BREWER, Maine — Logan Rogerson remembers his baptism as a varsity quarterback at Brewer High School just months removed from his middle-school days.
“For sure it was a lot different being the top guy as an eighth-grader and then going in on the varsity freshman year,” said Rogerson, a senior for the Witches. “I obviously was a little nervous, but I got used to it after a couple of games.”
Three years later, Rogerson is one of the more accomplished quarterbacks in the state as he guides third-seeded Brewer into Friday night’s Class B North final at top-ranked and defending champion Brunswick.
But he’s not alone among experienced signal callers getting their chance to shine in regional championship games this weekend.
Fourth-year starter Greg Vigue will lead top-ranked and undefeated Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield into its Class D North final against No. 2 Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln on Friday night. And senior Jake Jarvis, a third-year starter, will direct the offense for top-seeded Old Town as it hosts No. 2 and defending state champion Winslow in their battle of the unbeatens for the Class C North crown.
Rogerson, Vigue and Jarvis are a combined 27-1 this fall.
“Experience is a big key down the stretch, especially in the playoffs,” said Rogerson, who has more than 1,200 combined passing and rushing yards for the 9-1 Witches. “We have tons of guys who have played since freshman year. We’ve been out on the field getting that experience.
“Getting out there early and knowing what you’re going to be up against for the next four years definitely was key to being successful,” he said.
Nowhere are the growing pains on the football field more pronounced than at quarterback, where the newbie must not only execute the plays correctly but establish a rapport with the rest of the huddle — often older, more experienced teammates.
“Every practice you learn something new about what it takes to be in control of a team,” said second-year Brewer coach Nick Arthers. “You get with a group of guys, and the more you’re going through together, the more you’re going to be on the same page.
“When you’re a new guy starting out, it’s kind of hard to get on the same page, especially if you’re in there with a lot of older guys that have been playing. That’s just one of the big differences you notice from a guy just starting out and a seasoned guy like Logan who has been there as long as he has,” he said.
Before arriving at Brewer, Arthers was the head coach at Old Town in 2013 when Jarvis first earned the starting quarterback job as a sophomore.
“Jake’s a great athlete, a great thrower, and he had a great football mind when I had him for that year,” said Arthers. “Even as a freshmen we could tell he was going to be a pretty good player, and he’s really shown that this year.”
Jarvis has passed for about 1,500 yards and 21 touchdowns this fall for an Old Town offense that has averaged 38.3 points per game.
Vigue’s steady guidance of the MCI attack has been even more statistically dominant from the bottom line as coach Tom Bertrand’s Huskies have averaged an astonishing 54.9 points per contest this fall.
For his part, Vigue passed for nearly 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns in seven regular-season games before MCI’s 76-27 semifinal win over Orono last week.
“Greg Vigue is a tremendous quarterback,” said Mattanawcook coach Pat House. “He’s definitely grown, and I think he’s very cerebral in what he sees and how he attacks defenses on his own.
“You talk about slowing the game down, and as a quarterback you have to be able to do that, and I think Greg’s done a great job of that and trying to understand what the defense is going to do before the ball’s snapped,” he said.
The pace of the game wasn’t always that relaxed for any veteran quarterback, and such a controllable tempo only comes with an increased comfort level for the responsibilities involved.
And that stems from experience in game situations.
“Being a quarterback on the field, leading the team and being behind center in that position as a freshman or a sophomore is an experience that helps out down the road even if you’re not throwing the ball 12 times a game,” said second-year Old Town head coach Lance Cowan, who coaches Jarvis but was an assistant at Brewer when Rogerson got his first varsity start at quarterback.
“You’re still getting that feeling of being under center and having that defense looking at you when you take the snap. By all means it definitely helped Jake now for him to be the quarterback his sophomore year,” he said.
Experienced quarterbacks also enable coaches to diversity the offensive playbook to adapt to changing realities not only from game to game, but within a game.
“You game-plan all week,” said Cowan, “and when you have someone out there who really understands the game during halftime, you can make adjustments. Sometimes in the middle of a series, we’ll call Jake over and switch a couple of guys around and switch the reads up because a certain thing is happening.”
Perhaps at no time is having an experienced quarterback more important than at crunch time of a close game, such as when Brewer took possession at its 43-yard line while trailing Skowhegan 15-8 with 8:04 left in the fourth quarter of last Friday night’s Class B North semifinal.
Rogerson guided the Witches on a penalty-free, 19-play march that consumed all but 11 seconds of the clock as Trey Wood scored on a 1-yard run and Dylan Severance ran for the two-point conversion to give Brewer the dramatic 16-15 win.
“[Assistant] coach [Butch] Arthers told me before I went onto the field, ‘60 yards to the PTC championship [game],’” said Rogerson. “I went into the huddle and told the guys, ‘60 yards and we’re going to the championship,’ and we got it done.”
