While playing for championships in all three sports at Dirigo High School, Frost always had the needle in the red and the volume knob at 11.
His tireless blend of power and speed gave the impression that Frost treated every athletic event as if it could be his last.
He didn’t have to summon any such imaginary motivation Saturday night. Barring any last-minute twists of the plot, Frost will report to Maine Maritime Academy in Castine next month as a student only, and not a college athlete.
If the Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl was his swan song, what a memorable tune it was.
Frost made eight tackles in the first half alone, six of them solo, one a sack, to set the tone for the West in a 45-21 rout of the East at Waterhouse Field.
“He may be the best high school linebacker I’ve ever seen,” West coach Mike Hathaway of Leavitt said. “He killed us in practice all week. We simply could not block him.”
As a 5-foot-9, 235-pound fullback and linebacker from a Class D school, Frost didn’t receive the recognition from statewide pundits or college recruiters that a player of his talent should reap.
After putting on his clinic in the all-star spotlight, Frost admitted that the lack of respect lit his fuse.
“I’m a competitor. Class D doesn’t get the recognition it deserves, and that’s what I wanted to come out here and show tonight,” Frost said. “I had Brett Gerry (of Marshwood) beside me, and he’s a great player. They know Gerry, but I wanted to make sure when they leave that they know Frost.”
The East couldn’t block Frost, either. Nor could they stop Gerry or Joe Philbrick of Lisbon or Will Parkin of Leavitt from invading the backfield.
East quarterbacks were sacked five times, and runners were limited to 1.5 yards per carry.
Gabe Seeley of Leavitt, who caught two touchdown passes, also acknowledged that he was motivated by talk of the East’s superior star power.
“I have to admit, I thought they might come out here and hand it to us,” Seeley said. “They might have had a little more talent than we did, but I know we practiced harder, and I know they weren’t as close as this team. We became a family this week.”
Gerry wins, again
There also was healthy anticipation of another showdown between Gerry, who won the Fitzpatrick Trophy last season as the outstanding senior football player in the state, and Joe Fitzpatrick of Cheverus, who was one of the three finalists.
Gerry won the battle both defensively, where he helped contain Fitzpatrick to 59 yards on 14 carries, and offensively, scoring a touchdown.
“I wouldn’t want to play against Brett,” West tight end Mitchel Davis of Leavitt said. “He’ll do something big and then he’ll look at you like you have three heads.”
Relatively painless
There were no significant stoppages in play for injury, which is always worth a sigh of relief in the charity affair.
Jeremy Mihalakis of Winthrop sustained probably the most serious malady, a dislocated left shoulder, in the fourth quarter. He was all smiles two minutes later after the training staff popped it back into place.
“It was bothering me a little bit all week, but truthfully I didn’t say anything, because I really wanted to play today,” Mihalakis said.
Give me the ball
Parkin used his pull with Hathaway to make good on his elusive high school goal of lining up in the backfield late in the game.
When Parkin made the transition from soccer to football at Leavitt, he suited up at tight end. One problem: He could never seem to catch the ball. So Hathaway used his talents at guard and linebacker and nose tackle, where he was all-conference.
But with the West in command and time running out, Parkin, wearing the lineman’s No. 57, took a handoff and rumbled ahead for three yards.
“He’s been bugging me about that for four years,” Hathaway said.
Flaherty feted
Kyle Flaherty of Oak Hill was presented with one of the John R. Schmidlin trophies, emblematic of the outstanding player in each class, at halftime.
Flaherty was Class D co-winner along with Jake Drew of Houlton. Zach Dubiel (Bonny Eagle, Class A), Cole Robinson (Lawrence, Class B) and Dylan Hapworth (Winslow, Class C) also were selected.
He made plenty of impact in the game, as well, carrying 10 times for 41 yards and also handing off to Oak Hill teammate Alex Mace on a fake punt that led to a 23-yard gain.
koakes@sunjournal.com
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