When the Waterville and Winslow high schools play their rivalry game Saturday, you’ll recognize a few of the players on each team. Winslow’s Dylan Hapworth and Waterville’s Cam Thomas are among the conference’s leading rushers. Quarterbacks AJ Godin of Waterville and Bobby Chenard of Winslow have each done a good job leading their team’s potent offense.
However, high school football teams don’t get to this point of the season undefeated just on the backs of a few players. Both Waterville and Winslow are 6-0, and each team has those glue guys, players who do their job with little fanfare.
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For Winslow, one of those guys is junior defensive end Luke Fredette. For Waterville, one is senior guard/linebacker Alex Danner. Each is quietly having a strong season and will be counted on as his team plays the Battle of the Bridge on Saturday.
“He’s relentless,” Winslow head coach Mike Siviski said of Fredette. “He’s a real good team player. He’s always here. He’s dependable.”
Fredette — listed at 5-foot-8, 140 pounds — is not the typical size of a defensive end. His speed and tenacity, coupled with strong technique, made Fredette an attractive candidate to play defensive end last season.
“Coach (Wes) Littlefield teaches it really well so it’s an easier position to understand for me,” Fredette, who has 41 tackles and two sacks, said. “The interior two guys, Nat (Beckwith) and Evan (Gammon), give us a big push through the front. That makes the quarterback get out of the pocket a lot, so that definitely makes it easier on me to get to the quarterback.”
Added Siviski: “He made plays. Regardless of his size, he made the plays. We got to the point where we said, ‘We don’t really care about his size. He’s a playmaker.'”
At Waterville, Danner leads the Purple Panthers with 50 tackles. As a junior, Danner was behind senior all-conference linebacker Luke Knight on the depth chart and didn’t see much action with Waterville’s defense.
“(Danner) just has a nose for the football. He’s extemely aggressive. Last year, he was blowing it up in practice, but he was behind two seniors so he didn’t get a lot of looks,” Waterville head coach Matt Gilley said. “This year, we put him right smack dab in the middle and it’s made all the difference. He’s by far our best reader. He reads quickly and gets to the football quickly.”
“Last year, I didn’t step up until the playoffs. It’s been a lot of fun for me, stepping up and playing linebacker,” Danner said. “I feel like I’ve got shoes to fill, from Luke Knight and the linebackers last year, but I feel like I’m doing a good job.”
At 6-foot, 205 pounds, Danner is an undersized guard, but in Waterville’s offense, where Danner is asked to pull often, he excels.
“When we run guard trap, he’s probably our best trapper. He has the same mentality on offense and defense. You see his eyes get big. Just a few of the trap blocks he’s made, it’s one of those deals where it’s stop and rewind,” Gilley said.
“With our offensive line, we’ve always got a good push. I’ve got room to move with the pull. I love going down and hitting people,” Danner said.
In Friday’s 26-25 win at Foxcroft Academy, Fredette recovered a Ponies fumble at the Winslow 8-yard line early in the third quarter. At the time, Foxcroft had a two-point lead. Siviski recalled a play in the regular season game against Waterville last season in which Fredette caused and then recovered a fumble.
When he began playing defensive end last season, Fredette was nervous about lining up across from a bigger tackle or tight end on every play. Now, he knows how to use his speed and technique he carried over from wrestling to win the one-on-one battles. Siviski described Fredette’s playing style as playing tough, but playing smart.
“I know they can out-muscle me, no question at all. Quickness and speed is what helps me a lot. Watching film on them, seeing what other guys do against them, helps a lot,” Fredette said. “Getting low is a big thing for me. I’ve always been little. I’ve been taught leg drive. Even our coaches today are big on leg drive. Get low, eyes up.”
When it came time to pick captains at Waterville, Danner was an obvious choice, Gilley said.
“He is the one who is asking for the weight room to be open on a Saturday, when nobody else is even anywhere near the school. He’s a captain for that reason,” Gilley said. “He’s just one of those guys who shows up and does his job better than anybody else. He’s not very flashy.”
At the end of Saturday’s game, Fredette and Danner will have played key roles. Even if most of us barely notice.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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