LEWISTON — His coach calls him the prototype of the 2010 Lewiston Blue Devils — small, fast, tenacious and smart.

But Ben Wigant still stands out on the gridiron even though a lot of his teammates share many of his traits.

Wigant, an all-conference linebacker and guard, will lead the Blue Devils into their first Pine Tree Conference championship game in nine years Friday night against second-seeded Bangor (7 p.m., Cameron Stadium).

The Rams are, like most Bangor teams, big and strong. Even their running back, 6-foot-3, 220-pound senior Josiah Hartley, casts a shadow over most of Lewiston’s players. But the 5-foot-11, 192-pound Wigant is confident the Blue Devils will stand tall

“They have size, and it’s about not letting it intimidate us, because we can beat them. Size isn’t everything in this sport,” he said.

Wigant admits he wishes he had a couple more inches of height, if only to attract more attention from college recruiters. Lewiston coach Bill County believes if Wigant were bigger, he’d have Division I coaches knocking on his door.

“I hear the term D-1 body, and how many times have I wished I had a D-1 body,” Wigant said.

He may not have the body to go D-1, but he has the brains to attract the interest of several prestigious Division III schools, including NESCAC rivals Bates and Bowdoin. A member of the National Honor Society, Wigant plans to study biology/pre-med in hopes of pursuing a career in sports medicine.

“As great as his physical talent is, he’s cerebral,” County said.

Wigant’s brain comes in handy in the brawny football world.

“You can watch film as many times as you want, but when you go out there, things don’t go the way you want them to, and it’s being able to adjust to that that’s the biggest thing,” Wigant said. “It’s quick reads and quick thinking that really determine inches, and it is a game of inches. If I can get to the hole before the other team, I feel that I still have enough strength to overpower them.”

He overpowered ball-carriers 105 times this year for tackles, the second-highest total in the PTC. He uses his brain and his speed to get to the hole first, then his deceptive strength and tenacity take over to keep his grip on the ball-carrier, keep his feet moving and maintain his momentum to bring the runner down.

“As you start making your way to the gap, you want to really start breaking down your body, getting low,” he said. “At the point of contact, it’s bringing your feet and bringing your body. It’s not necessarily catching the person but trying to run through the person. If you do that, then most of the time it keeps them from getting extra yards or even breaking the tackle. If you can keep your momentum going through them and then onto the ground, it makes a big difference.”

Playing guard on the Devils’ offensive line requires some brain power, too.

“There are several schemes where he’s always on the move,” County said.

Lewiston’s multi-faceted backfield of Jeff Keene, Joe McKinnon, Matt Therrien and Jeff Turcotte keeps Wigant on his toes.

“It’s funny, because sometimes on different plays I’ll block differently depending on who’s running the hole (based) on their tendencies, seeing what they read,” he said. “Sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you want it to, but depending upon who the ball goes to, it definitely tells me how to make my blocks.”

Lewiston’s booster club bought the team an end zone camera this year that the coaches use for game film. The new angle has given County and his assistants a new appreciation for how Wigant goes about the blocking business.

“With that shot, coming down from the back of the offense to the front of the offense, we’re really able to highlight his technique,” County said. “Quite often, we stop film and replay it two or three times just to let all the guards in the room know it’s as close as you can get to perfect technique.”

“At his height and weight, you can’t be sloppy and be successful,” he added. “He’s not big enough to knock people over and he understands this. He has a good concept of leverage, staying low and having that wide base. His intelligence and his technique takes him a long ways.”

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