Falmouth (Maine) drowns out noise, eyeing state title repeat

FALMOUTH, Maine – On typical summer evenings in Maine, it’s not unusual for brief rain showers to come through the southern region of the state. Things are quiet on the high school football scene, and news is few and far between. But the work continues, and teams can be found up and down the state working out and preparing for the fall.

That’s what Falmouth head coach Spencer Emerson and his group of players were in the process of doing last Tuesday. Preparing.

The Navigators won the Maine Principal Association’s (MPA) Class B state championship last season and it’s fair to say that many around the state wonder if it was a fluke. A one-off. After all, the program was considered anything but a state title contender 18 months ago.

Emerson acknowledges that winning another state title would be ideal, but his focus is on making sure his team reaches its max potential every week.

“We want to make sure that we win every single game and we want to say championship. That’s ideal, yes, but our job is to get to our best,” Emerson said. “I tell these guys, you at your best will beat anyone we play. So our job is to get to our best every day. So I think for this 2025 season, can we get to our best every Friday night?

It was after the 2023 season that the Navigators were in a flux as a football program. Then-head coach John Fitzsimmons was petitioned out as the team’s lead man, with 22 players voting to have him removed. The program had seemingly hit rock bottom.

Then enters Emerson, a former University of Chicago assistant coach, who returned to Maine to coach Falmouth’s football team. Expectations, because of the season and how it ended, were unsurprisingly low. Not many would’ve given much credence to the idea that the Navigators could contend for a state championship.

Fast forward to today, and Emerson not only has brought the team up the ranks through the MPA Class B classification, but the team has reached the mountain top of the state’s upper echelon. Now, with a talented bunch returning, it’s definitely a good possibility that they do it all again.

Start with the quarterback position. Returning starter Tres Walker completed 115-of-167 passes for 1,923 yards and 27 touchdowns last season. Having a player like Walker helps separate Falmouth from other teams in Class B and makes them much more dynamic offensively.

“It starts with the quarterback,” Emerson said. “We’ve got a ton of great lineman back, help us to have an all-state left tackle. You know, we got a first team all-conference tight end and an all-state defensive end in (Eli) Bush.”

Bush contributes at tight end on offense and flips over to edge rushing on defense. Bush is considered one of the top prospects in Maine after logging 39 tackles, 25 tackles for loss and 10 sacks in 2024.

Thomas Gale anchors the Navigators’ offensive line and will be leaned upon to open up the flood gates up front.

When it comes to the Xs and Os, however, Emerson is more concerned about execution.

“We’d say 80, 15 and five. So 80 percent is our bread and butter,” Emerson added. “That’s what we do, it’s who we are week to week. We’re going to run variations of that, so we can master those bread and butter plays. The 15 percent is how we protect the 80s, so that’s variations and being able to do, you know, play actions off our core runs and RPOs of our quick game and things like that to keep the defense guessing. And five percent is exotic. So now I hope we can get deeper into that 80 percent and closer to the 15 and five, earlier in the season now that we have a ton of talent back, so to speak, on offense.”

It doesn’t get easy when Falmouth kicks off the season on Sept. 5 when the team takes on Kennebunk in a rematch of last year’s Class B state championship game. A couple weeks later, a rivalry is revived when the Battle of Route 9 continues against Greely in Week 3.

Players like Walker have heard plenty of the noise throughout the off-season about 2024 being a feel-good, one-time type of year for Falmouth. Walker and the players made it be known their goal isn’t just to be a brief Maine rain summer rain shower.

“We have everything to lose. But this year we’re coming pretty much we’re coming in to make sure it’s not a fairy tale story. Like, we can do it again,” Walker said.