WESTBROOK – There are no noises within the range of human hearing quite like it – the grind of shoulder pad against helmet; the bark of a proud-but-impatient coach; the cheers from the stands and enthusiastic calls from the bench. This is the cacophony that is football.

And at a scrimmage against the Biddeford Tigers on Aug. 23, the Westbrook Blue Blazes got their first taste of mud, sweat, and hard-hitting action amid the foothills of a long climb toward redemption.

“I thought it was a competitive day,” said Westbrook head coach Jeff Guerette. “We saw some good things, and we saw some things that we need to get better at. As coaches, (scrimmages) are great teaching tools, because we can watch the kids, watch the tape, and hopefully show the players where we want them to get better. That’s the biggest thing that I got out of today.”

Fans expecting to see a normal, “unofficial” game were likely disappointed, although that didn’t stop a healthy number of Blazes fans from turning out. True to the teaching-oriented nature of the scrimmage, Monday’s action was a somewhat-disjointed succession of 10-play offensive series run by Biddeford and Westbrook, with each team starting on the opposing 20-yard line and attempting to push down the field, regardless of downs or turnovers. Coaches stalked the wet turf, pointing out flaws, ordering adjustments, and making a quick succession of substitutions. The Tigers got into the end zone twice, leaving several Westbrook seniors frustrated and anxious for improvement.

“I don’t think we played our best today,” said senior halfback Manny Vincent. “We were all getting tired because we weren’t conditioned enough. We didn’t play our fakes, the blocking was kind of sloppy, and our tackles were sloppy.”

At least part of that sloppiness might have been owed to conditions on the field, however. The weather was unseasonably chilly on Monday, and the wind had a wet nip – so familiar to Mainers, yet shocking in August nonetheless – that promised additional rain, and which delivered in frequent sheets of drizzle.

The chill could hardly depress the spirits of the Blue Blazes, though. Coming off a disappointing 1-7 season, Westbrook players seem to have developed a quiet kind of stoicism. There is an air of contemplation and hard-bitten expectation swirling through the locker room. They have tasted defeat, but the experience has only emboldened them to seek victory, not in desperation, but in vengeance.

“(Last season) made us feel like we have to prove something,” said senior halfback and cornerback Ben Arsenault. “Like, every time we go out there we think we have something to prove to the world. And I think we’re going to do that.”

Senior tackle Brandon Crimmin agreed with Arsenault’s sentiments, and said he believes the Blazes will catch more than a few teams by surprise this season. “We have a lot of athletes out here this year,” he said. “And especially after last year and what happened, we could surprise some people. We don’t want that taste in our mouths again.”

Westbrook opens its season Sept. 3 at home against Bonny Eagle, and the Blazes are eager to come to grips with more live opponents. “The whole locker room has been buzzing about it,” Arsenault said. “We’re freaking out and we’re ready to play.” Vincent, far from being as downtrodden as his earlier statement might lead one to believe, was wholly upbeat about what the future holds in store for Westbrook football. Asked where he saw the team in eight weeks, he didn’t hesitate to promise excellence.

“Two months from now?” he asked with a bit of a sly smile. “We’re state champs.”

Pursued but by no means caught, Westbrook quarterback Terry Webber evades the Biddeford defense as he rumbles toward the Tigers’ sideline during a scrimmage in Westbrook on Monday afternoon.Staff photo by Emory Rounds