Portland High standout Joe Esposito was named the 45th winner of the James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy, given to the state’s premier senior football player, Sunday afternoon. Esposito, who led the Bulldogs to the Class A Final behind a transcendent season on both sides of the ball and was named Portland’s Fall Male Athlete of the Year, beat out Brunswick’s Will Bessey and Thornton Academy’s Austin McCrum. Esposito, who is also starring on the hardwood this winter, is Portland’s fifth all-time Fitzy recipient, joining Mike Rutherford (1982), Shaun Hawkins (1983), Joe D’Andrea (1995) and Carl Frye (2002).
“It was well deserved,” said Bulldogs coach Jim Hartman. “It’s a really great day for the program. It couldn’t have happened to a better kid. He’s a three-way player. He carried the load and never used the word, ‘I.’ He’s just a humble kid and a great athlete.”
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