Maine Maritime Academy of Castine has had a steamroller of an offense in recent years.
The triple-option attack employed by 15th-year head coach Chris McKenney has run roughshod over many opponents, making the Mariners the No. 1 rushing offense in all of Division III each of the last two seasons.
Despite that success, Maine Maritime has not been able to field a stout enough defense to win consistently. Thus, the Mariners’ quest this season is to sustain their high-powered, ball-control offense and fortify its defense.
Maine Maritime opened the season on Saturday with a 30-0 nonconference loss at SUNY Maritime.
“Offensively, we moved the ball but never clicked enough to put sustained drives together and put it in the end zone — which doesn’t happen very often,” said McKenney, whose squad piled up 394 rushing yards and 28.9 points per game a year ago.
The Mariners are back in practice this week with two weeks to prepare for a Sept. 19 nonleague home contest against rival Massachusetts Maritime.
Last fall, Maine Maritime posted a 3-6 overall record and a 2-5 New England Football Conference mark. It was an improvement after the Mariners went 1-17 combined over the previous two campaigns.
On offense, the Mariners return their backfield but are re-tooling their line. Senior Sam Prive has moved from guard to tackle, and senior co-captain tight end Jon Ware has switched to tackle.
Sophomores Tyler Gagnon of South Berwick, Ethan Liberty of Skowhegan and Kyle Miller of York, and junior Jay Aboumitri will try to step in and keep the train moving.
“There’s a few guys getting their feet wet and obviously missing some assignments and making some mistakes,” McKenney said.
Michael Fahey is a three-year starter at quarterback. The senior co-captain, who rushed for 116 yards per game with 10 touchdowns and passed for 464 yards and seven touchdowns in 2014, directs the option.
“He’s a leader in the huddle, and he can make plays both running with his feet and throwing,” McKenney said.
The brother halfback tandem of sophomore Jacob Doolan (1,180 yds., 8 TDs) and junior Josh Doolan of Fairfield (324 yds., 1 TD) team up with sophomore fullback James Ferrar of Cumberland (592 yds., 5 TDs) and junior FB Joe DiBiase of Portland to carry the rest of the running load.
Jacob Doolan was the New England Football Conference Rookie of the Year last season.
Maine Maritime lacks experience at wide receiver, where sophomore Jordan Susi of South Portland is a veteran and freshman Derek Breunig of Westbrook has shown promise.
The Mariners have veteran presences at each level of the defense.
Senior linebacker and co-captain Jeddy Doyon of Hampden (74 tackles in 2014) and senior tackle Mike Burgess of North Yarmouth (53), both All-NEFC first-team choices, and senior co-captain and safety Justin Lovely of West Gardiner (43) are among the leaders.
The unit also features senior outside linebacker Johnny Weymouth of Windham (57 tackles), junior tackle Chris Ford (25) and sophomore cornerback Collin Joyce of Westbrook (47).
“We’re looking for a good amount of improvement on the defensive side this year,” McKenney said. “Causing more turnovers and doing a better job on third-down situations are key things that we’ve got to do better with this year.”
Senior defensive backs Cody Chapman of Bangor and senior Matt Clifford of Kittery, junior linebacker Robert Bradley Jr. and sophomore LBs Andrew Cavanaugh and Zachary Faskianos also will contribute as will junior end Dominic Gigante, freshman defensive back John Bennett, senior linebacker Alex Gamester, sophomore linebacker Ryan Miller and freshman lineman Jacob Trawinski.
“What we’re focused on is to be competitive in the conference and try and get back to being in the mix for the conference championship,” McKenney said.