Freeport — Heading into Saturday’s State Class E championship game, Freeport looks to make the most of its visit to the regions.

After making the high school Class C South playoffs with a 4-4 record in 2016, Freeport found its program graduating seniors and dwindling in numbers over after the next two years, finishing 1-7 in 2017.

Coach Paul St. Pierre, his staff and athletic director Craig Sickles looked into options to help resurrect the program.

Class E was created before the 2017 season to provide an option for programs struggling with numbers. While the schools in Class E don’t play for an official Maine Principal Associated championship, the league does hold a postseason tournament, and this weekend Freeport will host Dirigo for the title.

The decision to move to Class E at the start of the 2018 season was an easy one according to St. Pierre.

“The plan was definitely first health and attrition, just staying healthy and keeping the interest in football, and I think we achieved that,” St. Pierre said. “We relatively stayed healthy, but most importantly we’ve been competitive.”

Freeport finished 7-1 during the regular season, with its only defeat coming at the hands of Class D Poland, a 43-12 setback in the second game of the year. A win over Saturday’s opponent Dirigo (34-14), and a pair of defensive battles with Camden Hills, a 14-6 game in September, and a 12-6 dogfight a week ago in the semifinals, highlighted the slate.

“Moving down to E was more like a learning experience,” Freeport standout Adam Ulrickson said. “We have the skills, but our numbers didn’t reflect. Its really helped us as a team and to get our fundamentals down and build the program up.”

The eight wins so far this season have been the most Freeport has accomplished since St. Pierre took over in 2015. With only three seniors and a handful of juniors, the Falcons are primarily made up of sophomores and freshmen.

“We’ve picked up some wins and gained momentum and it’s something that we’ll be able to take into next year. That’s the key, hopefully it will carry over to wherever (class) we land next year,” St. Pierre said. “We’ll have four or five seniors next year with plenty of juniors and sophomores and nice incoming crop of freshman coming in. Next year we’ll have enough numbers and maturity to handle some of those opponents. Whether we get wins or losses, we’ll see when the time comes.”

A large part of the success on the field this year can be attributed to Ulrickson. In eight games this year, the junior running back has rushed for 1,015 yards with 11 touchdowns on 176 carries, while gaining 321 return yards on special teams that included a pair of scores.

“He’s been great. Not only is he a good football player, he’s a great leader,” the fourth-year coach said. “Sometimes you have a kid that can run a lot of yards, but is not necessarily a leader. Or you could have someone that’s a leader, but isn’t the best player. It’s great when you have that perfect kind of combination because he can back it up both off the field and on it.”

Ulrickson, also a linebacker on defense, mentions that getting to the level he’s at now didn’t just happen over night.

“After football season is over, I engage myself to be ready for the next season,” Ulrickson said. “I’ve been putting in a lot of work during the offseason, as I’ve been running more and more of track. I knew that I had to get to that next level if I wanted to help the team.”

St. Pierre likes the way Ulrickson goes about his business and how it rubs off on his teammates.

“He inspires the team to do better. He opens up the holes for the other guys on the field,” St. Pierre said. “Adam is also the leading

tackler, setting the tempo. He leads by his actions as he never seems to lose his composure, which is great. It’s nice to know we have that go-to player.”

Everyone blocks

Adam did not talk about his running during a practice earlier this week without giving credit to the teammates who create those holes for the speedy back to run through.

“The lineman are the most essential part of a football team. If you have a half-decent running back with an amazing line like we do here, it drives the way for the offense,” Ulrickson said. “Their push and hard work they put in without getting any recognition, it’s amazing. People who know football know they do their job and do it well.”

“If there is no line, they can’t really get anywhere, so it’s really important,” adds sophomore Jon Doyle. “If you don’t make your block and your guy gets past you, it can get a little frustrating, so you use that energy to hit them harder next time.”

But it’s not just the linemen that are blocking, Ulrickson mentions that everyone wants to get in on the action.

“Once the line gets their blocks down, it makes the others want to block, like skill positions. Everyone blocks, it’s contagious,” said the back.

St. Pierre repeated that sentiment.

“We have solidified the line right now. We have Alex Hannah and Matt Hinds on the left side, Nate Hinds has been locking down our center position lately. Jon Doyle has been a staple on our right side and we’ve had a combination of Miles Panenka, Bailey Slocum and Noah Larabee filling in whether we’ve needed them at guard, center or if someone goes down,” St. Pierre said. “Hunter Demers has done a really good job blocking for us at tight end. Even our wing backs Aidan Michaud and Tre Morris, those guys know how to block too. If we get lucky we could have a receiver and our slot back blocking and that’s when we get big plays.”

Big plays in big games, that seems to be the mantra around Freeport High School athletics as of late. With the success of the cross country, golf, boys and girls soccer, and field hockey teams, the football team recognizes what they are tasked with.

“It’s been driving and moving our morale,” Ulrickson said. “Seeing all the teams have success just makes us want to as well.”

“It is a big confident boost for our program since it’s young and up and coming,” Hinds, a senior, said of the school’s recent success. “It’s a little stressful, I won’t lie. It puts a lot of pressure on us, but I believe that we can transform that pressure into motivation and use that motivation to win that game.”

As for facing 8-1 Dirigo, the 34-14 win earlier in the season is a distant memory. The No. 2 Cougars are a well-coached team and is coming off a close 17-14 victory over Maranacook in the semifinals a week ago. The teams are similarly matched on the field. Dirigo has scored 223 points this year, allowing 127, while Freeport has totaled 246 points while only giving up 109.

“They’re a tough team, it was 20-14 at one point, they were right in it. The score didn’t really reflect how close the game was, they’re a really good team,” St. Pierre said. “We’ll see who can survive the last 48 minutes of the season.”

“We beat them in the regular season, but this is the championship,” added Matt Hinds.

The game is slated to begin at 12:30 p.m. at Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field.

 

 

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