“Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore, they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases.”  — Grantland Rice

LEWISTON — At Lewiston High School, their real names are: Keene, McKinnon, Therrien and Turcotte.

That is the unbeaten Blue Devils’ four-headed running back rotation, and much like the 1924 Notre Dame backfield Rice wrote about in his famous essay, it has spelled doom for their opponents in 2010.

Made up of one senior, Keene, and three juniors, the quartet marks a departure from Lewiston backfields of recent vintage, where one workhorse such as Jared Turcotte or Wesley Myers took hand-off after hand-off.

“Probably for my entire career, I’ve had one tailback that has kind of stuck out above everybody and is good for 20 or 30 carries a game,” said Lewiston coach Bill County, who also rode workhorse backs such as Jeff Dube and Jim Ray to state titles at Leavitt. “This year, it’s a little bit incumbent on me to spread the ball around to these four athletes, because all four of them have some particular talents.”

Indeed, each back brings something to Lewiston’s Wing-T. McKinnon is the only fullback. The other three are tailbacks by trade, but also line up at various other spots in particular sets.

“I think we all pretty much know our roles,” Therrien said. “We’ve got a power guy. We’ve got quick guys. We’ve got someone to shove it right down their throats down the middle. It’s just a whole team effort.”

Turcotte is the power guy. He leads the Devils is carries, averaging 11 per game. County said he is the closest to the prototype tailback with a combination of speed and a near-200 pound frame.

“He’s working on his vision,” County said. “I think when he gets a little bit better vision of the field, you’ll see him break bigger runs than he’s breaking now. But right now, he’s the guy we turn to in the tough yardage situations.”

“Jeff brings a lot to our offense,” McKinnon said. “We give it to him on the edge and nobody can run him down when he gets to the outside.”

And no, Turcotte is not related to his highly-decorated predecessor. How often does he get asked about that?

“Too many times. Too many times,” Turcotte said. “I’ve talked to him, and we just play it off and say, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re brothers’ sometimes, and other times we’re like, ‘No, never.'”

Keene and Therrien are the speed guys. Keene played on the Gayton Post American Legion state championship baseball team and has been a key contributor to the football team since his sophomore year.

A team captain, Keene is eighth in the Pine Tree Conference in rushing with 338 yards and leads the Devils with six touchdowns, even though he has the second-fewest carries among the quartet.

“I’d like to get the ball more, sure. But whatever helps the team,” Keene said. “All four of us are pretty good. When we go out there, we give it our all and do what we can to help the team out.”

“Jeff Keene is just flat-out fast,” County said. “He makes people miss on the corner. He has surprised me with some of the things he’s been able to do when we get him in the open field.”

“He’s pretty much our go-to guy on third-and-long. He’ll do whatever he needs to get the yards for us,” Therrien said.

Therrien is the smallest of the group, but that works in his favor.

“His size helps him, because he can get lost sometimes,” County said. “Although he looks like he might be an outside run type of kid, he actually runs the inside counter game very well. And then once he’s in the secondary, he can make some pretty good moves.”

Therrien has the fewest carries of the quartet, but he’s a vital part of the kick return game because he is capable of breaking a long return at any time. He’s comparable to a Kevin Faulk or David Meggett.

“He has the quickest feet I’ve ever seen. He’s the water bug,” McKinnon said.

“We’re unpredictable,” Therrien said, “so even though I don’t get the ball a lot, when I do get it, they don’t expect me to get it, and I usually get pretty good yardage, so I’m happy with that.”

County said he has been able to expand his playbook because of the quartet’s versatility, but the linchpin is McKinnon.

“In a Wing-T, the fullback is the key to the entire offense,” County said. “Everything plays off of the trap and the fake trap and his ability to lead up into the hole and block a linebacker.”

Though not a typical bowling ball fullback, McKinnon is the guy the Devils want to run it up the gut. When he gets in the open field, he has a tailback’s speed and moves to break a big play.

“He’s one of the top fullbacks in the state,” Keene said. “He’s not that big, but he’s quick and he’s shifty. He hits the holes just as hard as any other fullback in the state.”

McKinnon relishes the fullback role.

“Since we were young kids, I was a fullback and they were always at tailback,” McKinnon said. “We’re so meshed together, they can read my block and they’re gone.”

Collectively, Lewiston’s four horsemen have rushed for 988 yards and 11 touchdowns in four games, averaging a gaudy 8.5 yards per carry.

All four are also key components to the Devils’ swarming defense — Turcotte as a linebacker, McKinnon and Therrien as defensive backs and Keene as a hybrid of both.

Perhaps most important, though, is they bring intangibles such as selflessness and leadership to the Devils. County admitted he was concerned that there might be some grousing if one or more of the backs weren’t getting the carries they’d expected this year. That has not been the case.

“They’re team-first type kids, and I’ve been very pleased with that,” County said. “One of the things that has been real strong for them and for our whole team is they’re an intelligent group of kids. They really understand the concepts. It’s been a pleasure having some kids that are that smart.”

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