Cony coach B.L. Lippert, 2013 offensive coordinator and current head coach, Ben Lucas, quarterback of the 2013 state champion football team, and Robby Vachon, 2013 head coach, pose with Lucas’ retired number 13 jersey at the end of a halftime ceremony Friday in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA — Ben Lucas racked up his share of awards as the starting Cony High quarterback in the early 2010s.
On Friday night, he added to his accolades, when Cony officially retired his No. 13 during halftime of its game against rival Gardiner. The Rams would go on to beat the Tigers, 28-14.
Cony honored its 2013 Class B championship team during a ceremony at Fuller Field. Cony rallied to beat Kennebunk 30-23 to win the program’s first Gold Ball that year.
“I got a little of a heads up a few weeks ago,” said Lucas, who was joined by family and friends at the ceremony. “It’s really special, and it’s special for my family. My family has been in Augusta for centuries. It really is a special night, for me, certainly for my family, for all my family members that attended Cony before and will attend afterwards.”
The 2013 season was one for the ages for Lucas. The 6-foot-4, 227-pound senior threw for 3,482 yards and 41 touchdowns that season. touchdown passes. With receivers Tayler Carrier and Jonathan Saban, Cony ran a spread offense, which was uncommon at the time in Maine.
The Rams finished 6-2 in the regular season, before beating Messalonskee and Brunswick to reach the state final and a showdown with Western Class B champion Kennebunk at Alfond Stadium in Orono.
Kennebunk kept the Cony offense in check early, holding Lucas to just 40 yards passing. Kennebunk took a 16-0 lead early in the second half, before Lucas found his form and finished with 307 passing yards.
He led Cony on a 99-yard drive, capped by a 25-yard touchdown pass to Saban on a flag route, to give Cony the victory.
“It was a really special team. We were able to accomplish a lot for the city of Augusta,” Lucas said. “It’s really great (to celebrate the team). It’s hard to believe it was a decade ago. It makes a lot of us feel old. But it’s really special to get some of the guys and coaching staff together. It was such a special team, and it’s really hard to describe unless you were a part of it. It’s just a great group, and I feel very fortunate to have been one of the leaders of that team and have great players and teammates around (me).
Cony quarterback Ben Lucas, center, celebrates a touchdown during a 2013 game in Augusta. Kennebec Journal file photo by Joe Phelan
“We took a lot of pride in wanting to change the culture of Cony football,” Lucas continued. “Cony before (the 2010s), when my brothers played, they were always mediocre, always 4-4 (record-wise), sometimes make the playoffs, sometimes not making the playoffs. But more than any individual success, we wanted to really change the culture of what Cony football is about. Coach Lippert has done a great job of carrying on that tradition that we built.
Lucas won the James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy winner, given annually to the state’s top senior player. He finished his career with 7,700 passing yards and 89 touchdowns.
Lucas was in his element Friday night as he was joined at midfield with a handful of teammates, former head coach Robbie Vachon and current Cony head coach B.L. Lippert, who was offensive coordinator that season.
“It was great to see Ben,” Lippert said on Friday night. “He’s not only the best player we’ve ever had, he’s also a fantastic human being, and you were always impressed by the humility he showed. He was a rock star in the state of Maine for that year throwing for all those yards.”
Lucas would go on and play football at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York, and received his Bachelor of Arts in political science and government. He was named a senior government affairs specialist for the Maine State Chamber of Commerce’s Advocacy Team in 2021. Before his current position, he served on the re-election campaign team of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.
Cony quarterback Ben Lucas, center, leaps in celebration after defeating Brunswick to capture the Eastern Class B semifinal on Nov. 15, 2013. Gabe Souza/Portland Press Herald file photo
“He’s in Portland and in D.C. working and doing all these things, so I haven’t seen him in a while, but it’s still just like seeing family when I see him,” Lippert said. “He’s a big part of my life, he’s a big part of this Cony football program, and now, his number will hang up there forever as a reminder of how special he was and how special that team was.”
Lucas still keeps an eye out on his old high school team, which beat Gardiner 28-14 on Friday night. The Rams finished the regular season 5-3 and will enter the Class B North playoffs as the No. 3 seed.
“There’s a lot of (former) Cony football players all over the state, all over the nation, that are still paying attention and pride in what we were able to establish. It’s great to still see them be competitive. They have a very young team. (Quarterback) Parker Morin seems like an absolute stud. He throws it better than I did as a sophomore. It’s still great to still see them be competitive and successful. With Coach Lip at the helm and that core foundation, I think they will be for a while.”
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