WATERVILLE — They’ve been formidable all season, a tough and resilient group that has taken the Winslow football team through the C North region and to the brink of its first state title in six years.
Ask the Black Raiders’ offensive linemen how it’s all come together, and their answers are the same. It’s been a lot of work, a lot of time, and, oh yeah, a lot of work.
“We’ve been together since the middle of August, since double sessions, and we’ve really come together as a group,” center Joe Pfingst said. “We talk well, we’ve got good communication and it’s just a well-oiled machine.”
“As coach says, this offense doesn’t exist without that line working together,” tight end Tyler Brockway said. “When the line’s working, the offense is working. … (It’s) that hit and never quit attitude. As the game goes on, teams get tired, and we keep working.”
Ever since the hot days of early September, Winslow’s coaches and running backs have lauded the work of the offensive line, and for good reason. In center Pfingst, guards Allan Rogers and Jaxen Wiegand, tackles Will Harvey, Owen Schuchardt and Tim Lessa and tight ends Brockway and Travis Reed, Winslow has enjoyed an advantage in the trenches over nearly each opponent it has faced en route to Saturday’s Class C championship matchup with Cape Elizabeth.
It has been apparent in the playoffs. In a 64-6 semifinal victory over MCI, Winslow’s Matt Quirion gained 179 yards and Jack Dorval added 83 while running through holes carved out by the line. In the 38-30 C North final win over Hermon, Quirion gained 137, Dorval had 96 and Evan Bourget rushed for 69.
“They’ve been doing awesome all week, all year,” Bourget said. “They ask Coach questions, they’re not afraid to ask. We go over many defenses in practice, they know what they’re doing when they get certain fronts. It builds a lot of confidence when they know what they’re doing and they execute well.”
Toughness has always been a theme of Winslow’s championship teams. So far this season, it has been again.
The Winslow High School football team practices for the state championship game against Cape Elizabeth on Wednesday at Colby College. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
“In order to run this offense, it’s really what you have to be,” Bourget said. “It’s just ground and pound, up and down the field, and you’re just wearing the other team out. You just have to have more heart and more will, and you’ve got to try to out-physical your opponent. That’s definitely what we stress in practice.”
It’s not just physical toughness — though co-coach Wes Littlefield said they’ve put the time in to develop that as well.
“That started in the weight room,” he said. “All those linemen lifted together for basically a year and a half … and they continued lifting throughout the season and continued through the summer and through the fall.”
The key for Winslow’s line, however, may be its mental toughness. The Black Raiders are competitive, and aren’t patient with mistakes.
“If someone messes up, we call them out for it,” Rogers said. “Not because we’re mad at them, we just want them to be better and we want ourselves to be better. Every man has a job, and we want every man to do his job so he doesn’t have the guilt of knowing that he messed up.”
If one lineman takes the wrong man or misses on a block in practice, he can expect to hear about it.
“We hold each other accountable,” Rogers said. “I mess up, everyone messes up, it’s life. We get through it, we learn, because that’s what makes a team. You’ve just got to help each other out, and be honest when you need to be honest.”
It’s easy to say, but it’s a lot harder to take the heat. Winslow’s coaches found out early in the season they had a group that could.
“They just want to please you,” co-coach Pete Bolduc said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. They don’t want to upset us, with them making a mistake. They just jelled.”
“They want to be coached,” Littlefield said. “Some years, you’ve got to tone it down a little bit, some kids can’t take criticism, ‘Oh, you’re on my butt all the time.’ Well, we are, because we want you to be the best player that you can possibly be.”
Some lessons can only be taught through experience, however. After two straight wins, Winslow hosted Wells on Oct. 2 and got stomped, 49-13. That physicality and toughness was nowhere to be found as the Warriors dominated on both sides of the ball.
The toughness began to show itself, however, as Winslow resolved to not let such a display happen again. The Black Raiders are 5-0 since that afternoon.
“I thought that was a turning point of our season, actually,” Littlefield said. “Sometimes losing a game like that and getting beat up front wakes you up.”
Winslow has averaged 44.6 points per game since that loss. A revitalized line has been a big reason why.
“It was definitely a struggle towards the beginning of the season,” Brockway said, “but as the season’s gone further, we’ve definitely gotten a lot closer as a line.”
“We’re really competitive,” Pfingst said. “We strive for perfection, like Coach tells us to, and that’s all we want, just to be the best offensive line that we can be.”
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