ConVal's Baldwin hoping to etch his name in football record books

When Liam Baldwin started playing football in fourth grade, there was one player he would watch on television and want to emulate.

Baldwin's first year on the gridiron was during the 2007 season and he was awestruck by a New England Patriot by the name of Randy Moss.

But during those early years, playing wide receiver was just an off-field daydream.

"I started out my first year as a lineman because I was a bigger kid," Baldwin said. "Most of our offense wasn’t really passing. I always practiced catching the ball in my backyard."

By the time he was a freshman at ConVal High School, he was taking snaps and getting plenty of varsity time, enough so that he moved out to receiver and started catching passes for the Cougars.

Baldwin continued to shine the last two seasons, catching almost 50 passes each year, or enough passes that ConVal coach Paul Landau started asking around about state records.

"I reached out and to the best of anyone’s knowledge, no one has had over a hundred catches (in a high school career)," the third-year coach said. "You start thinking about what school might have, what offenses different schools run. Pass-heavy offenses have only been around for 10 or 15 years in New Hampshire."

One of the first coaches Landau reached out to was one of his mentors, former Souhegan coach Mike Beliveau.

"When Mike said he didn't have anyone either, then I started thinking if he didn't have it, then who would," Landau said. "Liam was fortunate enough to be on varsity for four years. He had 95 (receptions) just between the last two years. His longevity and his ability to produce year after year is impressive. Last year, we threw the ball a ton, but we added a couple of weapons around him and he was still right there. He's just steady."

That steady play appears to have spread to the whole team. During Baldwin's freshman year, the Cougars scored just four touchdowns all year; last year, they averaged better than 23 points per game.

"That was the hardest year I ever have had coaching," said Landau, who was an assistant coach before taking over before 2014. "The way we lost a lot of those games was tough. When scoring a touchdown is like a win, then it's a long season. To get from that to last year, it talks a lot about the work the kids have put in."

Baldwin describes last season in a simple way - fun.

"Last year, being able to put up points against anyone was fun and enjoyable," he said. "Everyone pretty much knows the offense, especially the starters. It's just the coaches hammering down the basics and getting the offense the right way."

This year, the Cougars have enough players returning - quarterback Dan Spezzaferri and receiver Isaac Bacon are also back - that they feel like they can surprise some opponents in Division II and get to the postseason for the first time since 2009.

And maybe by then, Baldwin will have a better idea of where he stands in the state record books.

"Knowing I had the most receptions, that would be pretty big to me," he said. "It's tough to know what the feeling would be, but I think it'd be cool to know it."

ConVal opens its season on Friday at 7 p.m. at Milford.