Maine
The tush push is still illegal in Maine high school football
The Philadelphia Eagles will be able to continue their successful short yardage play, known as the “tush push,” after NFL owners rejected a proposal to ban the much-debated maneuver this week.
But don’t expect to see the play taking hold in Maine high school football — at least not legally.
Two Maine high school football rules officials explained to the Bangor Daily News how the tush push, which involves offensive players lining up in the backfield and helping to push the quarterback forward once the ball is snapped, conflicts with a “helping the runner” rule.
“The procedure is, if you start to see it, you blow the play dead,” said Allan Snell from Maine’s association for football officials.
The helping the runner rule applies across the country where state organizations follow the National Federation of State High School Associations football rulebook. The helping the runner rule says that an offensive player can’t push, pull or lift the ballcarier to advance their forward progress.
Ralph Damren, who has been refereeing Maine football games for decades, is also the football rules interpreter for Maine and represents the state at NFHS Football Rules Committee meetings. In that role, he helps referees across the state understand and implement those rules.
“Our stance on the tush push, or whatever you want to call it, is that the forward progress has stopped once the runner’s ability to advance on his own has stopped,” Damren explained. “So we don’t flag it for helping the runner, we just kill the play. And rule that the ball is dead right where it is.”
A particularly aggressive case could be flagged for a five-yard helping the runner penalty, the Maine officials explained, but typically referees would just blow a play dead once they see a player pushing a teammate to advance forward progress.
Different states could have different interpretations of the helping the runner rule and how it applies to a tush-push-like play, Damren said.
Damren said that plays like this could happen either in goal line situations or other short yardage plays.
“You might see it on the goal line, but a lot of times you would see it on a close to a first down situation where his teammates want to push him to gain an extra inch, maybe” Damren said.
The tush push is also sometimes called the “Brotherly Shove” for its association with the Philadelphia Eagles. Snell said it may be popular with some teams in the NFL, but the approach raises some competitive and safety concerns at the high school level. Damren likened the tush push to a rugby scrum.
“Rugby is a very, very risky sport,” Damren added. “And I don’t think we want to turn football into rugby.”
NFHS felt strongly enough about dissuading the tush push in high school football that it made the helping the runner rule an official point of emphasis in 2023.
“Rule changes have been made at higher levels of football allowing offensive teams to pile in behind and directly push the runner. Because of these changes, we are now seeing similar plays at the high school level,” NFHS wrote at the time. “As guardians of the game, it is imperative that all stakeholders work together to remove ‘helping the runner’ from our high school game.”
Damren said coaches have been “very amicable” about officials’ approach to not allowing tush-push-like plays in Maine high school football, and that they “haven’t run into any problems” with it in the last few years.
Bangor High School football coach Dave Morris said he doesn’t really have an opinion on the tush push in the NFL and wasn’t overly familiar with the Eagles’ formation and approach with the play beyond seeing it on TV a few times.
“I think in high school football, if you’re relying on that to get the yardage, then you’re probably not doing what you probably could be doing up front, in terms of blocking and trying to dominate somebody up front,” Morris said.
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This story will be updated.
The Maine Department of Transportation is moving to slash up to $400 million in projects from its agenda, a shocking and abrupt cutback that is rattling the state’s construction industry at the start of building season.
Roughly $50 million across six pavement projects have already been delayed, according to a memo exclusively obtained by the Bangor Daily News. The agency plans to cut or delay another $150 million in bridge, highway, intersection and multimodal projects later this month. A further $200 million or more in cuts are planned in the next three-year work plan.
Those figures were outlined by Transportation Commissioner Dale Doughty in the May 18 memo to Gov. Janet Mills that has since circulated widely in the transportation sector, which has been getting drip-by-drip details on the wide scope of the cuts over the past three weeks.
It comes at the beginning of the state’s relatively narrow construction season. Companies have hired workers and ordered materials for projects they expected to begin this summer. The severity of the transportation budget problems was not raised to lawmakers during the 2026 legislative session.
Kelly Flagg, executive director of the Associated General Contractors of Maine, called the shortfall “deeply troubling” in a statement.
“We stand ready to work with policymakers, stakeholders, and industry partners to identify both immediate and long-term solutions,” Flagg said. “Maine cannot afford to fall further behind.”
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The cuts stem from a structural funding gap of at least $130 million in the state’s current work plan, according to Doughty’s memo. Losses are magnified because state money from the gas tax and other revenue sources is matched by federal funds. Lawmakers have long grappled with politically difficult long-term problems with the state’s transportation budget.
A Mills spokesperson said Wednesday morning that the administration was working on a response to questions from the BDN. The department says it needs roughly $240 million more in state capital funding annually to maintain the existing system, and that anything less than $200 million will erode it over time.
Doughty’s memo the only near-term solution is a series of bonds beginning as soon as possible. Lawmakers would have to return to Augusta to authorize that if one is going to appear on the November ballot.
The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Michael Capeci is the former chairman of the Bangor GOP.
Let’s be honest about Maine’s current state.
For many families, the cost of living has become unsustainable. Housing is out of reach for many young people. Energy bills keep rising. Many small businesses are struggling under taxes and regulations that make it harder to grow. Rural hospitals are under strain and despite years of increased state spending, the results are not showing up in people’s daily lives.
Concurrently, Maine continues to lose young workers to other states. That is not a statistic, it is a warning sign.
To me, the question in this Republican primary for governor is not about slogans. It is whether we continue with a political approach that has failed to reverse these trends, or whether we nominate someone with new ideas. I think that someone is Owen McCarthy.
Owen is not a political insider. He is an entrepreneur from Patten, a small town where opportunity is not assumed, it is built. He grew up in a working-class family, became the first in his family to graduate from college graduating from the University of Maine, and founded MedRhythms, a healthcare technology company focused on neurological treatment.
He didn’t just talk about opportunity. He built it. That distinction matters, because Maine’s problem is not a lack of debate it is a lack of results. We have seen the trajectory: higher costs, slower growth, and a steady outmigration of young workers. I believe Owen McCarthy represents a break from that pattern.
His Maine 2040 plan focuses on creating 50,000 new jobs in sectors where Maine has real advantages — maritime and defense, advanced forest products, and life sciences. These are export-driven industries tied directly to Maine’s workforce, geography, and institutions. What sets Owen apart is not only what he proposes, but how he approaches governing.
He prioritizes modernizing permitting so projects do not stall. He supports using technology to reduce costs and increase efficiency. He focuses on making it easier to build, hire, and expand in Maine.
That same practical mindset extends to healthcare. Expanding telehealth, strengthening EMS systems, improving provider flexibility, and shifting toward earlier intervention are not abstract reforms. They are system upgrades designed to improve access while controlling costs.
Maine voters consistently respond to competence. They reward candidates who understand problems and present plans to solve them. I believe they are tired of rhetoric that does not translate into results, and skeptical of politics that prioritizes messaging over execution.
Owen’s approach is grounded in solving the issues that shape daily life — affordability, healthcare access, job creation, and government efficiency. That is not just policy positioning. It is a governing model that speaks directly to voters.
Some will point to his lack of political experience. But I believe Maine’s core problems are not the result of insufficient political experience; they are the result of policies that have failed to deliver measurable improvement. Experience inside a broken system, by itself, is not a solution.
If Republicans want to win, this primary must be taken seriously. From my perspective, it is not about choosing a nominee for governor who can energize the base. It is about selecting someone who can compete in a broader electorate that is frustrated and looking for change.
That requires a candidate who can speak beyond the base, not by abandoning principles, but by demonstrating competence and a credible plan to address Maine’s challenges. I believe Owen McCarthy offers that combination. He represents a shift away from managed decline and toward economic execution.
This is not just another primary. It is a decision about whether Republicans position themselves to win Maine or whether they remain trapped in a cycle of repeating the same strategies and expecting different outcomes.
If Republicans want to compete for Maine’s future, they cannot afford to nominate a candidate who only motivates part of the electorate. They need someone who expands it.
I believe Owen McCarthy is that candidate.
And if the goal is to win Maine, then the choice should be unmistakable
The only notable change in the top-seven of the Varsity Maine baseball poll is that Gorham now has eight first-place votes, two more than last week. The order of the seven teams is identical. In fact, the only change in the top-seven over the past three polls is the swap at the top after Gorham’s win over South Portland on May 19.
Furthermore, Gorham, South Portland, Oxford Hills, Cheverus, Bangor, Mt. Ararat and Fryeburg have been ranked in the top seven for four straight weeks, and six of those squads have been among the top seven in every poll this spring.
Meanwhile, Scarborough is ranked for the first time since May 5, and Ellsworth and Thornton swapped spots.
The Varsity Maine baseball poll is based on games played before June 2, 2026. The top 10 teams are voted on by the Varsity Maine staff, with first-place votes in parentheses, followed by total points.
1. Gorham (8) 89
2. South Portland 79
3. Oxford Hills (1) 75
4. Cheverus 55
5. Bangor 42
6. Mt. Ararat 41
7. Fryeburg Academy 30
8. Ellsworth 27
9. Thornton Academy 25
10. Scarborough 12
Also receiving votes: Washington Academy 8, Monmouth Academy 4, Cony 4, Leavitt 2, Falmouth 2.
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