No one is perfect, but Oak Hill High School senior quarterback Dalton Therrien was as flawless as they come on the football field this fall.
Therrien went the first nine games of the season without an interception, only losing one fumble during that time despite being the catalyst for the Raiders’ offense. For all the touchdowns he ran and threw for, though, it was when things did not go their best that Therrien showed his greatest attribute — his mettle.
Kennebec Journal Football All Stars
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
QB — Dalton Therrien, Sr., Oak Hill
RB — Jack Bernatchez, Sr., Messalonskee
RB — Nate St. Amand, Jr., Winslow
RB — Tyler Ripley, Sr., Mount View
WR — Nate Pratt-Holt, Sr. Mt. Blue
WR — Spencer Salley, Sr., Skowhegan
OL — Garrett Gile, Sr., Oak Hill
OL — Curtis McLeod, Sr., MCI
OL — Will Gunter, Sr., Mt. Blue
OL — Owen Boardman, Jr., Skowhegan
OL — Nat Beckwith, Sr., Winslow
TE — Sam Baker, Sr., Skowhegan
UT — Seth Powers, Sr., Lawrence
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL — Isaac Collins, Sr., Mt. Blue
DL — Luke Fredette, Sr., Winslow
DL — Connor Elwell, Sr., Oak Hill
DL — Benaiah Wilhoite, Sr., Cony
LB — Alec Clark, Sr., Winslow
LB — Ethan Sewell-Berry, Sr., Mount View
LB — Alex Bertrand, Sr., MCI
DB — Christian Whitney, Sr., Mt. Blue
DB — Jake Trask, Sr., Winslow
DB — Reid Shostak, Sr., Cony
DB — Trenton Bouchard, Sr., Winslow
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
QB — Garrett McSweeney, Jr., Skowhegan
RB — Nick Morales, Jr., Madison
RB — Willie Moss, Jr., MCI
RB — Zach Lacasse, Sr., Maranacook
WR — Anthony Brunelle, Sr., Cony
WR — Jonah Martin, Sr., Oak Hill
OL — Jake SeeHusen, Sr., Nokomis
OL — Chase Borssen, Jr., Messalonskee
OL — Josh Rackliff, Sr., Madison
OL — Mike Steeves, Sr., MCI
OL — Austin Goucher, Sr., Oak Hill
TE — Dillon Fitts, Sr., MCI
UT — Nate Scott, Jr., Winthrop/Monmouth
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL — Kyle Robinson, Sr., Lawrence
DL — Matthew Strout, Sr., Oak Hill
DL — Kyle Morand, Sr., Maranacook
DL — Alex Thang, Sr., Gardiner
LB — Dylan Thibodeau, Sr., Nokomis
LB — Kenny Rickard, Jr., Winslow
LB — Max Storey, Sr., Cony
DB — Kam Doucette, Sr., Skowhegan
DB — Logan Stevens, Sr., Skowhegan
DB — Levi Emery, Sr., Maranacook
DB — Braden Monteryo, Sr., MCI
FIRST TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
K — Ryan Gagnon, So., Winslow
P — Alex Gilbert, Sr., Mt. Blue
KR/PR — Nate Pratt-Holt, Sr., Mt. Blue
SECOND TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
K — Devin Pickett, Sr., Messalonskee
P — Zach Smith, Jr., Waterville
KR/PR — Devan Davis, Jr., Mount View
HONORABLE MENTION
Cony: OL Nic Caron, Util. Joel Bennett, QB Taylor Heath, DE Dylan Tudeen, DL Elijah Tobey. Gardiner: QB Eli Kropp, TE Kaleb Caron, DB Isaiah Swan, OL Nate Thibeau. Lawrence: LB Mitchell Cushing, UT Walker Thomas, K Zoli Nagy, QB Braden Ballard, DB J.T. Nutting. Madison: WR Mitch Jarvais, QB Chase Malloy, OL Noah Shibley, K Chris Beaman, RB Briar Edgerly, WR Matt Curtis. MCI: QB Greg Vigue, OL Mike Westgate, DB Alex Jones, UT Brandon McKenna, LB Eli Bussell, OL Elijah Harvey. Maranacook: OL Dillan Chicoine, FB Ty Smith, RB Drew Davis, DE Jake Gibson. Messalonskee: RB Colby Dexter, LB Josh Casey. Mount View: DL Casey Spaulding, DL Darrin Cook, QB Cole Hannan, OL Colton Medina, RB Jack Axsom, OL Alex Sobey, OL Owen Cunningham. Mt. Blue: QB Ryan Pratt, RB Zach Meader. Nokomis: QB Andrew Haining, DL Alex Chipman. Oak Hill: WR Connor Nilsson, DB Darryn Bailey, LB Levi Buteau, LB Brian Thorpe, DE Brendon Tervo, DB Colby Spencer. Skowhegan: WR Jon Bell, OL David Washburn, OL Oakley Fortin. Waterville: RB Demetrius Ramirez, UT Devon Begin, OL Justin Kornsey. Winslow: LB Patrick Hopkins, WR Dylan Hutchinson, OL Cam Morrison, DL Dimitrios Bailis. Winthrop/Monmouth: FB Alec Brown, TE Ben Ames, OL Brendon Dunn, QB Matt Ingram, WR Bennett Brooks, DL Jack Vickerson, WR Andrew Pazdziorko, RB Dustin Tripp, DL Hunter Hamlin.
For his efforts in leading the Raiders to their third consecutive Class D state championship Therrien has been named the 2015 Kennebec Journal Football Player of the Year. Cony High School senior Reid Shostak was also considered.
“He has a diverse skill set,” Oak Hill head coach Stacen Doucette said. “He has leadership qualities, selflessness and he’s a playmaker. He always has the ability for a home run hit with the pass or with the run.”
Therrien threw his first interception of the season in the Class D South championship against Lisbon as the Greyhounds made a furious comeback effort. A botched extra point kept Lisbon down a single point with less than six minutes remaining, though, and from there the Raiders ran out the clock behind Therrien. He ran the ball nine straight times at one point and finished with 130 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries in a 21-20 win.
In Oak Hill’s 34-21 win over Maine Central Institute for the Class D championship Therrien nearly had twice as many turnovers as he had all season. He threw three interceptions in the first half and also fumbled a snap on a fourth-and-1 play in the fourth quarter that he recovered for a turnover on downs.
To his credit, Therrien never appeared rattled. He finished the game with 179 yards rushing and four touchdowns and he also threw for 243 yards and a score, thus securing a perfect 11-0 season for the Raiders.
“It’s something I won’t forget,” Therrien said after the game. “It was a way to go out in my senior year with my family.”
While his resolve is what ultimately made Therrien a great player, he also had the physical talent to match. Therrien finished his career as a starting quarterback 22-1 and 40-5 overall, starting at defensive back as a sophomore. This past season he threw for 1,540 yards, 18 touchdowns and four interceptions while rushing for 1,049 yards, 18 touchdowns and one fumble lost.
“I always thought he’d be a tremendous passer,” Doucette said. “We knew he had a great skill set. I didn’t know he’d show the burst to hit the hole and hit the home run. He never really had to before. I’m glad he did and he did some good things for us.”
Therrien was also put in a position to succeed by the coaching staff. While he possesses game-changing speed, size was not one of his greatest attributes — he is listed at 5-foot-9 and 155 pounds — and the coaches made sure to game plan accordingly.
“We had some games and situations where we kept him back a little bit,” Doucette said. “He’s not an extremely large kid so we controlled his contact.”
As the games and situations grew in importance, Therrien found his number being called more frequently.
Each time, he was more than ready to answer.
Evan Crawley — 621-5640
ecrawley@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @Evan_Crawley
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