Staff photo / Brian Yauger Lakeview’s Gavin Mauger (6) covers a team Mahoning receiver for team Trumbull during Thursday’s Jack Arvin Classic at Hubbard Memorial Stadium.

HUBBARD — Talk about opening a game with a bang.

On one of the first plays of the game Thursday, Lakeview’s Gavin Mauger scored from 87 yards out on a deep pass to give Trumbull County the early edge. That paid off, as the Trumbull squad won the 36th Jack Arvin Football Classic 31-21.

“I mean, it was awesome to come out here,” he said. “After not having it for a couple of years, to come out here and put on a show. It was nice to come out early and score that touchdown at the beginning of the game. It felt great just to put the pads back on and get out here and play with my teammate Evan Davies. This is something we’ve always worked hard to do.”

That deep touchdown pass came from Mathews quarterback Isaiah Munno. In addition to playing with Davies, Munno was actually a former teammate of Mauger at Lakeview. Munno returned to the Mathews school district for his junior and senior years.

“I never thought we were going to play again and then we just went straight back to it (without missing a beat),” Mauger said. “The nice fade route up the sideline.”

A three-sport athlete, there was never downtime for the Lakeview graduate. He hopped right from football to basketball, from basketball to baseball, then from baseball right back to football.

Now, he only has to focus on football, because he’ll be continuing his career at Grove City College, playing wide receiver for the Wolverines and majoring in business management.

“It’s all gas,” Mauger said about the non-stop schedule. “I mean, we work hard in every sport, so it’s one sport to another. You’re done with football, you’re straight into basketball and then baseball after. It’s nice to finally have a weight off my shoulders and be able to focus just on football.”

This school year especially has been a wild ride.

During football season, Mauger was the team’s leading receiver. Then onto basketball season where he missed most of the year, only playing in two games.

Baseball was the best year all-around for the senior as the Bulldogs went 12-9 and were a run away from a district semifinal appearance. They fell just short, losing to Mogadore Field, 1-0, in their sectional bracket final matchup.

As a part of the Lakeview baseball team, Mauger was top five in nearly every major hitting category with a .303 batting average, 20 hits and 10 RBIs, and also struck out four in the three-and-a-third innings on the mound.

“Baseball was a lot of fun this year,” he said. “We went pretty far. I thought we had a good ride.”

With the all-star game in the books, it’s now time for Mauger to buckle back down in preparation for his first collegiate year.

“I’m just doing the workouts that they’re sending me, conditioning and running routes whenever I can,” Mauger said regarding preparing for the next big step in his life.

It’s still all gas for the future Wolverine, there’s just no turns anymore.