RUMFORD – Not every kid is capable of playing quarterback in this football-mad community.
For one thing, people tout your potential as a varsity signal-caller in fifth grade, based solely upon your ability to guide your Sunday morning peewee team to a touchdown or two.
By the time you reach your junior year at Mountain Valley High School, you’ve been evaluated like a 401K portfolio.
You’ve also cradled a clipboard while watching one and sometimes two older players of similarly iron constitution guide the Falcons deep into the playoffs.
Andy Shorey should be forgiven if there are mornings when he wakes up and wishes he were a tackle or tight end.
“There’s a little pressure,” Shorey admitted, “but it’s a fun job.”
The anxiety is alleviated when you’re winning.
And it’s hard not to have fun when you’re still taking snaps and surveying the secondary on the second Saturday in November.
All eyes at Hosmer Field will be locked on Shorey when reigning Class B state champion Mountain Valley puts its 21-game winning streak and regional title in the balance Saturday against York. Kickoff time is 12:30 p.m.
Win, and the Falcons advance to their fifth state final in the program’s 17-year history on Saturday, Nov. 19, at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.
Winslow (Class B) and Boothbay (Class C) are the only teams to successfully defend state championships in this decade.
Did somebody say pressure?
“He loves it,” senior guard Brendan Bradley said of the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Shorey. “He loves all the attention.”
Not many defending champions find themselves on the brink of a repeat after the departure of 10 seniors and a starting quarterback.
Zach Fergola directed the offense in 2004. Aside from setting a sterling example for his successor, Fergola helped Shorey’s cause by running up enough first-half points to give the sophomore understudy ample mop-up duty.
Then again, Shorey experienced few real-life situations while nursing six-touchdown leads.
“He didn’t see a lot of real time last year,” said Mountain Valley coach Jim Aylward.
“He got to play in some blowouts, but you can’t really throw the ball in those games. He mostly came in and handed off.”
Aside from fellow playoff teams Greely, York and Wells and fifth-place Cape Elizabeth, Mountain Valley didn’t face many foes in young Western Class B this year who compelled the Falcons to air it out.
Mountain Valley is a ground-oriented gang led by Aaron Arsenault, who’s in the neighborhood of 3,000 career yards, and Fergola’s younger brother, Travis.
If the Falcons face a few crucial third-and-long situations in the second half Saturday, though, don’t dismiss Shorey and his developing arm.
“Zach Fergola left some big shoes to fill,” said senior center and defensive tackle David Smith.
“Andy has done a really good job stepping in for him. He’s had to work with a lot of new receivers.”
Whenever his first season at the helm ends, Shorey will swap cleats for sneakers and step into an environment where hometown expectations are even higher: MVC basketball.
“He’s a competitor. He might not be the most skilled quarterback, but one thing about Andy is that he’s a winner,” Aylward said.
“He’s been a winner at every level in every sport. He’s a well-rounded athlete and a great kid.”
Being a winner is a prerequisite for being QB at Mountain Valley, where Aylward’s teams have never experienced a losing season since the Rumford-Mexico merger in 1989 and missed the playoffs only once.
By joining Zach Fergola as a state champion, Shorey would move up several pegs on a list of local heroes that includes Matt Gaudet, Gary Arsenault and Jason Carrier.
But Shorey knows self-inflicted expectations could be self-destructive.
He understands that there are plenty of people standing behind the rope and sitting on fanny cushions who are willing to elevate the bar for him.
“I’m just looking for wins,” he said. “I try to do whatever it takes to help my team win.”
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