Junior Huskies football team finishes strong
After a rough start, the Aroostook Football Junior Huskies finished strong this past fall.
With 12 of the 17 players on the roster brand new to football, the first couple weeks proved difficult as evidenced by losses in an exhibition contest and the first regular season game against Houlton.
“It was obvious that the opposing team was more experienced and more prepared than our team,” said coach Nathan DeFelice. “We had very little success in those games other than the leadership and the lack of quit in one of our captains, Sherman Fleming, who also received our Most Valuable Player award at the end of the season.”
Three other players, Marcus Caudill, Victoria Macintosh and Skylar Hooey, showed potential as well and DeFelice said that as the season progressed, “our players continued to learn more about the sport and get in better shape and things really started to look up.”
In the second regular season game, the team came out firing on all cylinders and won in dominant fashion. One of the newest members, Damien Douglass, had one of the best games of the season by running for a couple of touchdowns and playing shutdown defense. He ended with the Offensive Player of the Year Award.
The game was also highlighted by dominant defense from Eric Argraves and some excellent blocking on the offensive line by Sierra Ginn, Kaden DeMerchant, Seth Moreau, Brendan Johndro and Logan Cray, who was given the President’s Award for outstanding courage and off-the-field excellence. Johndro earned the award for Most Improved Player after making great strides from day one to the final game.
The Junior Huskies ended up winning three of its next four games, which was capped off by a satisfying season-ending victory. During that stretch, DeFelice said several players showcased what they learned since the beginning of the season.
After numerous position moves, Grayden Griffeth found his home on the defensive line and put the league on notice that he had arrived. He registered over a dozen sacks and forced several fumbles, which led to him being named Defensive Player of the Year. The defense was also led by starters Kobe West, John Miller, Connor Rideout, Ryan Ehlermann and Colby Langner, who helped the team to be one of the best in the league. Langner ended up being the jack of all trades and scored touchdowns both on defense and offense.
The season turned out to be a huge success and gives promise to continued improvement over the next several years. DeFelice said he was bolstered by the dedication of his assistant coaches, Adam Fantasia and Rob Langner.
Those interested in becoming part of Aroostook Huskies football, whether by playing, coaching, officiating or just helping, can visit the website aroostookfootball.org and click the “contact us” link and send a message.
