HOULTON, Maine — In the team’s first year back as a varsity sport, the Houlton High School football team showed flashes of great promise, but also experienced a fair amount of growing pains.
Houlton finished 2-5 last season and veteran coach Brian Reynolds would love to see that record flip-flopped this year. With a number of speedy and talented players, that very well may be the case.
“I think we will be a tough team to play against, but I’m not the type of guy to make any predictions,” Reynolds said. “We will be as good as the players want to be with our speed and athleticism dictating our success.”
The team’s final 2014 game against Ellsworth was cancelled due to early snowfall, so the Shires finished in eighth place in D East competition. “(That is) not bad for a first-year team, but we underachieved a bit and could have finished the season better,” he said. “No disappointment though, just growing pains for a young program.”
Last year, the Shires were a big, physical team with one of the premier running backs in the state with Jake Drew. “We were big and physical and able to run the ball right at people,” Reynolds said. “This year we aren’t quite as big, but have better overall team speed on both sides of the ball. It should be exciting to watch.”
The Shires graduated nine seniors, but still have a fairly large roster with 37 players (eight seniors, eight juniors, 14 sophomores and seven freshmen). The upperclassmen will play a prominent role for the team this year, the coach said, but he was quick to note that the sophomore class, as well as the eighth-grade program, are strong in numbers and talent, which should bode well for the future.
Coach Reynolds said he expects big things from seniors Josh Upton (running back/linebacker), Garrett Ring (wide receiver/safety) and Gary Tucker (offensive/defensive tackle), while juniors Jared Fox (quarterback), Jacob Fox (wide receiver/linebacker), Austin Brown (slot receiver/safety) and Nick Botting (running back/linebacker) should also contribute on both sides of the ball.
Sophomores Damon Reynolds (guard/defensive tackle), Dan McNally (slot receiver/corner back), Jon Carmichael (guard/defensive tackle) and Zach Hagan (tight end/defensive end) could also be poised for big seasons.
“Our strength is speed and experience at the skill positions on both offense and defense,” Reynolds said. “This is most likely the best overall team speed I have ever had on a team, so I think it will present some problems for opponents both offensively and defensively.”
Some of the areas he wants to work on as the season progresses are developing chemistry along the offensive and defensive line. “I believe a team is built along the offensive and defensive lines,” he said. “We are young and have good size, but lack varsity experience as a unit. We have put in a new offense and new defense this year so as we get more comfortable with those things our performance on the field should improve steadily.”
Reynolds is embarking on his 10th year coaching football in Houlton. Prior to last year, the team was a club sport, playing a mostly junior varsity schedule. Prior to that, Reynolds spent five years as a youth football coach.
“I really enjoy spending time with the kids and teaching them about the sport of football and the parallels it has to the game of life,” Reynolds said. “Football teaches life lessons all the time. It ‘s more than just X’s and O’s. This year has sort of reawakened the creative part of coaching for me as assistant coach (Andy) Hay and I have had to create new schemes to fit our personnel on offense and defense.”
