SKOWHEGAN — Even if the pads and two-a-day drills have to wait, July is still an important month for high school football teams.
Passing camps and seven-on-seven leagues are all the rage this time of year, and summer conditioning programs keep athletes in shape with the start of fall practices not too far away. With the month coming to an end, though, the action is about to subside for two weeks with the annual “hands-off” period putting a brief stop to sporting activities.
“You want to get in what you can and make sure you’ve done everything to make yourself better before those two weeks start,” said Skowhegan head coach Ryan Libby. “You have a lot of seven-on-seven stuff and camps with other teams, and it’s great to get together one last time for a summer sendoff.”
For many local teams, that summer sendoff takes place in the form of the Central Maine Football Skills Challenge. With the event returning this year after being canceled in 2020 and 2021, Skowhegan, Cony, Madison, Waterville, Lisbon, Foxcroft and Medomak Valley took part in the daylong competition at Skowhegan Area High School.
Madison’s Austin Hay (33) tries to make the reception as a host of Skowhegan defenders cover Saturday at the Big Man battles at the Central Maine football skills challenge in Skowhegan. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
The Central Maine Football Skills Challenge began back in 2010 as the brainchild of then-Madison head coach Matt Friedman. It then relocated in 2012 when Friedman, now the head coach at Mt. Blue, left his post at Madison to take the head coaching job at Skowhegan.
Originally a seven-on-seven tournament, the end-of-July event soon expanded to include a skills challenge. There’s also a big-man competition where linemen take part in a car tire throw, tractor tire flip, weighted sled pull, bench press and more events to show off their strength.
“We go up against some great programs in these events, and that helps your team to get better,” said Waterville head coach Isaac LeBlanc. “We want our gets to be challenged, and the seven-on-sevens are a great way to do that. It’s really cool to see the skills events going here, too. It’s a great way to end the summer.”
With contact not allowed during the summer months, it can be a challenging time for linemen and other players that don’t line up out wide or in the backfield. The big-man competition, then, gives those players opportunities to enjoy themselves in a less-traditional manner.
“Most of the summer is focused on the skill kids and improving their passing and timing, so this event is cool because it’s a day for the linemen to come and do some things,” said Cony head coach B.L. Lippert. “For us, it’s something our linemen look forward to to end the summer.”
With many participating teams in different classifications, teams get to square off against opponents they would not otherwise face. Skowhegan-Waterville and Cony-Lisbon matchups, for example, would not take place in either the regular season or preseason.
The daylong schedule gives players and coaches plenty of chances to observe their statewide counterparts, too. That’s something Lippert noticed as he watched Foxcroft’s Caden Crocker make a leaping catch during the Ponies’ seven-on-seven showdown against Lisbon.
“He’s one of the best players in Maine, and it’s great to come here and be able to see that,” Lippert said of Crocker, whose Class D Ponies don’t play countable games against the Class B Rams. “That’s another great thing about it, being able to see players and schools that we just never see.”
Madison quarterback Jacob Helinski (18) makes a pass on Saturday at Skowhegan High School. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
It’s also, Cony left tackle Jaden Geyer noted, a chance for younger players and new starters to get up to speed. That’s a major help to the Rams, who have a large incoming class this year, as well as to teams such as Waterville, which must replace a Fitzpatrick Trophy semifinalist in Liam Von Oesen.
With a two-week wait ahead, both those players and their veteran teammates got a lot out of one last chance for team bonding and strategizing until Aug. 15. When that day arrives, that feeling of football in the air is going to be even more real.
“It’s always fun to see competition in Maine, and that’s what today is about,” Geyer said. “It’s a great way to get us ready for the regular season. Now, we wait two weeks and get back at it. I know I can’t wait to put the pads on and hit kids.”
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