UMaine offensive linemen Jack Boutaugh (left) and Nathan Lopez complete a drill during a practice July 31 in Orono. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
ORONO — There aren’t many native Mainers on the University of Maine football team. With fewer than 80 high school football programs in the state, there simply aren’t enough players capable of competing at the Football Championship Subdivision level.
This season, for example, the Black Bears have only eight players from Maine on their roster. Nearly half of those eight players come from Leavitt Area High School, a C program in Turner that dominated high school football in Maine last fall.
Jack Boutaugh, a redshirt sophomore offensive lineman, Noah Carpenter, a freshman quarterback, and Jace Negley, a freshman defensive lineman, all play for head coach Jordan Stevens.
“Every year we actively recruit someone from Leavitt,” Stevens said after a recent practice. “Just the character of the guys there, they have a great program. They’re well coached and have a lot of continuity in their personnel, which has shown in their ability to play at a higher level and win games.”
Maine last had three players from the same high school in 2019, when Scarborough graduates Zoltan Panyi (quarterback), Anthony Griffin (offensive lineman) and Zachary Reed (offensive lineman) joined the roster. Those three players made up 18% of the Mainers on that team. In 2017, Maine had four players from Thornton Academy: linebacker Owen Elliott, fullback Michael Laverriere, kicker Brandon Briggs and defensive end Dakota Tarbox.
Scarborough and Thornton Academy are among the largest schools in the state.
According to the Maine Principals’ Association, Leavitt has 572 enrolled players, placing it in the middle of the state’s 79 football programs (including the combined enrollment of co-op programs).
But that hasn’t stopped coach Mike Hathaway from building one of the state’s most consistent football programs. Last season, the Hornets fielded one of the best teams in state history and went undefeated for the second year in a row, beating Class A champion Thornton Academy and two other Class A schools, as well as Class B runner-up Lawrence. In the Class C final, the Hornets beat previously unbeaten Oceanside 71-12.
“We play pretty long seasons. These guys get a lot of extra training,” Hathaway said. “These guys have worked pretty hard, too… We try to instill a love of the game. If you don’t love it, you can’t be successful at this level (Division I).”
Leavitt’s trio of Black Bears thank Hathaway and his assistant coaches for helping them prepare for Division I. Boutaugh noted that his line coach at Leavitt, Dave Bochtler, played defensive line at Maine in the 1980s.
“Coach Hathaway and all the coaches do a great job of getting the guys ready for the next chapter. A lot of our guys have come out of Leavitt and played college football. The last few years, with me, Jack and Jace, the coaches knew what they had. They knew they could prepare us,” said Carpenter, who won the Fitzpatrick Trophy last season as the state’s top high school senior.
Stevens said Carpenter (6’1″, 215 pounds) and Negley (6’3″, 275 pounds) decided to hit the weight room as soon as they arrived on campus.
“They’re more physically developed than most (first-year players). They can function on the field because they’re so physically developed. They take on the rigors of training camp,” Stevens said.
Of the three, Boutaugh will likely get the most playing time this season. The 6-foot-4, 295-pound offensive lineman played in eight games last season, including four at left guard in the final month of the season. Boutaugh, who balances football with his engineering studies, said the offensive line is stronger this season and competition in camp for playing time is intense.
“He’s such a down-to-earth, hard-working young man. We’re really proud of his progress here. He’s going to play a lot of football for us,” Stevens said of Boutaugh. “He’s getting every opportunity every day. He’s getting a lot of playing time and he really deserves it.”
When Maine began recruiting Negley, who won the Gaziano Award as the state’s top defensive lineman last season, he contacted Boutaugh to learn about playing football in Maine. When he visited, Negley immediately felt at home.
“I went and got to know the guys and the coaches. There was a kind of brotherhood. There was a strong bond between everyone. It was very similar to what I had at Leavitt. I couldn’t turn that down. That’s what I was looking for when I was looking for a school,” said Negley, who is Carpenter’s roommate.
Negley and Boutaugh said they hope to compete against each other in practice soon. Negley said as a sophomore in high school, he would try to get as many reps as possible against Boutaugh, a senior, to improve.
When he was first added to the Maine roster, Carpenter’s position was listed as “athlete.” He has been working with the quarterbacks since training camp opened. Whether he stays there or not is yet to be determined. At Leavitt, Carpenter was a force on offense, defense and special teams. In addition to being the state’s best quarterback, Carpenter was also considered the best punter and safety.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever met a first-year player that has built more connections with his teammates in such a short period of time than (Carpenter). He definitely has that ‘it’ factor. He’s fit in right away and he’s a fighter. It’s really fun to watch,” Stevens said. “He’s right there with the quarterbacks. He can punt. I’m excited to have him on our team because he’s going to be a great guy here now and in the future, just culturally. He loves it, and that’s contagious. He’s such an easy kid to coach. He does something with a football before every practice.”
Carpenter said he enjoys working with the other quarterbacks and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Mikahael Waters, but he will play wherever he is sent.
“I couldn’t be happier with my decision to come here,” Carpenter said. “They said, we know you can play football. We’re just not sure where you fit in. Later in my recruiting process, they actually told me they wanted me as a quarterback.”
Stevens, a Mt. Blue graduate and Templar native, played for the Black Bears from 2006-2009 and was an all-conference defensive end. Stevens is arguably the most successful Mainer native to wear the Black Bears jersey in the last 20 years, and he says he sees a little bit of himself in each of the Mainer natives who play for the Black Bears.
“I see myself in them in terms of work ethic. That’s something we pride ourselves on here in Maine,” Stevens said. “If we get a great player from Maine that we can develop and that works hard, that’s a great fit for us.”
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