Winslow’s Matt Quirion works in a drill as the East team practice for the 2024 Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic on Monday in Dover-Foxcroft. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Gunnar Saunders admits it: He’s a little bit sore.

It’s been more than eight months since Nov. 11, 2023, the last time the Fryeburg Academy wide receiver last played a football game. Now, he’s preparing for action again as his West team prepares to take on the East in the 34th Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl.

“We have three practices a day, and I’m not really used to that,” Saunders said. “It’s just kind of about picking up on the things we left in November and getting back into the routine of what to do.”

Many players around the state feel the same way as Saturday’s 4 p.m. kickoff at Don Roux Field in Lewiston nears. With only one week of practice after months without any real football activity, getting back into game shape isn’t an inherently easy task, even for the state’s top players.

Avry Jones of Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale was one of Class D’s standout players in 2023, anchoring the Ramblers’ offensive line while also registering six sacks and nine tackles for loss on defense. Following football season, though, Jones dropped significant weight to be able to wrestle at 175 pounds in the winter. 

“Wrestling season kind of threw me off,” said Jones, representing the West team. “I lost a lot of weight for wrestling, and now, I’m trying to gain it back in a week for this. The switch has been weird; I’ve been putting in a lot of work, but I’m kind of tired.”

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On the other side of Kennebec County, Winslow’s Matt Quirion is representing the East. Quirion has been a workhorse at running back and linebacker for the Black Raiders in recent seasons as a numbers crunch in the program forced him to take on high snap counts.

Quirion, though, isn’t complaining in the slightest. He loves the game, after all, and as he gets set to play college football at Husson University, a week of practicing and playing against the top high school players in the state makes for excellent preparation.

“Everyone’s pretty banged up, but we’re all football players, so I think we’re all handling it pretty well,” Quirion said. “It’s great; I love football, and the more football I get to play, I love it. It’s been a great experience.”

Leavitt’s Noah Carpenter, the Fitzpatrick Trophy winner, will also play college football this fall as he heads to the University of Maine. He’ll be doing so fairly soon with Black Bears camp set to begin July 31, one week after he plays in the Lobster Bowl.

Like Quirion, Carpenter thinks playing top-level competition a week before he heads east for college will be a nice send-off that will set him up to succeed at the next level. The joy of getting back into the swing of practice, he said, has far outweighed the difficulties that come with the week.

“We’ve got a couple guys who are pretty achy, and I’m pretty sore myself, but it’s good to get back into the swing of things,” Carpenter said. “It’s been great to see these guys, their work ethic and their ability to put in quality reps. It’s unbelievable that we can all come together this quickly and put on a show.”

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The second day of practice, Leavitt head coach and West assistant Mike Hathaway said, was much tougher than the first. Whereas Monday began with players energetic and ready to go after months of excitement and buildup, soreness, he said, had set in following Tuesday morning’s practice.

Dan O’Connell, John Bapst head coach and also head coach for the East, noted that the Lobster Bowl has an interesting mix of multi-sport athletes who have stayed physically engaged and players who haven’t been active since November. In both cases, though, he feels the excitement of the game has everyone at their best.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time, because of the success they’ve had with the game, they’re so excited to have another opportunity that they get ready pretty quick,” O’Connell said. “From there, it’s just a matter of doing what we love to do as coaches to put it all together and have a great showcase on Saturday.”

That can be a tough task not just physically but mentally. With players coming from different schools across the state, there are brand-new plays and schemes to be learned. With such a wide net cast in terms of personnel, some players are also out of position or not taking on their old high school roles.

East team defensive tackle Hunter McSorley, of Foxcroft Academy, is shown with Foxcroft’s Gold Balls Tuesday in Dover-Foxcroft. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

The cause, though, is why they do it. Being able to help Shriners Hospitals for Children, Maranacook’s Owen Dunn said, has made the soreness of this week worth it. Foxcroft Academy’s Hunter McSorley, who admits he isn’t in football shape, added that knowing what he’s playing for has helped him persevere.

“It’s tiring, but at the end of the day, the Shrine is doing a great thing, so you’ve got to push through for that,” McSorley said. “I haven’t touched a weight room or anything in a while, but everybody’s in the same boat, and we’re all excited to go out there and play Saturday.”

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