quarterback (Phillipe Bazinet) and post-graduate wide receiver (Trenton SirLouis) so we’ll throw it a lot this year,” Shukie said. “But I’m an option guy at heart. Down the road, we’ll be geared toward that.”

• • •

Gardiner opened the preseason with plenty of competition for starting spots.

The Tigers return just two starters — lineman Andrew Doody-Veilleux and linebacker Brad Weston — making this preseason a challenging one for coach Matt Burgess.

“We have evaluations going on all over the place,” Burgess said. “There is nothing that is preconceived. Every day, every week will be an evaluation. It’s a clean slate.”

Deciding on a starting quarterback is proving to be one of the toughest jobs for Burgess in the early going. Josh McKelvey, Eli Fish and Matt McKenna are competing for the role.

All three saw time at quarterback in a scrimmage against Leavitt on Monday.

“They are picking things up quickly,” Burgess said. “They are doing a great job competing and working hard. They are making my job difficult, but that is a good thing. It’s going to be a difficult decision.”

It also won’t be made soon.

Burgess said he’ll likely wait until next week before he names a starter for the Sept. 6 season opener at Lawrence. The Tigers will host Messalonskee at 4 p.m. Saturday in an exhibition game.

“We want to keep taking a look at them,” Burgess said. “This is a good problem to have.”

• • •

Oak Hill senior Luke Washburn lined up just about everywhere on the field last year.

Defensive end. Linebacker. Nose guard. Tackle. Tight end.

“He did so much for us last year,” Oak Hill coach Stacen Doucette said.

Expect more of the same this year.

The 6-foot-3, 245-pound senior will once again cover a lot of the field for the Raiders, who went 8-2 last year and reached Campbell Conference Class C playoffs.

“I’ll be everywhere,” Washburn said.

Added Doucette: “We expect big things from him. We really expect big things from all our skill guys.”

Third-year starting quarterback Parker Asselin is coming off his best season. The senior threw for more than 750 yards and just one interception last year. Running backs Kyle Flaherty and Alex Mace also combined to rush for more than 1,800 yards.

“We push them pretty hard,” Doucette said. “Those guys are pretty talented.”

• • •

Maranacook coach Joe Emery said he is close to naming a starting quarterback.

Senior Cody Lyon and sophomore Kyle Morand are competing for the job.

The Black Bears will play a preseason game tonight at Old Orchard Beach, and Emery said a starter will likely be named after the game.

“We know what each can do,” he said. “We want to see a little bit more but we’re close to a decision. The thing is, we want both on the field at the same time, so we have to find ways to do that.”

• • •

Monmouth senior D.J. McHugh is hoping to win the starting quarterback job for the new Winthrop/Monmouth co-operative program.

McHugh is battling Winthrop senior Jared Hanson for the job.

“I’m not sure what my role is yet,” McHugh said. “It’s been different, a lot of fun. Coach (Joel Stoneton) has also lined me up in the slot as well.”

Added Stoneton: “We have two senior quarterbacks and both are performing really well. Both are great athletes and we’re hoping to get them on the field at one position or another. Both are such good athletes. We’ve talked to D.J. about playing a little slot for us because Jared does know the offense having been here three years.”

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com