enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Cheverus Coach John Wolfgram, through a coaching career that started in 1971, has the practice time perfect, right down to setting up an offensive play.

enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

John Wolfgram, the Cheverus coach, and quarterback Vin Ciampi have to work closely to make sure a week of preparation is executed properly during a game.

NEXT FRIDAY

Meet the students who bring cheer and school spriit to every game.

Eleven players working in cohesion, most charged with the task of blocking a squirming target long enough to create an opening through which a ball-toting teammate can run. All this done not once but several times in succession, knowing that one missed assignment likely will scuttle the whole endeavor.

Getting to that point on a Friday night or a Saturday afternoon requires preparation. Lots of it.

Nobody understands this better than coaches, whose leisure time from August through October can be measured in minutes rather than hours or days.

"There's more to football than any other game in terms of the preparation and ... the emotional investment," said Cheverus Coach John Wolfgram. "It's a great game."

Wolfgram has been coaching football since he landed the head gig at Madison High in 1971, fresh from earning a master's in education at the University of Maine, where he played center. After a state title at Madison, he won three more at Gardiner and four at South Portland before spending five years as an assistant at Bowdoin College.

Now in his second season at Cheverus, Wolfgram knows exactly what it takes to prepare a team.

"John Wolfgram has it down to a science," said Dan Nee, a longtime Cheverus assistant who was defensive coordinator on the Stags' 1985 state championship team. "Every minute is utilized and productive. If there's any standing around, it's lecture time."

MAKING A PLAN

Preparation for Saturday's game began the previous Sunday morning, when Wolfgram and his four assistants studied video from Windham's previous two games. Afterward the coaches added information from their live scouting reports to formulate a plan covering offense, defense, kicking and receiving.

During the week, the coaches meet 45 minutes before each practice in Wolfgram's small cinderblock office to go over duties, assignments and strategy. Nothing is typed out or computer- generated. Wolfgram carries handwritten notes, as do his assistants -- all but Nee were with him at South Portland, either coaching (George Seehagen) or playing (Mike St. John, Mike Vance).

Plays and formations are diagrammed on a whiteboard mounted on one wall. Two fluorescent fixtures hang from the open ceiling, pipes running overhead.

Practices fall into a familiar pattern. Junior varsity game and introduction of the game plan on Monday. Defensive day on Tuesday, with a scout team running plays from the upcoming opponent. Offense on Wednesday. Review and fine-tuning on Thursday and, if it's not a game day, Friday.

Windham's defense, featuring four down linemen and four linebackers, posed a challenge because Cheverus hadn't faced anything similar since a preseason scrimmage at Sanford. Blocking assignments and some pass routes required alteration.

"The other thing is," said St. John, the defensive coordinator, "they run a lot of zone blocking on offense. That affects how we read things and how we react."

Will a linebacker be led to the ballcarrier by watching a guard? Should he ignore offensive linemen and focus on running backs? Careful analysis of scouting reports and video yield the answers.

"When you start out, you think you know a lot," said Wolfgram, glasses perched on the end of his nose, looking like the English teacher he is during school hours. "But actually you know very little."

QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY

Years of experience have taught Wolfgram the optimal practice time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.

"We stay pretty close to that," he said. "You learn what attention span is, how long it is and what kind of techniques you've got to use to keep that on-task focus."

A few techniques soon became apparent. A player who jumped before a snap ran a penalty lap around a distant pylon. Any time Wolfgram sensed a lapse in concentration he barked "Stags!" and every player crouched in breakdown position until a captain called...