Pingree’s varsity football kicked off their season with a great win over Proctor Academy on September 21, 2024. The Highlanders held their first game at their home field and after hard work and dedication during the pre-season, Pingree was able to pull out a 20-13 win to start the season off with a bang!
For the players, this win wasn’t a shock to them. Freshmen players Barron DiMeco and Liam Roberts both had pregame predictions that Proctor wouldn’t be able to keep up with Pingree. Roberts said that a 35-7 win was most likely. His teammate, Dimeco, said, “We’re gonna blow Proctor out!” When asked about score predictions he confidently said 50-0 was a realistic score. DiMeco noted they were still very confident in their winning probabilities. He said the offensive players are very athletic. Their speed and physicality could help offset the playbooks’ challenges.
Roberts said their biggest challenge would be needing more players because the starters could get worn out, but he also said that he was not worried about it and it shouldn’t become a big problem with their ten new recruits. Furthermore, the two freshmen both agree that because of their weekly team dinners, five-day practices each week, and team building activities, the team has benefited to stay connected and this has helped them to push each other in their training.
Constant training for strength, agility, footwork, speed and more has helped the team to improve everyday. Robert predicts that the team’s physicality and technique are going to make Pingree stand out as a strong contender during this season. DiMeco agrees with Roberts but also thinks their speed on offense is a factor that shouldn’t be ignored. Both freshmen also added that their pre-season training has been a great experience full of laughs and hard work due to their new head coach, Pat Downey.
Coach Downey, a four-year D1 center at University of New Hampshire (UNH), has been a big help in the team’s development and rebuild for this upcoming season. Not only was Downey a two-time all-star and UNH team captain, he was also a part of many professional NFL training camps and a starter for the NFL Europe games in 2001. Downey has a lot of football experience. His players have acknoglde this and have plenty of confidence in him to take the Pingree football program to the next level.
Since that opening game, Pingree has gone on to play three more games. They had a devastating loss to Kingswoods-Oxford School, 21-28. But they were able to bounce back and get a huge win over Portsmouth Abbey School, 49-0. Their most recent games were: a loss against New Hampton School, 7-21; a loss to St. Pauls. 21-45; and a win against Austin Prep 27-21. .
Even just after the first couple games, with Pingree’s speed, physicality, technique, new head coach and recruits, the Highlanders have a great chance to stand out as a championship-worthy team for the 2024-2025 year.
