With two-thirds of their roster hailing from cities other than

Portland, Cheverus football will truly symbolize the West on

Saturday.

PORTLAND – Chances are, unless you’re a big fan of the Cheverus Stags, your football team is out of contention at this point. We know what you’re thinking: so what if Cheverus is playing Bangor for the state title on Nov. 20? So what if they’ve gone undefeated, not with yawn-inducing blowouts, but with game after game of agonizing nail-biters? You don’t know any of these kids. You’ve got no iron in this fire.

Well, think again.

Of the 41 students currently on the Stags’ varsity roster headed into this weekend’s contest, 27 aren’t from Portland. Cheverus is a team made up of athletes who commute in from as far away as Raymond, Windham, Arundel, and Kennebunk. They are fighters, seasoned in the trenches of middle school programs from towns like Scarborough, Westbrook, Cape Elizabeth, Saco and South Portland.

So while it’s small consolation for fans of those teams that have gone by the wayside, we’re not going to say anything if you decide to don a little purple and cheer for the Stags this Saturday. After all, the odds are pretty good that you’ve got a few of them living in your town, and they’re going to need all the support they can get when a bruising Rams team comes rolling into Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland to challenge them.

“We all come from different parts and different towns,” said senior defensive end A.J. Bennett, who hails from Raymond. “We have bonded as a team, and we’ve gotten better because of that. When we came into this, we didn’t all know each other. I think that made us more open to learning from each other, and it gave us the ability to spot flaws and see where guys were coming up short in a way a lot of the one-town teams might overlook.”

So where did this Cheverus team come from, and how did they get to the title game? The Stags went 8-0 during the regular season, taking down teams the likes of Bonny Eagle and Deering, but they began the year beating up on Gorham, Windham and South Portland by a combined score of 113-27. Then Cheverus encountered its first check in the form of traditional power Portland.

“It was midseason, and (Portland) showed up ready to play,” said junior tight end Christian Deschenes, a native of Windham. “They had had a bad schedule to that point, and we had had a really good schedule. Well, they showed up and start kicking our cans. We had to comeback to win, which was really big.”

The Stags wound up escaping with a 22-19 victory thanks to a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns, although that was hardly the only time they were tested this season. Against teams with winning records, the Stags have prevailed by an average of just 12.6 points per game, and these numbers are heavily skewed by a 28-0 drubbing of Windham back on Sept. 9, and a 44-14 smack down of Deering on Oct. 23. Deering would have something to say about the latter game later on.

In the playoffs, Cheverus had to battle back against a late-game deficit against Windham, then barely held off the Scarborough Red Storm. In their latest triumph, the Stags took a 29-6 lead against Deering before giving up 28 straight points. Cheverus eked out a win in the final 35 seconds on a last-minute touchdown. According to players, it’s not an experience they want to repeat, and they are trying to plan a way to avoid a similar letdown against Bangor.

“We just have got to keep recharging after every play,” said junior guard Mike Dedian of Scarborough. “I know we get a little bit tired out there sometimes, but you’ve just got to take a little break, calm down, take some deep breaths and recharge.”

Speaking of the Rams, Dedian is one of the few players on the Stags roster who has seen them play. He traveled to Lawrence back on Oct. 16 to witness Bangor lose to the Bulldogs 21-14. It was the Rams’ lone stumble of 2010.

“They are big,” Dedian said of Bangor. “They have a good passing game, and they have a pretty good running game, but Lawrence was just more physical. They have some big boys, so if we’re going to beat them, we’re going to have to be just as physical as Lawrence was.”

Beyond the size disparity, there are a number of unique challenges that the Stags will have to overcome on Saturday, not the least of which is that the game will be the first time all year that Cheverus has played on field turf. It may be the last time this ever happens, as more and more teams are choosing to supplant grass with the spongy, all-purpose surface.

“It’ll be a bit interesting at the beginning,” chuckled Sam Olore, a senior guard from Scarborough. “It’s going to definitely make things a bit faster. But I think we’re going to adjust well.”

And it’s hard not to believe that Olore is right. Cheverus has been adjusting all year to myriad opponents and different game conditions, and every time – despite some very close shaves – the Stags have found a way to win. Why should Saturday be any different?

“We have a lot of athletes,” Olore said. “We’ve had to fight our way out of a corner multiple times, and when it comes down to it, we’ve been getting the wins.”

Cheverus senior defensive back Liam Hobbins (9), a native of Saco, continues to struggle with Deering wide receiver Renaldo Lowry even after the ball pops out of their collective grasp during the Class A West final on Saturday.
Staff photo by Emory Rounds

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