The Belfast Area High School football team hasn’t won a game since 2023. But the Lions are still playing with plenty of pride.
Belfast is 0-4 to start this season. It went 0-9 a year ago, and lost its last matchup of the 2023 season as well. That’s 14 straight losses for the Class D North Lions.
The weight of a streak like that could tear some locker rooms apart. But not this team. They’re playing for more than wins and losses: They’re playing for each other.
“I’m just thinking about the guys everyday. I’m never thinking about that streak,” said senior captain Jackson Faulkingham. “I’m just thinking about who’s in front of me, and just the guys behind me.”
Belfast’s last win came on Oct. 20, 2023, against Maine Central Institute. Even with that nearly two-year drought, roughly 35 players show up every day to contribute to the Belfast football family.
“We’re trying to raise young men to be productive members of society and understand that life in general is bigger than just you,” fifth-year head coach Art Fairbrother said this week. “That there’s the family around you.”
That involves effort from the entire team, not just the players on the field for any given down, Fairbrother said.
“So the boys keep coming back because they don’t want to let each other down,” he said.
This season started with a 19-0 loss against Brewer, followed by a 63-22 defeat against Winslow and a 56-24 loss at the hands of Maranacook.
The Lions had a second half lead against Mattanawcook Academy last week, but Fairbrother said some miscues from both players and coaches, along with some bad bounces of the ball, pushed that elusive first win out of reach.
“We just, players and coaches alike, need to learn how to win,” Fairbrother said.
But he continues to emphasize to his team that better days are ahead.
“My grandfather used to tell me that how you handle defeat says more about you than how you handle victory,” Fairbrother said. “And I’ve really tried to instill in these young men that even though the scoreboard says that you’ve lost, that doesn’t mean that you’re a loser.”
That wasn’t the only thing he learned from his grandfather.
“How you carry yourself in defeat — if you will keep the integrity, and if you will keep your cool, and if you keep your character in those situations, that says a whole lot about who you are,” Fairbrother added.
Despite the results on the scoreboard so far this season and a year ago, the Lions are showing plenty of that character. They were flying around the field at practice on Wednesday, staying engaged and helping each other through drills while preparing for Friday night’s game against MCI — the last team they notched a victory against in 2023.
“Everyone’s always asking about our record. And I just think we’re always looking forward, or at least I am,” said Faulkingham, who plays left tackle and defensive end in the trenches for the Lions. “We’re just thinking about the next game, and we’re going to figure it out eventually.”
Despite the recent struggles, Fairbrother said the Belfast community continues to support the team — with students, parents, friends and others there to help fuel the Lions from the stands.
“It’s still a good crowd,” he said. “Obviously it would be a better crowd if we were winning. There’s no doubt about it.”
Fairbrother credited the senior leadership, including Faulkingham and fellow captain Luke Littlefield, for setting the tone on the field.
“Nothing in the past can be changed, so just put our head down, keep working, and something good is going to come from it,” said Littlefield, who plays all over the field as quarterback, fullback and defensive end.
These two captains, like many of the seniors, have been playing football together most of their lives.
“I want to work hard every day for myself, but mostly for my family on the team,” Littlefield said.
The senior quarterback noted that he tries to be an example for younger players on the team who need someone to look up to.
“It’s a brotherhood. We just love each other,” Faulkingham added.
The Lions travel to Pittsfield on Friday night to take on an MCI team that is 1-3 on the season. Fairbrother said he goes into every game believing that his team has a chance to win.
“I have to believe it — and somehow, some way — I’ve got to get 35 young men to believe it too,” the head coach said.
Littlefield and Faulkingham said that keys to the game against MCI will include getting their defense right, knowing their assignments and playing with physicality.
“Don’t be the one taking hits, be the one giving hits.” Littlefield said at Wednesday’s practice.
The Belfast program has a long history giving hits, having won multiple state titles in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Current assistant coach Ben Cowan was a member of one of those championship teams.
While it’s been an adjustment for some on the coaching staff who are more familiar with statewide success rather than a long losing streak, Cowan said the toughest part has been watching the players show up and work hard every day without that effort translating to wins on the field.
But Cowan trusts that a victory is on the horizon at some point.
“They believe that each week is their week. And they’ve been close a couple times,” Cowan said about the team, adding that coaches and players alike need to remember how to win. “It’s going to happen, and I’m really excited for them when it does. Because they’ve earned it.”
Despite the recent string of losses, the assistant coach can’t remember a Monday practice where the players didn’t arrive engaged and ready to get back after it.
“A record is a set of numbers. But I think that any coach in this state or in the country would not find a better group of kids to be prouder of than this group of kids,” Cowan said. “I don’t care how many wins and losses they have, I’m damn proud of these kids. And I’ll take them every single day of the week.”