AUBURN — In the days leading up to the 8-player large school state championship game, Camden Hills quarterback Hollis Schwalm and his teammates happened upon a little extra motivation inside the school’s halls.
“They actually just put up new banners in our gym this week,” said the southpaw signal caller. “And football was up there with no dates on it. So I looked around and said ‘That needs to change.’”
Schwalm, a senior playing in his final game, did his part — and then some — as he put on an offensive clinic against South Division champion Spruce Mountain of Jay.
Coupled with five turnovers for the defense and a flurry of touchdowns in the waning minutes of the first half, the Windjammers celebrated at midfield at the end of 48 minutes with a dominating, 52-26 state championship-clinching victory Saturday, Nov. 15 at Edward Little High School.
It is the first state football championship in school history.
Team members for the newly-crowned state champions, coached by Chris Christie and assisted by Joe Russillo, JJ Harrington, Tim Doran, James Greeley, Landon Donato, Hayden Christie and Jeremy Marks, include Jacob Greeley, Andy O’Brien, Justin Batty, Hollis Schwalm, Jackson Chontos, Gavin Moore, James Kimmett, Ryder Lombardo, Colton Massey, Mick Buckley, Ben Hoffman, Ethan Fowler, Logan Gomez, Ethan Dingle, Braden Beveridge, Noah Seliger, Kiran Farley, Beckett Grant, William Aldrich, Cayden Dinneen, Silas Moody, Tathum Corson, Jayden Bragdon, Jacob Harrington, Darrell Belile, Jack O’Brien, Emmett Milliken, Freddy Burnaska, Logan Barbour, Will Pendleton, Judah Burgess, Bryson Hise, Liam Munroe and Jake Perez.
Team members for Spruce Mountain, coached by Brian Blackman, include Jaxon Giroux, Owen Kelvey, Dylan Jewett, William Kenniston, Jace McElhaney, Rivers Purrington, Austin Armandi, Isaiah Ayer, Dana Goding, Stephen Moore, Albert Belanger, John Breton, Blake Marcotte, Isaac Groomes, Mason Harlow, Chance Kenney, T’Shawn Teague, Cole Welch, Thomas Hines, Eoghan Gochenour, Jermare Spraggins, Cody Watts, Michael Reed, Ayden Perry, Luke Goding, Levi Richards, Zach Burgess, Brenton Yahn and Colby Spiotta.
Camden Hills ends its season with a 10-1 record, while Spruce Mountain concluded its campaign at 8-2.
“We played with utter heart, grit and determination today,” said Christie. “Some of those cuts Hollis made and some of those dives Braden made and the tackles by the defensive line. They just weren’t going to be denied today.”
“This is the stuff you dream about since you’re six years old watching a high school football game,” said Beveridge, who scored a touchdown and intercepted two passes in the win. “It’s amazing. From summer practice all the way to our last practice of the season, we had this in our minds the entire way.”
Schwalm, a shifty, dual-threat quarterback, rushed for three touchdowns on the day and tossed a fourth to Batty, while adding conversion passes to Batty and Beveridge and two more conversion rushes on the ground.
In all, Schwalm accounted for, in one way or another, 32 of the team’s 52 points in an all-around dominant offensive performance.
Coach Christie said of his quarterback: “As long as I get the ball in his hands, something good is going to happen.”
“He makes my job look easy,” said Christie of Schwalm. “There are times I call plays and he will look at me and we’ll adjust the play because it’s not the formation he wants. We’ve just had great communication all year.”
Dingle, Beveridge and Hoffman all added rushing touchdowns in the second half for the ‘Jammers, while Perez added a conversion rush to round out the scoring.
In addition to Beveridge’s two interceptions, Batty and Farley added one interception each and Hise a fumble recovery.
For Spruce Mountain, Jewett had one touchdown on the ground and another through the air to Kelvey and added a conversion rush, while Armandi scored a rushing touchdown. Kelvey also returned a kickoff for a touchdown for the Phoenix.
Camden Hills led 8-0 after the first quarter. And, after a scoring flurry late in the second quarter, the Windjammers took a 32-12 lead into halftime and assumed a 46-20 advantage after three quarters.
After Spruce Mountain was forced to punt and pinned Camden Hills deep in its own territory to start the game, the Windjammers committed a hold on its first play from scrimmage, which pinned them back at the five-yard line.
The ‘Jammers then proceeded to sail 95 yards, which culminated in a touchdown pass to Batty with 4:04 to go in the first quarter.
Prior to the score, Schwalm scooped up a fumble on a dropped snap, motioned for Batty down the left sideline and lofted a ball on target to the senior wideout. Moments later, Schwalm again found Batty uncovered for the score.
“I just picked it up and felt like I had to do something,” said Schwalm. “And I see Justin and I just kind of lobbed it up there. The second play we were in a hurry-up [offense] and he wasn’t guarded. I had to do a double take. I couldn’t believe how open he was. So I instantly [threw it].”
A conversion rush by Schwalm moments later put the North division champions up 8-0.
After the Windjammers and Phoenix turned the ball over on back-to-back fumbles to end the first quarter, the Spruce Mountain offense — aided by a Camden Hills facemask penalty — crossed the goal line after a three-yard plunge by Armandi. However, the ‘Jammer offense kept Jewett out of the end zone as Beveridge and Dingle met him in front of the pylon with 5:47 to go in the half.
Spruce Mountain would get no closer as a wild play by Schwalm minutes later increased the Camden Hills lead.
Schwalm rolled out to his right and, after finding himself under siege by the Phoenix defense, course corrected.
“Everyone was flowing that way and it took away our route concept,” he said. “And I felt like I didn’t have anything to do. I didn’t want to get rid of it or eat the play, so I stopped, surveyed really quickly and saw they left the left side wide open.”
After reversing field, Schwalm found blockers and rumbled for a 67-yard touchdown run. A Perez conversion rush moments later put the Windjammers up 16-6 with 2:36 to go.
Jewett then led Spruce Mountain on a quick, four-play drive, called his own number and rushed in for a touchdown to cut its deficit to 16-12. But a long kick return by Batty again put Camden Hills in business as the drive ended with Schwalm’s second straight touchdown run with 1:19 to go.
Schwalm then found Batty for the conversion pass as the ‘Jammer lead swelled to 24-12.
Spruce Mountain looked to make one last drive to end the first half, but Perez tipped a Jewett pass sky high on the defensive line and into the arms of Batty with a minute to go.
Two plays later, Schwalm had his third touchdown run — and conversion rush — as Camden Hills suddenly led 32-12 with 29.7 seconds to go in the half.
Batty said “That was all him. Props to Jake Perez there.”
“Coach had me go to D-Line,” said Perez, who normally plays defensive end. “I hadn’t played interior D-Line all season. I tried to get through, I couldn’t get him, so I just put my hand up and hoped for the best.”
“It’s the little things,” added Christie. “It’s what it comes down to sometimes. We tell the guys if you’re not going to get to the quarterback, at least get your hands up. If nothing else, stop his line of vision so he doesn’t have a clear shot at it. And Jake got his hands up.”
In the second half, the Windjammer offense continued to click with rushing touchdowns from Beveridge, Dingle and Hoffman. And the defense forced three more Jewett interceptions, including two diving picks from Beveridge and another by Barley in front of the Spruce Mountain sideline.
Hoffman’s 20-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter extended Camden Hills’ lead to 52-20.
“We didn’t want to let off the gas pedal,” said Beveridge. “We do that, they can come back. We’ve seen them do it and we didn’t want that to happen.”
It has not always been smooth sailing for the Windjammers, which only became a full-fledged varsity program in 2009. After a few early-round playoff exits, the season was canceled three games into its 2015 season amid concerns of player safety with less than 20 players on its roster.
It then played one season against junior varsity opponents before it joined the now-defunct Class E, which briefly served as a developmental region for schools looking to build up its program’s numbers.
Camden Hills then spent one year in Class D in 2019 before the pandemic wiped out the 2020 season.
Then, in 2021, the MPA began to sponsor an eight-man division. And, as a program, finally found its footing.
Now, the Windjammers can put their names on that empty banner in the school gymnasium. And be etched in school history as the school’s first state gridiron champions.
“We came in here confident,” said Batty. “Our coaches knew what to do, they told us what we got to do. We were just ready. We were prepared and ready for it.”
“This is a special group,” added Christie. “About four weeks ago we checked our egos and really just started playing together as a team. And I’m excited about the future of Camden Hills football. There were a lot of freshman and sophomores out there playing today. The future looks pretty solid for us.”
Camden Hills outscored opponents 292-154 during the regular season and 134-26 during the playoffs. Earlier in the playoffs, the Windjammers defeated No. 4 Waterville 47-0 in the semifinal round and No. 2 Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor 35-0 in the regional final.
Spruce Mountain outscored opponents 324-122 during the regular season and 90-74 during the playoffs. Earlier in the playoffs, the Phoenix defeated No. 4 Lake Region of Naples 44-8 in the semifinal round and No. 2 Mt. Ararat of Topsham 20-14 in the regional final.
