WINSLOW — Mike Siviski has been around football a long time. Now in his 31st season as head coach at Winslow High School, there’s very little Siviski hasn’t seen on a football field. The last two weeks, though, the Black Raiders showed their veteran coach something new. In combined wins over Foxcroft Academy and Hermon, 10 Winslow players scored at least one touchdown. That fact left Siviski pleasantly stunned.
“That’s never happened to me in my coaching career,” Siviski said. “That’s kind of a tribute to the kids who are going and working hard, day in and day out, and the staff working hard trying to develop a lot of players. We’re like every other (Class C) team, I bet. We really don’t have a lot of depth.”
In terms of depth, Winslow may be like every other Class C football team, but in every other aspect of the game, the Black Raiders are certainly ahead of the pack. Saturday’s 63-0 win over Hermon was the 18th in a row for the defending Class C state champion, and the Black Raiders are closing in on a team milestone that they say doesn’t matter but is impressive nonetheless.
With 14 more points, the Black Raiders will set the team record for points in the regular season. With one game to play, Saturday’s Battle of the Bridge against rival Waterville, Winslow has 371 points — an average of 53 per game.
“I’m not even concerned with it. Hey, if it happens, it happens,” Siviski said.
Right now, the 2015 Black Raiders are behind three Winslow teams in scoring, but not by much. The 1993 Winslow team scored 377 points in the regular season, but did it in nine games. That team went on to win the Class B state title. Last season, the Black Raiders scored 379 points in the regular season on the way to the Class C state championship.
The record is held by the 2006 team, which scored 384 points. That team was the Class B runner-up.
While many teams around the state are having success using a spread offense, Winslow is still running things primarily out of a base Wing-T. The Black Raiders will run or pass. They’ll go no huddle or slow the tempo. Basically, this season, the Black Raiders’ offense has done whatever it wants to.
“We’re a pretty well-rounded team. We go from passing to running, pretty much anything. The lines blocks for all of it, that definitely helps a lot,” senior wingback Trenton Bouchard said.
According to statistics available on the Big Ten Conference web page (stats from last week’s game against Hermon were not available as of Wednesday evening), Winslow averages 386 yards per game.
“A lot of our players run well, even our linemen. We’re not really big, but sometimes speed in a lot of different places can make up for it,” Siviski said.
The Black Raiders graduated a four-year starter at tailback, Dylan Hapworth, and three-year starter Bobby Chenard at quarterback. They also graduated talented wide receiver Justin Martin. Senior Jake Trask moved from wide receiver to quarterback and junior Nate St. Amand took over at tailback. Bouchard was back at wing, junior Kenny Rickard returned at fullback, and junior Dylan Hutchinson moved into Trask’s former position at wideout. The offense never slowed down. Winslow’s low score this season was 35 points in a 35-20 win at Mt. Desert Island, the team’s only close game thus far.
“I feel a lot more relaxed. At the beginning of the year, I was rushing things,” Trask said.
Trask’s habit of working fast goes to his time as a pitcher for Winslow’s baseball team in the spring, when he doesn’t waste time between pitches. Siviski said the coaching staff is constantly reminding Trask to slow down, make his read and remember his fundamentals.
“(Trask) has it, whatever it is. He’s a good runner and his passing is improving. We’re trying to calm him down a little bit,” Siviski said. “It’s like when he pitches. He’s so fast, we say ‘Jake, slow down a little bit. Get your feet set. Do the little things.’ Jake’s always in a hurry, but he’s a heck of an athlete, a great leader for us, and an excellent student.”
Guards Alec Clark and Cam Morrison, and tackle Nat Beckwith, are veterans on the offensive line. That experience is a key, Clark, a three-year starter, said.
“It’s helps to be able to have that, and take the young kids under your wing and help them out, too,” Clark said.
Siviski is quick to point out that much of the offense’s success comes from the defense. Five of Winslow’s seven wins have come via shutout. The Black Raiders have allowed just 27 points, with 20 coming in that close win over Mt. Desert Island.
“We have eight (starters) back on defense. The defense gets us the ball in awful good field position a lot of times. It’s a team game and a territorial game, and our defense has set up the offense a lot,” Siviski said. “At this point, we’re a pretty physical football team on both sides of the ball.”
Added senior defensive end Luke Fredette: “We watch film every week, and Coach (Siviski) always points out, ‘Look at where we’re starting with the ball. We’re starting on the 40-yard line.’ That obviously helps our offense. We play a field position game, so if we can help our offense and they have less yards to score, obviously we’re going to be successful and capitalize on opportunities.”
The Black Raiders don’t have a favorite play. Whatever gets them in the end zone they say, and this season, that’s been just about the entire playbook. Fredette has noticed, however, that Siviski has a tell, and can sense when a big play is about to happen.
“Whenever I see Coach smiling, I can say, ‘See what he’s telling Jake? He’s smiling. I know something big’s coming,'” Fredette said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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