LIVERMORE FALLS — Spruce Mountain senior Tristan Castonguay has an answer ready for those who would suggest the fast-rising Phoenix are still a year away from being Campbell Conference Class C champions.

“We’ll see Friday night,” said Castonguay, a senior guard/linebacker.

That’s when the third-seeded Phoenix (8-2) will challenge top-seeded Leavitt (9-0) for the Western C title (7 p.m., Libby Field in Turner).

Yes, they are still young, rich with talented junior and sophomore starters. And the Phoenix are still in just their third season as the pride of the consolidated former rivals, Jay and Livermore Falls.

But Spruce Mountain has a talented and equally vital core of seniors who don’t want to hear about next year. They know that it’s been a long, difficult road to the first championship game in the program’s history, even though some of them, and many others the two towns, expected this day to come sooner, when they had their first season in the old Class B.

“After the first year when we all came together, I thought we’d be terrific,” senior fullback/linebacker Alwayne Uter said. “I didn’t realize how intense Class B was at the time.”

The Phoenix made a memorable debut in 2011, winning in dramatic comeback fashion at Greely. But the season ended with a disappointing 4-5 record and an embarrassing blowout loss to Mountain Valley in the first round of the playoffs.

The hiring of Walter Polky as the second head coach in two years preceded more growing pains. Polky inherited a raw roster of underclassmen that struggled to grasp the spread option offense and five-man front on defense.

The Phoenix still played well enough to earn three wins and had a chance to secure their first playoff berth with a win at Fryeburg Academy in the final game of the season. But their season ended in frustration with a last-minute, 14-7 defeat.

The players resolved to make sure their playoff hopes didn’t hinge on the final moments of the regular season.

“I think it gave us a lot of motivation because we actually wanted to do something this year,” senior wide receiver/linebacker Austin Couture said.

Polky made it known that he expected more from his team this year, and stepped up the intensity of their off-season and preseason preparation.

“We put in a lot of hard work in the offseason. There’s been a lot of team bonding and coming together,” Couture said.

“I’ve never been worked like that before,” Uter said. “It’s really made us better as a team. Even though we don’t have the numbers of everybody else as a team, he set goals for us. We strive to reach those goals, to be No. 1 and reach the gold ball. He never cut us short or anything. He believes in us all the way through.”

The Phoenix put in the extra work in the weight room and in repetitions, nailing down the finer points of their offense. That produced immediate dividends when they lit up Freeport for 53 points in the season-opener.

The defense began to find its confidence the following week, in a 20-15 loss to a powerful Wells team.

“Our season turned when we played Wells the second game of the year,” Polky said. “That gave us the belief that we can play, because of the reputation they have.”

Bolstered by that strong showing, Spruce ripped off five wins in a row. Then came a highly-anticipated season finale against Leavitt.

In a 25-6 defeat, the Phoenix learned they still had some work to do.

“We learned their style of tackling, and how they themselves play and their attitudes,” Castonguay said. “We can use that to come around and hopefully go to states.”

They showed their determination to get there with a 42-13 win over Freeport in the quarterfinals, then returned to Wells and avenged their Week 2 loss with a 29-20 win in which the offense stunned the favored Warriors early and the defense stymied them all game long.

Led by Castonguay and tight end Brandon Stearns, the only seniors on the offensive line, and Uter’s straight-ahead running style, the Phoenix set an early physical tone and jumped out to a 22-0 lead. 

When Wells rallied to pull within nine early in the fourth quarter, Spruce’s seniors stepped up again to put the game away behind a swarming defense led by Couture, nose guard Mike Brown and safety Corey Ridley.

Now three weeks deeper into the season than any of their predecessors, the Phoenix aren’t satisfied with the unprecedented success they’ve already enjoyed.

“It makes us want more. It’s not that we’re done now,” Castonguay said. “It gives us more confidence to want more and get a state (title) ring.”

“It’s an attitude,” Castonguay added. “When everyone has a positive attitude and thinks good things, you don’t think about the bad so bad things don’t happen.”

“It’s a testament to our kids, how hard they work and believing in our system,” Polky said. “When we have a full roster and we play together, we play the right way and we play for each other, we play very well.”

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