Lewiston’s Joe Dube, left, tackles Edward Little quarterback TJ Kramarz in the backfield for a loss during a Nov. 1 game in Auburn. Dube won the Frank J. Gaziano Memorial Defensive Lineman Award. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Maine high school football teams across the biggest class this fall learned to fear their names.

Joe Dube wreaked havoc in the trenches and the offensive backfield. Henry Mahoney pushed aside all comers and paved the way for a high-powered offense to make plays.

Both were rewarded for their efforts Friday, as Lewiston’s Dube and Thornton Academy’s Mahoney earned the Frank J. Gaziano Memorial Defensive and Offensive Linemen Awards, respectively. The awards recognize them as Maine high school football’s top senior linemen for the 2024 season.

“It’s a great honor,” Mahoney said. “Thinking about these great linemen before me and even the semifinalists and the people who didn’t make it this year, these are people that have inspired me to honor both their legacy and Frank Gaziano’s. It feels really great.”

A four-year starter and all-conference selection for Lewiston, Dube, the defensive winner, recorded six sacks and 87 tackles (14 for loss) this season. He was also chosen as the 2024 Class A North Defensive Player of the Year.

Dube was part of two winnings seasons at Lewiston, which went 5-4 in both 2022 and 2024. Making the Blue Devils program competitive again after the team suffered nine straight losing seasons from 2012-21, Dube said, was something in which he took great pride.

“The group of guys that I came in with and all the hard work that we put in, it doesn’t go unnoticed,” Dube said. “It just feels good to put Lewiston back on the map. We had a great coach, too.”

That coach, Jason Versey, raved about Dube’s versatility. Dube also played on the offensive line and was even used at running back the first half of the season because Versey wanted the ball in his hands. Defensively, he played a few snaps elsewhere in the front seven later in the season.

“He played with such passion and tenacity, so we said, ‘OK, we could probably put him at linebacker just because he’s so versatile,’” Versey said. “When you’re that good, you’ve got coaches that are scheming against you, but even despite that, he had tremendous success in every game he played.”

Thornton Academy’s Harry Bunce, left follows the block of teammate Henry Mahoney for a first-half touchdown against Portland during the 2023 season. Frank J. Gaziano Memorial Offensive Linemen Award for the 2024 season. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

Mahoney was a three-year starter for a Thornton Academy team that reached the Class A title game in each of those seasons and won the Gold Ball in 2023. He was named 2024 Gerry Raymond Lineman of the Year as the top lineman in the Southwestern Maine Activities Association.

That, along with a spot on the 2024 Varsity Maine All-State team, was an appropriate honor given how dominant Mahoney was at guard this year. He did not allow a single sack all season as the Class A South champion Trojans went 9-3 and averaged 37.6 points per game.

“The thing about Henry I’m most impressed with is that he made himself into an all-conference player and earned all these accolades by how he worked in the offseason,” said Thornton Academy coach Kevin Kezal. “What he lacked in athleticism, he made up for with his work ethic and the time he put in.”

Mahoney’s success this year was even more impressive given what he had to do just to get on the field. After breaking his leg early last spring and missing all of outdoor track season, Mahoney spent one month on crutches and two months in a boot before finally being cleared to return to sports in July.

“That helped me work even harder to get back to the field and be even better than I was,” said Mahoney, who plans to study environmental engineering in college. “At Thornton, we love adversity, so having that experience from the injury as well as the experience in big games set me up for success.”

Dube, who plans to play football at Husson, is the first Gaziano winner from Lewiston. Mahoney is the fifth from Thornton, following Luke Libby (defensive, 2011), Bobby Begin (offensive, 2012), Nicholas Bartholomew (offensive, 2016) and Thomas Palmer (offensive, 2018).

As winners, Dube and Mahoney will receive $5,000 scholarships. The other finalists, Gardiner’s Kyle Doody and Medomak Valley’s Porter Gahagan on defense and Kennebunk’s Charles Majkowski and Scarborough’s Cole Tomuschat on offense, will receive $1,000 each.