WATERBORO — For the second time in three years Massabesic has a new football coach. The Mustangs are hoping that the newest face of the program can turn around recent results of losing seasons and do what he’s done in his other coaching endeavors – win.

Not that Brooks Bowen is focused on winning.

The new leader of the Mustangs is a familiar face to the players, as Bowen is a teacher at Massabesic High School. He is also the longtime head coach of the Massabesic girls lacrosse program.

The same girls lacrosse program that has won a pair of state championships during his tenure.

But Bowen is the first to admit that championships are the farthest thing from his mind right now as he becomes a varsity head football coach for the first time.

“We certainly haven’t been sitting around our locker room talking about winning state championships this year,” said Bowen. “We have some individual goals, the guys have some individual goals. We have some goals as a program, and we feel like if we take care of a lot of the goals that we set forth for ourselves, the win-loss column is going to take care of itself. We’re going to get smarter, bigger, faster, stronger, better technique, and we’ll let the wins, losses take care of themselves.”

Bowen’s winning pedigree doesn’t only come from his successful girls lacrosse program at Massabesic, but as an assistant high school football coach, which has included stops at Bonny Eagle – which won state championships during both of his tenures – and Scarborough, as well as a stint at Massabesic. It’s at Bonny Eagle that Bowen said he “cut his teeth,” as he watched Kevin Cooper build a “great” program, from the high school team down to the youth leagues.

Bowen doesn’t have the recent championship success (Bonny Eagle won its most recent state title two years ago) that the Scots do, nor the numbers. But what Bowen’s team lacks in quantity, he thinks it makes up for in quality.

“We wish our numbers were higher, going into it. But the guys that are here are here because they’re dedicated to the game itself, which makes it real easy to coach. They have a real passion for the game,” said Bowen. “These are going to be true football players by the time we’re done.”

It’s that small pack mentality that Bowen said has galvanized his team so far in the preseason.

“I think the strength of the team right now is that there’s few numbers … so they know they’re going to have to band together and they’re going to have to fight together,” said Bowen. “It’s not like there’s a lot of room for error. We keep talking about paying attention to the details and getting better every moment that we’re on the practice field. And they know they have to. They don’t have a choice. They don’t have the luxury of 60 kids. They’re quickly developing faith in one another. I’m pretty excited about where it’s gone over the last three days.”

Bowen said his team had the best practice of the week Wednesday morning, despite the high heat and humidity, and he was excited about the ensuing practices.

Part of those productive practices is due to the coaching staff that Bowen has brought with him. It’s a group that includes former head coach John Morin and Bowen’s right-hand assistant on the girls lacrosse team, Jason Tremblay. As a trusted assistant for Cooper at Bonny Eagle, Bowen said he knows how important it is to have a good staff around a head coach.

“You don’t take over any program and think that you’re going to go out there and do it alone. There’s going to be a lot of people involved,” said Bowen, who noted that his assistants aren’t “yes” men and they aren’t afraid to give him some pushback.

Bowen didn’t become a successful girls lacrosse coach on his own at Massabesic. He has had good assistants and good players. He believes he has the former, and hopefully the latter as well.

“A little bit of direction, a little bit of knowledge, a little bit of a snowball and push it down a hill. The coaching is pretty easy once it gets pushed down the hill,” said Bowen. “And when it starts to build momentum more guys buy in, and it just kinds of feeds on itself. They’re thirsty. They’re thirsty to do something different.”

Bowen isn’t promising instant success. After four wins combined in the past three years, tangible success is going to take time. That’s why Bowen said his team can’t worry about what other teams are doing. Only his team getting better, every day.

“We have to stay focused on ourselves. Obviously the coaching staff is going to do what they can in breaking down film and getting ready for opponents. But we need to stay focused on personal improvement as a team, personal improvement as individuals and how we contribute to the team,” said Bowen. “We have to stay focused here, within ourselves, and make the changes necessary to make us better.”

Massabesic opens the season at home against Deering on September 4.

— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.