Some leftovers from the Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl, as I eagerly await the start of football season…

• In winning Saturday’s Lobster Bowl by a 45-21 score, the West ran a spread offense that perfectly utilized the skills of quarterbacks Noah Nelson, of Falmouth, and Zach Dubiel, of Bonny Eagle that made it almost impossible to defend. Nelson was the arm, Dubiel was the legs and both were effective.

The West's Zach Dubiel of Bonny Eagle eludes a defender during the Lobster Bowl in Biddeford Saturday. Portland Press Herald photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette

Nelson was the West’s Most Valuable Player, throwing for 257 yards and a Lobster Bowl record four touchdowns. Dubiel didn’t complete a pass, but he didn’t have to. Dubiel ran for a game-high 121 yards. Six of Dubiel’s 15 carriers went for a first down.

With both quarterbacks moving the ball in such different ways (although Nelson did run for 45 yards), the East defense never found a rhythm. The West punted only once, amassed nearly 600 yards of offense and scored on six of 12 possessions.

It was arguably the most dominant offensive effort in the Lobster Bowl’s 26-year history.

• Despite the lopsided score, each team ended the game with similar passing statistics.

While Nelson accounted for all 257 of the West’s yard in the air, on 13 of 25 passing, the East trio of Mitchell Caron (Cony), Bobby Chenard (Winslow) and Matt Stewart (Bucksport) also was 13 for 25 for 227 yards.

Stewart threw a pair of touchdowns, each to Cony’s Tayler Carrier, who earned the East MVP after catching seven passes for 101 yards, both game highs. Caron threw one touchdown pass, a 35-yarder to Belfast’s Steven Davis in the final minute of the third quarter.

The difference in the game was the West’s ability to run. The West gained 324 yards on the ground, while the East gained just 62.

• A handful of coaches have served as a head coach in the Lobster Bowl more than once, but Leavitt’s Mike Hathaway is the only one to serve as head coach of both the East and West teams.

Hathaway coached the East squad in 2011 when Leavitt competed in Eastern Class B. Over the last two years, Hathaway’s Hornets have played in Western Class C. Hathaway, who has served as an assistant coach for both sides as well, was the West head coach this year.

• If you thought you had to go back a while to find a scoring output like the one the West put up this year, think again. The West’s 45 points almost matched the score the team tallied the last time it won the Lobster Bowl in 2012.

That year, the West won, 48-24, the same 24-point margin of victory as this year.

The biggest rout in Lobster Bowl history came in 2003, when the East won, 55-8.

• At halftime of Saturday’s game, the Maine High School Football Coaches named the winners of the annual John R. Schmidlin Trophy. The award recognizes the most outstanding player in each class, as voted on by the coaches.

The winners were Dubiel (Class A), Cole Robinson of Lawrence (Class B), Dylan Hapworth of Winslow (Class C) and Kyle Flaherty of Oak Hill and Jake Drew of Houlton (Class D).

The award is named after former Gardiner Area High School football coach and athletic director John Schmidlin, who coached the Tigers from 1950-1967. The award honors citizenship, team play, loyalty and reliability.

• Congratulations to Jake Drew of Houlton and Colton Spear of Medomak Valley. Each played for the East this year, and each was the first Lobster Bowl participant in his school’s history.

Medomak Valley played a junior varsity schedule last season but joins the Little Ten Conference this season as a varsity program.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM

Related Stories