From the outside looking in, Thornton Academy senior Austin McCrum seems to have lived the dream of every high school quarterback in the country. Back-to-back state championships, pretty much every honor imaginable and a scholarship to play at the next level.

While McCrum certainly has lived that dream the last few years, his journey to the top of Maine high school football started long before he was raising the Gold Ball or being nominated for the prestigious Fitzpatrick Trophy – and the journey consisted of one major road block he had to clear.

McCrum started his football journey back in the second grade when he first joined the Junior Trojans program.

“That’s when I started playing quarterback. I remember getting my first touchdown … I got my first touchdown on a kick return,” said McCrum.

McCrum would continue to play for the Junior Trojans as he set his sights on playing for the Thornton Academy high school team.

Unfortunately for McCrum, his body had something else in mind – and his high school career was nearly over before it started.

“I was on crutches my ninth grade year, didn’t get to play. I had knee surgery,” said McCrum, who had a condition called Osteochondritis Dissecans. “It was a rare bone disease. They had to drill a couple holes in my knee cap to get blood flow back.”

McCrum’s dream of playing quarterback for TA was put on hold – and that was a tough pill to swallow.

“I didn’t get to suit up once … it was pretty tough. I was pretty excited to play high school ball and to have that taken away early, kind of sucked,” said McCrum.

McCrum didn’t let the knee injury slow him down and, by the time his sophomore year rolled around, he was the starting quarterback for the Golden Trojans.

Making the jump from junior varsity to varsity can be tough for players, but for McCrum, he was pretty much making the leap from junior high to the big time.

“It was a shock,” said McCrum. “I was definitely nervous about it, but I tried to hold it together. It was much different going from eighth grade football to high school football … everyone was just pretty big. ”

McCrum would not only adjust to the varsity game – he would help lead the Trojans to the Western Maine finals.

The standout credits some of the seniors on the TA roster for helping him acclimate to the varsity game.

“I had a lot of upperclassmen take me under their wing and teach me the playbook,” said McCrum. “I had Andrew Libby there, Cody Lynn and those guys, they knew the offense like the back of their hands, so that helped pretty quick.”

The bond he made with players like Libby and Lynn, made it even more difficult when the Trojans fell to Bonny Eagle in the regional finals.

“Losing in the finals was pretty hard, especially with it being the seniors’ last game. Like, you work hard for them all the way through the year and then to see their journey end, that was probably the hardest part,” said McCrum.

The loss in the regional finals – and the experience McCrum gained during his entire sophomore campaign – set the stage for the 2014 season.

“Junior year was a lot easier. Coming in knowing the playbook and I came in 25 pounds heavier and lot more physically and mentally prepared to play at that level,” said McCrum.

McCrum would end up helping the Trojans capture the 2014 Class A state championship.

“It was crazy,” said McCrum of the 2014 state title run. “I developed a bond with my teammates that year that was a stronger bond than I had ever had with a team. Those seniors were awesome, I was good friends with all of them, so to win for them, and with them, was pretty cool.”

Now, with a state title under his belt, McCrum – and the rest of the Trojans – came into the 2015 season with a target on their backs.

“It was a little different this year because last year I don’t know if we had any expectations and we kind of just kept rolling with it. This year, I feel like we were expected to be where we were and it was kind of hard to live up to those expectations, but everyone did pretty well,” said McCrum.

The Trojans stumbled just once this season as they dropped a road game to Windham, which was the team they beat in the 2014 state championship game.

“We went into that game pretty flat. The environment there was crazy and they had been looking forward to that game all year and we knew we were going to get a good look from them. We came out flat and didn’t really answer the bell in the first half,” said McCrum.

McCrum and the Trojans would bounce back from the Week 4 loss to Windham and went on a seven-game winning streak to end the season.

“It was just looking forward from there … we knew what we had to do and we grinded pretty hard after that,” said McCrum, who finished his senior year with 1,956 passing yards and 20 touchdowns.

That seven-game win streak included a 24-14 win over Portland in the Class A state title game, which was played on Portland’s home field.

Despite the home-field edge for Portland, McCrum and the Trojans felt confident heading into the championship game.

“I almost felt like we had the upperhand playing there because (we knew) the environment, having been there before … the experience helped us quite a bit,” said McCrum, who threw for 137 yards and ran for 78 and a score in the state title win.

Winning the 2015 state title was a little more special for McCrum as he got to do it with his best friends.

“It’s a special bond for sure,” said McCrum of this year’s senior class. “These are the kids I grew up with, those guys have been my best friends growing up, so to dream about it and then go and put it to action and actually win (a state title) was pretty awesome.”

McCrum was also happy to give TA head coach Kevin Kezal another state title.

“He’s taught me so much about football, but outside the game he’s been a great guy to me,” said McCrum. “He always had my best interest in the classroom, he’s helped me keep my grades up, he’s communicated with (college) coaches for me. I just had a close relationship with all the coaches on that staff and they taught me how to play the game the way it should be played.”

Heading into his senior campaign, McCrum already knew he would be going to play college ball at Division I Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, but the road to a college scholarship wasn’t easy. “I kind of got overlooked because of the circumstance of where I live and everything like that,” said McCrum. “To finally get that first offer from Old Dominion was such a relief and such a shock because I didn’t actually expect it to ever happen and then it was kind of a snowball effect from there.”

That snowball effect led him to visit Lafayette, which is a private college in Easton, Pennsylvania.

“I was just looking to get the best education and play high level football – and it was free – so (Lafayette) was just a good fit,” said McCrum.

The trip to Lafayette sealed the deal for McCrum.

“When I took my visit, just their facilities and the campus was just so much nicer than the other schools I was talking to. It was just a good fit and the coaches were awesome,” said McCrum.

The location of the school was also something that made Lafayette stand out.

“There are a ton of places to eat and a real night life … it’s close to other colleges and it’s in driving distance to Philly and New York City,” said McCrum.

Before he takes off for college, McCrum has been trying to enjoy his last few months of high school.

“(I’ve) just been hanging out with friends and family and been laying low and relaxing while I’m here,” said McCrum.

That doesn’t mean he isn’t already getting ready to compete at the next level.

“I started (working out) this week actually … and I’m just going to grind and go in prepared,” said McCrum.

The standout is hoping to add one more honor to his high school legacy as he is one of three finalists for the Fitzpatrick, which will be handed out in January.

“Winning the Fitzpatrick would be pretty cool. It would just be something to look back on and remember this season and everything we accomplished as a team … and that I would go down in history would be awesome,” said McCrum.

— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at [email protected] or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @ JournalTsports.