DOVER-FOXCROFT — Sometimes glory eludes them or they are overlooked, but these four football players understand big things wouldn’t happen if they didn’t put it all on the line each game.
Zach Louvat, Brett Coburn, Jacob Morris and Beau Mayo — all Frank J. Gaziano Lineman Award finalists — will be playing in Saturday’s Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl, beginning at 4 p.m. at Lewiston High School.
Oxford Hills’ Zach Louvat raises the ball toward the Oxford Hills crowd after recovering a fumble during the Class A state championship football game played at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland on Nov. 19, 2022. Brewster Burns photo
Louvat, of Oxford Hills, won the Gaziano Defensive Lineman Award and will be heading to Bates College to play football for the Bobcats in the fall after he completes his stint playing for the East team. He is considering engineering as his major.
For Louvat, playing in the Lobster Bowl has given him the opportunity to meet other players.
“Like going into this, I only knew a few of them from like playing against them,” he said. “Class A only had eight teams, I think. We didn’t really have any Class A teams here, so I got to meet a bunch of new people, and it is fun working with all them.”
While he added playing in the Lobster Bowl will be exciting, he pointed out “the money we raise for the kids and the charity, because that is the whole point of this. That’s the motto, is our legs can run so weak legs can walk.”
Louvat said he was surprised to take home the Gaziano award and the $5,000 scholarship that goes along with it.
“My dad told me my freshman year, ‘You are going to get it,” Louvat said. “I said, ‘No I am not.’ And then when we got up there and I saw Brett Coburn, and all of them going against each other, (I thought) ‘There is no way I am winning this.’ But Coach (Mark) Soehren called me and said I won it. And I was really surprised because I didn’t think I was that good, but I guess they saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself.”
“You want to describe your son and what you want him to be, that’s Zach,” Soehren said. “He’s personable; he is empathetic. He is really bright. He plays with passion. He is just a phenomenal person, student and athlete.”
Leavitt’s Brett Coburn, left and Noah Carpenter, center, chase down a loose ball fumbled by Portland as Owen Swanson, left, and Isaak Alkafaji, right, of Portland also try to recover it during a Sept. 9, 2022, game. Coburn of Leavitt came up with the fumble. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald
University of Maine-bound Coburn, who starred for Leavitt and is suiting up for the West squad, was a runner-up for the defensive lineman award. He will be studying mechanical engineering in the fall.
But for the rest of the week Coburn will be focused on the Lobster Bowl.
“Just to have the honor of playing in the game, and then not only playing, (but) being able to play with all these great players and the best players in the state, and then help out a bunch of children in need, is just a great time,” Coburn said.
Coburn said he is looking forward to playing again at Don Roux Field, where Leavitt won last fall’s Class C South final before winning the state championship a week later in Bangor.
“I love playing at the Lewiston field,” he said. “At the end of our season, when Leavitt’s Libby Field was kind of like under snow, we got to practice at Lewiston and it was just a great time. It is a great field.”
Leavitt football coach Mike Hathaway — who is the head coach for the West for Saturday’s game — said Coburn is non-stop on defense.
“One of the best pass rushers we’ve coached,” Hathaway said. “And we played him at all three positions on our defensive line. He’s played nose tackle. He has played defensive tackle and he’s played defensive end. I am pretty happy to see him in this game and I think he is going to be pretty disruptive on Saturday.”
Jacob Morris
Kennebunk’s Jacob Morris, who is now serving his country as a combat engineer with the National Guard after graduating basic training a month ago and will be attending Plymouth State University in the fall, was another runner-up for the defensive award. He will be studying criminal justice.
“I am playing my last high school football game, especially with these great guys and my friends … and it is for a great cause,” he said. “I am excited for it.”
Like Louvat, Morris was also a bit confounded about being named a runner-up for the Gaziano Award.
“When I got the award, I was pretty shocked actually, but all the hard work and stuff paid off, so I am pretty happy with myself,” Morris said.
Leavitt guard Beau Mayo was the recipient for the Gaziano Offensive Lineman Award. Mayo is heading into the trades and wants to become an electrician.
“I have been dreaming of this game, to be able to participate in this game, since I was a kid,” he said. “To finally be here, and raise all that money for the Shriners Hospital and all those kids, so I think it is awesome.”
Mayo is always setting goals for himself.
Leavitt offensive lineman Beau Mayo reacts after crossing the goal line to score a touchdown against Medomak Valley during the Class C state championship football game at Cameron Stadium in Bangor in November 2022. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
“The Gaziano Award was one of my goals that I had to pursue and put the work in to be able to achieve,” he said.
Hathaway didn’t hesitate when he said Mayo is one of the best linemen in Maine.
“I mean he is the Gaz winner, so he is the best,” Hathaway said. “Probably the best pulling guard I have ever coached. He is as tough as they come. He has really improved his football I.Q. a ton, so he knows what’s really going on up front.
“Beau just likes to get after it. He is going to finish every play and block for seven seconds, so we love him.”
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