PORTLAND — At 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, David LaPauloue rarely goes unnoticed. But the Thornton Academy senior lineman was largely unheralded during the Trojans’ run to the Western Maine title game. However, the Trojans’ big man made arguably the biggest play of the game, as Thornton ended Cheverus’ 34-game winning streak with a 20-13 win.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Cheverus running back Donald Goodrich broke free for a 17-yard touchdown run to cut Thornton’s lead to 14-13, with the extra point pending. On a play that is converted 99 times out of 100 in the NFL, and is a good bet with Cheverus kicker Patrick Mourmouras, the Trojans still tried to pressure the potential tying-PAT. The play seemed to take longer than usual, and LaPauloue was able to get through the line and get his big mitt of a hand in the way of the kick.
“(I was) just playing from my position. He didn’t block me,” LaPauloue said of the lineman lined up opposite him. “So I went through and I saw my opening, and I knew I could get it if I tried.”
Thornton head coach Kevin Kezal had one word for how important the play was.
“Huge,” said Kezal. “Huge. It keeps the lead. All of a sudden they’ve got all the momentum, they’re going to tie the game. We kind of got the momentum back there. That was huge.”
LaPauloue said the play “kept ourselves up, and didn’t get down on the fact that they scored.”
Because the success of a PAT is all but a certainty with even a decent kicker, many teams forgo practicing trying to block them, and players often half-heartedly try in game situations. Kezal, ever the perfectionist, isn’t one of those coaches.
“It’s a play. It’s a defensive play. We work on that,” said Kezal. “Today we thought we had a scheme that would work, and it did.”
LaPauloue may have helped his own cause with a little premonition.
“You got to go to sleep dreaming about making big plays. That’s how the game is played. That’s how you got to play,” said LaPauloue. “You got to want to make big plays all the time. That’s how you got to play, 100 percent every play. And that’s just how we were taught to play.”
While LaPauloue might not be a household name, he has been an important player for the Trojans. A starter on both the offensive and defensive lines, LaPauloue’s contribution to the team isn’t lost on his coach.
“David’s played very well for us the past two years. This year he’s really come along, on both sides of the ball. He played great today,” said Kezal.
LaPauloue said he and his fellow linemen fed off the emotion of the game, and the rivalry. Cheverus beat Thornton in the same matchup a year ago, and were their only blemish during the regular season. LaPauloue said the line needed to play great, and they did.
“We stepped it up big today. I think it was the emotion. I think it was just all of us being psyched up together, being ready to play, and it just psyched me up as well,” said LaPauloue. “It made me able to get a couple pretty good plays.”
LaPauloue capped off his and the Trojans’ big win with two big sacks of Cheverus quarterback Liam Fitzpatrick in the fourth quarter. His dreams came true, and Thornton’s dream season will last until the final game of the year. After the biggest game of his life, LaPauloue had no answer for how he felt.
“I’m so psyched, I don’t even know how to explain it,” he said. He’s just hoping the dream lasts one more week, when the next thing he gets his hand on is the State Championship Gold Ball.
— Contact Wil Kramlich at 282-1535, Ext. 323 or follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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