Foxcroft Academy relishes role as training site for Shrine Lobster Bowl

By Larry Mahoney, Bangor Daily News Staff

DOVER-FOXCROFT — It has been a very busy week for Toby Nelson, but it has also been an enjoyable one.

The recently named Foxcroft Academy athletic director has been the on-site supervisor for the Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic for the past seven years.

The football game pits the West Seniors against the East Seniors and raises money for the Shriners Children’s Hospitals in Boston and Springfield, Massachusetts.

This will be the 36th annual contest and will be played at 4 p.m. Saturday at Don Roux Field in Lewiston.

The West holds a 23-11 edge, including four wins in the last five games.

There was no game due to COVID-19 in 2020, and the 2021 game was a seven-versus-seven flag football affair due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The teams spent the week living and practicing at Foxcroft Academy in Dover-Foxcroft, and, following a Friday night banquet at the Anah Shrine Temple building in Bangor, they were to return to their dormitories at the school and then leave for Lewiston on Saturday morning.

“It’s a long week, but it’s a really good week and, obviously, it’s for a great cause,” Nelson said. “These kids, the coaches and the athletic training staff have set aside a week and everybody here is really all in it for a solid week of football.”

The players occupied the two dormitories that had been vacated by the boarding students. Each team had its own practice field and neither one used the Foxcroft Academy game field. In case of inclement weather, they practiced in the four-year old field house.

“The maintenance staff does a great job getting the dorms ready and the kitchen staff puts in a solid week of work. They show up at 6 in the morning and serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and a snack at night after the last practice. They work different shifts but there are people here until 10 at night,” Nelson said.

“The kids never go hungry. There is plenty of food. And Pepsi donates a ton of beverages including Gatorade to keep the kids hydrated through the week,” Nelson added.

Several different training sites had been used until Foxcroft Academy landed the gig in 2015.

“One of the reasons they came here was we offered kind of a one-stop shop. We were able to have a cafeteria right on site, and we had dormitories that were air-conditioned. That was a big deal,” Nelson said. “Kids could bring fans if they wanted to in order to move the air around but at least they could go in and get cool after a warm practice.”

The teams practiced twice a day and also had leisure activities including a night at the Sports Arena in Bangor, which offers bowling, arcade games and mini-golf; swimming or lounging on the beach at Peaks-Kenny State Park; maneuvering through an obstacle course supplied by the Maine Army National Guard; and the banquet.

The players along with the cheerleaders, who worked on their routines all week at the Central Maine Community College in Auburn, each had to raise at least $500 for the Shriners hospitals, and Nelson said he expected a record money total to be announced at the banquet.

The goal established by the Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic board was $175,000 which would make it the top football game fundraiser in the country.

Nelson said the players and cheerleaders do a “great job raising money for a great cause.” 

Nelson said having the week of training at Foxcroft Academy is a “nice way to showcase our campus and our facilities” as well as the community and gives the players a chance to make “life-long friends.”

“Some of the players were rivals in high school, but now they are teammates and they really work well together. It doesn’t take them long to build friendships and form bonds. It’s a lot of fun to watch these friendships come together,” Nelson said.

Nelson said the board has a “great partnership” with the Shriners and the Shriners also have strong partnerships with local organizations and businesses who get involved in the game.

The game itself will feature two of the state’s major award-winners.

Headlining the West roster will be running back Connor Ayoob from Thornton Academy in Saco, who was chosen the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year and the recipient of the Fitzpatrick Award, which goes to the state’s best senior player.

Ayoob rushed for a school record 2,102 yards and 31 touchdowns this fall and he also caught 12 passes for 259 yards and a TD. He ran for 240 yards and all four touchdowns in TA’s 28-0 win over Portland in the state Class A championship game.

The East roster will feature Mt. Blue High of Farmington’s Joe Hayden, who was selected as the winner of the Frank J. Gaziano Memorial Offensive Lineman Award. A tireless worker and exceptional blocker, Hayden was a four-year starter and two-year captain.

John Bapst High School coach and Athletic Director Dan O’Connell is the head coach of  the East team, and Winthrop High’s Joel Stoneton is coaching the West team.

O’Connell will be coaching his son, Matt, who has followed in his dad’s footsteps as an outstanding lineman at Bangor High School.