Former Apponequet football players earn all-NEFC Honors

BRIDGEWATER — Two former Laker football standouts have found big success playing Division 3 college football not too far from home and recently earned post-season honors from the New England Football Conference (NEFC).

Mike Bois, a 2008 Apponequet grad and senior at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and Tate Doehler, a 2010 Apponequet grad and sophomore at Bridgewater State University, were named to the NEFC All-Bogan Division Team at the conclusion of 2011 season.

Bois, a linebacker, two-time team captain and four-year member of the Mass Maritime football team, was a second-team all-NEFC selection last year as a junior, but this year, he got bumped up to the first team. And he's got the numbers to justify the promotion.

This past fall, Bois led Mass Maritime in tackles with 79, 52 solo — just short of his team-leading and personal best 81 tackles, 56 solo, in 2010 — and he was seventh in the NEFC in that same category. He finished the season with three quarterback sacks and a pair of forced fumbles, but his biggest play of the season came in a win over MIT back in September, when Bois intercepted a pass and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown.

It's been a long uphill battle, as the team won just three games combined in his freshman and sophomore seasons, and Bois didn't immediately catch the eye of the coaching staff.

"When I came in, one of my coaches told me I'd be lucky if I made special teams by the time I was a senior," he said. "I didn't like that, and it really made me want to prove him wrong."

He did. In fact, he went on to become a two-year captain of a team that was quite a bit better than the one he was told likely wouldn't require his services.

Bois goes away with some nice individual numbers and a few well-earned recognitions — did I mention the team's Chris Erickson Award, which goes to the Buccaneers' top linebacker — but he says his biggest accomplishment was being part of the team which posted Mass Maritime's first winning record since 1999.

During his freshman season, in 2008, Mass Maritime went winless, and they won just three games the following year. But Bois says he and a core group from that freshman class, including other guys from the area like Bishop Stang grads Walter Butler and Lenny Simmons and Fairhaven grad Armand Pimentel, stuck with it and were determined to improve.

In 2010, the Bucanneers posted a .500 record a 5-5. This past season, they jumped out to a 5-2 start and looked to be in the running for the division title, but they lost their final two games and finished at 5-4.

"Historically, (Mass Maritime) isn't really a strong team, and when we first got here, the attitude was totally different. Nobody even thought we could win, no one really cared. But once we started to win a few games, it really built up our confidence, and we just said there's no reason we can't compete and even win the conference.

"Now it's just a totally different atmosphere, a good atmosphere. I mean, I was one of like 50 freshmen who played my first year, and only 13 guys, or something like that, were back the next year. Now, most of the freshmen stick around... because it's a lot of fun and they believe and have faith in the program."

Bois likes to think he played a small part in turning things around for Mass Maritime, and he's confident the program has an even better days ahead. Whatever the team's fate, he's moving on.

"It's crazy. I've been playing football for 15 years, and now it's over. I'm going to miss it," he said. "It's been a life-changing experience. I wouldn't change it for anything in the world."