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WESTBROOK — The sky opened up, and instantly a light rain became a pelting downpour.

“How ’bout that weather?!” yelled a Westbrook High football player. Instead of groaning, the players just laughed and the tempo of warmup drills increased.

A rainstorm couldn’t dampen the feeling: It’s a great time to be part of Blue Blazes football.

The senior-led group, 8-18 the past three seasons, is 6-1 with consecutive validation wins, shutting out Kennebunk 20-0 and topping Cheverus for the first time in 20 years.

“To be at the top of Southern B, it’s pretty cool, but we’re also just putting our head down, trying to act like we’ve been here before,” said fourth-year head coach Sam Johnson.

In reality, being part of a title contender is uncharted territory for Johnson and his players. Their records in the previous three seasons were 2-6, 4-6 and 2-6.

Beating Kennebunk “showed us that we can hang with any team in Class B South,” said senior receiver Dimitri Lubin. “We’re not at the bottom of the conference anymore.”

A seventh win Friday night against neighboring Gorham (2-5), in what has been dubbed the River Bowl rivalry, would match Westbrook’s best single-season win total in at least 21 seasons – maybe ever. Westbrook has never won a regional title and has never played in a state championship game.

With the right amount of help in the Crabtree standings, Westbrook could end up as the top seed in B South. A top-two finish, alongside Kennebunk, and a first-round bye would be assured by beating Gorham.

“My emotions kind of feel really high,” said quarterback Gio Staples. “It just feels really good to make a change here.”

GETTING THE JOB DONE

Westbrook has become an opportunistic team that makes winning plays across all three phases. The offense features the passing combination of Staples and the 6-foot-2 Lubin, both four-year varsity players. Staples has completed 61 of 114 passes for 973 yards and 15 touchdowns. Lubin (23 catches, 483 yards, seven TDs) is the top target, but six other players have a touchdown catch.

Junior running back Cole Tanner (71 carries, 460 yards, 8 TDs) and sophomore Andre Hicks lead the ground game. Hicks is averaging 10 yards per touch, on 15 carries and 14 receptions, and has scored five touchdowns.

The defense is led by 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior middle linebacker Tony Bongomin and defensive end Owen Taylor. A three-year starter, Bongomin has gone from good to nearly unblockable, with 66 solo tackles, including 17 against Cheverus.

“”He does his job exceptionally well; fills every gap he needs to,” Taylor said of his teammate. “But if it’s not going to his gap, he’ll pursue. He’ll make the tackle. He’s just like an intimidator on defense.”

Taylor has been a force on the edge. He scored his second defensive touchdown with a 59-yard interception return against Cheverus.

TURNAROUND

Westbrook has never been a football power. In the school’s final seven seasons in Class A (2004-10), the Blue Blazes were 11-45 without a playoff appearance. Former head coach Jeff Guerette, now a co-principal at the school, directed the Blue Blazes to a solid 38-25 record in their first seven seasons in Class B (2011-17) with five straight regional semifinal appearances. The 2012 team finished 7-3. But the Blazes never reached a regional final.

In 2018, Guerette’s final season, Westbrook was 1-7. Brandon Dorsett’s two seasons (2019 and 2021) netted three wins and a shift to Class C.

Johnson, a 2012 graduate of Westbrook, became the head coach in 2022.

The team showed progress in 2023. Westbrook returned to Class B, went 3-5 in the regular season, won a home playoff game against Deering and nearly upset eventual state champion Kennebunk in the regional semifinals.

Last season, with Lubin sidelined because of a foot injury, Westbrook was 2-6 and did not make the playoffs.

To their credit, the players stuck with the program.

“We didn’t want to let each other down,” Bongomin said. “We knew we had something special brewing. We had everything we needed. We just needed to put it in place.”

Now Bongomin and the Blue Blazes are in position to set a new winning standard for Westbrook football.

“The city deserves something,” Bongomin said. “They deserve something to cheer about, and it hasn’t been like that for a long time.”