SANFORD — When Jed Scott showed up for his first day of Sanford High School football practice as a freshman ”“ his first-ever day of organized football ”“ he was, as would be expected, more than a little raw.
“Our freshman coaches literally spent that year teaching him a stance,” Sanford head coach Mike Fallon said. “It really was from ground zero.”
Four years later, Scott’s high school football career ended Saturday when he was honored with the Frank J. Gaziano Memorial Offensive Lineman Award as the best senior offensive lineman in the state during a ceremony at the Augusta Civic Center.
It was a meteoric rise for a player who has played only three full seasons of organized football, and who from his left-tackle position anchored a powerful offensive line that carried Sanford to a 6-4 record and the Western Class A semifinals last fall.
“For him to play at that level with just three years of football experience was amazing,” said Fallon, who credited Spartans offensive line coach Keith Noel as instrumental in Scott’s rapid development. “Obviously, he’s a big boy, and he’s really bright and has a tremendous work ethic, and that helped a lot because he came to us like that.”
The Gaziano award is given annually to the top senior offensive and defensive linemen in the state based on their “strong leadership on the field, in the classroom and in the community,” with half of the criterion based on athletic performance and the other half on scholastic achievement and community involvement.
A selection committee of 13 coaches and administrators from around the state chose Scott for the award after an intense selection process that included an interview, application, written essay and submitted game video for evaluation.
After the offensive list was whittled down from 14 semifinalists, Scott beat out fellow finalists Greg Grinnell of Cheverus and Ethan Liberty of Skowhegan for the award, which also comes with a $5,000 scholarship. Luke Washburn of Oak Hill won the defensive award.
“It was kind of like a relief after waiting so long and going through the process,” said Scott, who was also a semifinalist for the Fitzpatrick Trophy and owns a 94.8 grade-point average. “We’ve had the Fitzpatrick for a while, but it’s nice to have another award for linemen that shows their hard work and dedication to the game.
“I was just grateful for it. It’s a big honor.”
Scott became the first player from Sanford to win the Gaziano, now in its fourth year.
“Being the first lineman to win this from Sanford, it really shows other kids from Sanford and other linemen that you can get honors,” Scott said. “I think that it will push kids to work harder in the classroom as well as in the community, and especially on the field.
“It’s a good thing for Sanford football, and it was nice to give Sanford a little recognition.”
After developing throughout his freshman year, Scott was expected to contribute at the varsity level as a sophomore before sustaining a shoulder injury that kept him out for the entire season.
But instead of sulking, Scott went to work in the weight room and came back, in Fallon’s words, as “strong as an ox” for his junior year, when he immediately became an impact player on both sides of the ball and was named to the SMAA All-Conference offensive first team.
“It was just hard work,” Scott said. “The coaches push us very hard, and they’re always in the weight room working out no matter how old they are. If your coach is in their working out with you, you want to push yourself hard and beat him out.”
Scott was even more critical this season, when the Spartans’ run-focused offense relied on its five big guys up front to open up holes for a rotating cast of running backs, with Scott’s versatility as a 6-foot-1, 285-pound blocker making him the linchpin behind the Spartans’ ability to run the ball.
“It’s one thing to be a lineman and come out of your stance and wrestle the guy in front of you,” Fallon said. “But with Jed we could pull him down the line of scrimmage and get him out on the perimeter lead blocking for people. I know if you’re a second- or third-level defender and you see Jed coming, that’s a horrific experience for some kids.”
A captain, Scott also fulfilled the role as leader in an up-and-down season for the Sanford, providing the team with what Fallon called a “calming of the water effect.”
At no time was that more apparent then during the Western Class A quarterfinals, when the shorthanded Spartans traveled to South Portland and ran for over 350 yards and five touchdowns to knock off the heavily favored Red Riots in a 33-32 thriller.
“We didn’t have all the bullets in the gun that day, and we were playing a pretty formidable opponent,” Fallon said. “But Jed had this confidence about him that was infectious to other players, and I think he found a way to get kids to rise up and play at another level.”
As many leaders do, Scott deflected most of the credit to his fellow starting linemen ”“ Ryan Tapscott, Chase Smith-Roberts, Dan Anatra, Dakota Chapman ”“ and the rest of the offense.
“This is definitely a team award,” Scott said. “We had a really good line this year, and they helped me out if I missed a block. Our fullbacks always picked up blocks, and our running backs made it look like I didn’t mess up so much because they’d just break tackles in the backfield.”
Scott’s talent for getting the hang of a sport quickly has extended this winter into wrestling, which Scott just took up this winter; next Saturday, he’ll likely head into the Western Class A regional meet as the top seed in the heavyweight division.
And after playing baseball in the spring, Scott said he’s hoping to receive a scholarship offer to play Division II football in college next fall. If not, he said he’ll probably continue his education at Liberty University, but there’s at least one football mind who believes Scott’s best days on the playing field may still be in front of him.
“Relatively speaking, his experience is pretty short so far, so if he does continue to play, I think that as good as he’s been at the high school level, his best potential football is still ahead,” Fallon said. “Whenever you have a player like Jed you wish he’d never graduate. He will be difficult to replace, no doubt about it.”
— Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or cdunbar@journaltribune.com.
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