Nate Doehler doesn’t consider public speaking to be his strong suit. Fortunately, it didn’t take too long for him to get comfortable as signal caller for the Bonny Eagle football team.

“I remember his sophomore year he got in a game because our starter got hurt. The very first series the seniors came off and said, ‘Coach, we can’t hear his snap count. You’ve got to tell him to speak up,'” said Bonny Eagle coach Kevin Cooper.

“We told him to do that, then on the next series, he threw a touchdown pass after a snap went over his head. He turned, picked it up, located a receiver and fired it in there for a touchdown. He ended up having three touchdown passes that day. His arrival on the scene was pretty quick.”

Three seasons and two Class A state championships later, the 6-foot, 175-pound Doehler added a final piece of hardware to the Bonny Eagle trophy case. On Sunday, he was awarded the 38th James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy, presented annually to the state’s top senior football player.

During his senior campaign, Doehler completed 100 of 183 passes for 1,472 yards and 19 touchdowns (with only four interceptions) as he led the Scots to their second straight Gold Ball. He ran for another 16 touchdowns and 1,294 yards, averaging 7.4 yards per carry. He also excelled as a defensive back, snagging a team-high six interceptions and returning a fumble for a score. Oh, and he served as punter, placekicker and kick returner.

The award banquet, held at the Holiday Inn By the Bay in Portland, was delayed a week because of a snowstorm. That left two full months between Bonny Eagle’s 26-6 state title victory over Skowhegan and the announcement of the winner of the Fitzy, for which Skowhegan’s Billy Clark and Mountain Valley’s Justin Staires were also finalists.

“It was on my mind the whole time, having to get ready for the speech – I was a little nervous about that,” Doehler said. “(Public speaking) is so foreign to me, so I’d say it is more nerve-wracking than playing in any game – all those people looking at me.”

Though he was admittedly more fazed by the banquet crowd than playing for a championship in front of thousands at Fitzpatrick Stadium, Doehler once again rose to the occasion.

“He handled the moment and did a great job on his speech,” Cooper said.

Doehler was a soccer player up through the eighth grade, but the Scots’ first state title back in 2004 motivated him to switch from the pitch to the gridiron when he began high school. One player especially got Doehler interested in football: Matt O’Donnell, the standout quarterback on that state championship team.

“Just watching Matty O win it and all that excitement – I just wanted to go out and play in the next few years and try to do the same stuff,” Doehler said. “As a freshman I saw that I had a natural gift for some of the stuff, but I knew I’d have to stay after some practices, put in extra hours, and take some pointers and watch the kids above me to see what they are doing to get where I wanted to really be.”

Cooper remembers hearing of Doehler even as a middle schooler. Word was out that the best athlete in the eighth grade was giving up soccer to try football. As a freshman, Doehler showed a knack for the game. The freshman coaches let Cooper know that Doehler was the real deal.

During his sophomore year, Doehler proved to Cooper that he had the leadership qualities as well as the skill and talent to be a heck of a quarterback.

“To be able to step right in almost immediately, effortlessly and seamlessly, and command respect at the quarterback position is almost unheard of,” Cooper said.

As a junior, Doehler established himself as arguably the state’s premier player, leading the Scots to an undefeated season while putting up gaudy numbers. He headed into his senior season as a Fitzpatrick Trophy frontrunner, and only continued to impress.

“He’s certainly a very deserving winner of the Fitzpatrick Trophy,” said Cooper. “The other finalists were great players, but I can’t imagine anybody being a better high school football player than Nate was. I really think that over the last couple years, he’s put up, back-to-back, two of the finest seasons of any Maine high school football player. He’s done so much for our program with his leadership and his ability, along with his ability to play great in big games. We’re just thrilled for him to be able to have this award as a culmination of his high school football career.”

Doehler credits Cooper and the rest of the coaching staff with being patient with him and teaching him everything he knows about football. The award, he said, is also a credit to his coaches and teammates.

“It shows recognition to not only what I’ve done these years, but to how I’ve been coached, and to my teammates who have pushed me and driven me to do better,” Doehler said.

With four state championships in the past five years under Cooper, Bonny Eagle football has turned into the state’s premier program, arguably one of the best in Maine’s history.

Players like Doehler can help the program beyond the four years they’re in high school, Cooper said.

“You hope that there’s a seventh or eighth grader out there right now who’s saying ‘I want to be the next Nate Doehler,'” Cooper said. “That’s how programs keep their tradition and are able to carry on and sustain success over a number of years.”

Doehler is the Scots’ second Fitzpatrick winner. Running back John Wiechman won it in 2005.

The award was part of a whirlwind weekend for Doehler, who took his official visit to the University of Maine on Saturday and gave his verbal commitment to accept a partial scholarship to play football for the Black Bears. He spent the night in Orono with some of the football players, and then awoke early to drive back to Portland for the banquet.

The lore of Division I football sold Doehler on UMaine. He said he’ll have the opportunity to compete for the punting job right away (he averaged 39 yards a punt for the Scots on the rare drives that didn’t end with a touchdown), but will also have a chance to show what he can do at quarterback.

There were other college opportunities that would have guaranteed Doehler playing time right away, but that wasn’t what he was looking for. He wanted to play at the highest level possible.

“If I wanted to, I could have gone to some smaller schools, but I wasn’t really interested at playing at that level,” he said. “It would be nice to go in and start, but I want to earn it and to try to get better.”

Doehler won’t be heading to Orono alone. Teammate Josh Spearin, one of his main blockers on the offensive line, is also headed to UMaine on a scholarship. Doehler said the two plan to room together. They’ll be reunited with Josh’s older brother Matt Spearin, a current freshman offensive lineman for the Black Bears, and Ben Delcourt, a freshman receiver who was one of Doehler’s favorite targets two seasons ago.

It’s quite a Bonny Eagle-Orono pigskin pipeline that’s developing.

“We have four guys up there and I think they all have a chance to make that travel team when Maine goes down to Florida State next fall,” Cooper said. “Thinking that four Bonny Eagle kids might be lining up against Florida State next fall is pretty exciting.”

As far as academics go, Doehler doesn’t have any plans set in stone, but said he’s considering a major in physical education with a minor in athletic training. He’d like to be a gym teacher and football coach down the road, preferably back at his high school alma matter.

“I hope Coach Cooper would let that happen,” Doehler said.

Cooper said he just might be able to find an opening when the time comes.

Fitting end to a fine career: Doehler wins Fitzpatrick