The Leavitt football team was dealt shocking news Friday morning when the team learned assistant coach Pete Casey, father of sophomore Tommy Casey, had died unexpectedly.

“It was a rough day. It happened early this morning before school,” said Coach Mike Hathaway.

“Some of our coaches went over there early in the day, and then we met with the kids later on in the morning, and kind of let them know, and spent a lot of time with them in the afternoon and some time with the family in the afternoon. And then we went out and had the best practice we could have.”

Leavitt plays Fryeburg in the Class C South final at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Tommy Casey joined his teammates at practice Friday.

“He wanted to come over and practice. And when I walked over there this morning, pretty much the first thing he said to me is that ‘whenever we play this game, I’ll be there,'” Hathaway said.

“You know, it was good for him to see the whole team and try to start the healing process a little bit.”

Leavitt Athletic Director Ryan LaRoche said he did not know the cause of death.

Casey had been with the Leavitt program for the past four or five seasons, according to Hathaway, coinciding with Tommy’s years with the Tripp Middle School team.

Casey worked with the young defensive linemen and also kept the defensive stats.

Casey graduated from Livermore Falls High before attending the University of Maine.

He had a career in insurance.

Besides Tommy, Casey is survived by a daughter, Mallory, and wife, Tammy.

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