In his last high school football game, Maine Central Institute’s Adam Bertrand ran for 166 yards and two touchdowns to lead his team to a 30-13 victory over Cape Elizabeth in the Class C state championship game.
That game was played at the University of Maine on Morse Field at Alfond Stadium in Orono.
Recently, the Pittsfield resident earned the opportunity to step onto Morse Field again, this time wearing a UMaine uniform. Bertrand gained a roster spot by virtue of a walk-on tryout.
“I’m really excited,” said Bertrand, who is in his second week with the Black Bears. “It’s a great opportunity. Growing up around here, this is a football player’s dream.”
Bertrand and nine other candidates were put through a one-hour tryout consisting of agility drills and football skills. He and defensive back Leon Cummings both earned a shot to join the team.
“He did a nice job,” UMaine head coach Joe Harasymiak said. “We obviously knew about him. We followed his high school career.”
Bertrand spent his first 1 1/2 weeks working on UMaine’s scout teams, which repeat the opponents’ formations and plays to help prepare for the upcoming game.
“I love every second of it,” said the 5-foot-9, 200-pound Bertrand. “It’s a lot different. There’s much more of a time commitment compared to high school.”
Bertrand will sit out as a redshirt this season and will have four years of eligibility beginning next fall. He will practice with the team but won’t play in games even though, under a new NCAA rule, first-year players are allowed to play in four games and still retain four years of eligibility.
“I’m going to try my best and work as hard as I can to get the attention of the coaches and show them what I can bring to the team. I’m really excited for spring ball because that’s when you get your shot [to prove yourself]. That’s when you get the reps and get into a rotation and stuff,” Bertrand said.
He realizes he is small for a linebacker and said he is going to try to put on some weight.
Bertrand had an exceptional senior season playing for his father, MCI head coach Tom Bertrand. He earned all-state and all-conference honors after posting 105 tackles with five interceptions.
That included 55 tackles and three interceptions in four playoff games.
As a running back, he carried the ball 204 times for 1,260 yards and 15 touchdowns. He had 68 rushes, 475 yards and four TDs in the playoffs.
Life is busy for the engineering student as the team lifts at 6 a.m. and, after breakfast, practices from 8 to 10 a.m. Later in the day, players often work out on their own, get treatments or watch film.
Adam Bertrand admitted he was a little nervous after making the team.
“I didn’t know how they would treat a walk-on kid with no scholarship. But all the guys are real cool,” Adam Bertrand said. “You can tell it’s a really close team.”
He said that two of the starting linebackers, senior Sterling Sheffield and sophomore Deshawn Stevens, have helped him learn the drills.
Adam Bertrand thought about attending Division III Maine Maritime Academy in Castine and said he would have had a much better chance to play.
The thought of living on a ship for months at a time, as many MMA graduates do, was daunting.
“I didn’t want to make the wrong move and be miserable,” he said.
Tom Bertrand is just as excited about Adam’s shot at continuing his football career.
“To be able to continue to play football and to do so at such an elite level is great,” Tom Bertrand said. “The things he learned here will translate there, things like being a good teammate and being committed to the program.”
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