The Greely football program wasn’t built from scratch when it was reinstated in 2022, but it has become Maine’s blueprint for how to put a broken football program back together.

After three seasons playing in the eight-man Large School division, which culminated with a state title last fall, the Rangers are moving back to 11-man football and will play in Class C this fall. The program simply outgrew the eight-man game, said coach Caleb King.

“What it really came down to is being able to get more kids on the field at the same time, especially our JVs level,” King said. “We’ll suit up between 45 and 50 kids this year, and getting everybody a chance to play is kind of the main reason for that move.”

Since King was hired in 2022 to take over the program when Greely chose to get out of its co-op arrangement with Falmouth, the team has seen growth each year, both in participation and wins. Greely’s return has been a steady ascension.

That first season, the Rangers went 0-7, with 27 players. In 2023, the team was 6-4 and reached the Large School state championship game, with 37 players. Last season, Greely went 9-1 and earned a Gold Ball with a 44-player roster.

Building the program to the point it no longer fit in eight-man football wasn’t the ultimate goal at Greely. King and everyone else associated with the program just wanted to sustain it. The youth football program is strong, too, King said, with 50 players in grades 3 through 6.

Greely is the second school to jump back to 11-man football immediately following a Large School state title. After rolling to the state crown in 2021, Cheverus moved to Class C and went 5-3 in the regular season and reached the South semifinals. This year, the Stags will play in Class B. King said he was prepared to play in whatever class the Rangers were assigned by the MPA. When Greely’s enrollment of 613 students placed them on the high end of Class C, that’s where they went.

The Rangers will face a stiff schedule. The first three games are at home, against York, perennial contender Leavitt and reigning Class B champion Falmouth. The game against Falmouth will renew a rivalry that was paused in 2019 when the schools combined to form a co-op program. King said he asked Falmouth coach Spencer Emerson to find the old Battle of Route 9 trophy and dust it off for the Sept. 20 game. The game will be one of those rare battles between defending state champs.

“The kids, they’re really excited. New competition. We were in the same league for three years. Now we get to see some new faces. I know they’re excited to play Falmouth again,” King said.

The schedule also includes longer trips to Nokomis in Newport and Foxcroft Academy, as well as a late-season game against Wells, another perennial contender which is jumping to Class C after winning back-to-back Class D state titles.

King and his assistants will tweak the playbook, inserting two more offensive linemen and a slot receiver to get from eight players to 11. Most of the players Greely ran in eight-man football should translate, he said, noting that it’s harder to make the adjustment the other way, when you’re taking players off the field. Maintaining creativity in the offense is important, said King, who added that it’s much easier for defenses in 11-man football to figure out who to cover.

Even after graduating 11 seniors, Greely returns a talented team. Getting them all on the field and in the right places is a problem King is glad to have.

“I’ll never be a guy who talks about rebuilding or not setting ourselves up for success. We want to compete every year and believe that we’re a good team,” King said. “We’re going to have the toughness and the grit to go forward with that.”

When students petitioned athletic director David Shapiro to bring back its own football team, he said the school would do so, taking a huge leap of faith.

Consider that faith rewarded.