High school football was one of the few team sports canceled last season due to COVID-19. So after a one-year hiatus, football is back and Boothbay has 22 players preparing for its second season as an eight-man team.

For Coach Ed Crocker, the 2021 season will be one of learning as even the upper classmen aren’t as experienced as past teams due to the loss of an entire season. “It’s great to be back. We have a great group of kids who are hard workers. The challenge for us is improving every day, focusing on better conditioning and developing our skills,” he said.

This season, more schools opted to play eight-man football. The large school division has 12 teams classified with 350 or more students. Boothbay has 176 students which ties it with Telstar as the smallest small school conference teams. Boothbay is in the southern division with Dirigo, Maranacook, Mountain Valley, Old Orchard Beach, Sacopee Valley and Telstar. The north has four with Dexter, Orono, Houlton-Hodgdon-Southern Aroostook, and Mountain View.

Even the small conference teams have larger enrollments than Boothbay; the three biggest are Mountain Valley (354), Maranacook (351) and Sacopee Valley (294). The influx of more eight-man football teams is due to a Maine Principals’ Association decision last year allowing any school struggling to field a traditional 11-man team to play eight-man.  Boothbay has seven games versus small conference opponents and one against Gray-New Gloucester (566) in the large division.

“Eight-man has changed dramatically since we played last year. Teams who won a Class A state football championship five years ago are now playing eight-man,” Crocker said.

When the season starts Sept. 3 at home versus Dirigo, the Seahawks will be led by senior quarterback Ashton McLellan, who is one of two seniors. In 2020, the Seahawks prepared in the summer for a season before the pandemic resulted in the season’s cancellation. “I’m looking forward to this season. Not playing last year was a bummer so I’ve trained hard and I’m ready to go,” he said.

While McLellan has played football since he was in the fourth grade, senior Zach Rollins is a rookie. This will be the six-foot, four-inch defensive lineman’s and tight end’s first season. “I’m out here hoping to contribute and hopefully help us win a few games,” he said. Defensive coordinator Smith Climo isn’t concerned about Rollins’ lack of experience. “He’s smart and extremely coachable, “ he said.

Another likely key contributor this season is running back and linebacker Kayden Ames. Crocker and Smith described the muscular junior as a “workout warrior.” He along with Connor Wenners and Nace Lawless will likely handle a lot of carries in a run-dominated offense. “He is a strong runner, smart athlete and will be one of the top runners in the conference,” Crocker said.  “Kayden plays hard and he wants to win. That’s what makes him so tough on the field.”

On defense, Smith is also adjusting his alignment to stop the run. “Eight-man is just a different game. The field is smaller, but you still have three fewer defenders, and I just think that makes it more difficult to stop the run,” he said. This season, the Seahawks are planning a four-man defensive front, two linebackers and two cornerbacks. “I’ve moved the safety to linebacker because you just have to stop the run at the line,” Climo said.

Caden Royal is another returning junior the Seahawks will rely on this season on both the offensive and defensive lines. “Caden is another guy who played a lot for us as a freshman, and we’re depending upon him to have a good season,” Crocker said.

On Aug. 24, Boothbay played its second of two pre-season games. Against Yarmouth, one of the large school conference teams, Boothbay trailed Yarmouth 18-0 at the half, but the Seahawks prevailed 44-40.  “So proud of this year’s team. We overcame a large deficit and everybody played so hard and never gave up. Way to go Seahawks!” Crocker said.