Noel Lefebvre literally burst onto the Bartlett athletic scene as a sophomore, becoming known in some quarters as “the bowling ball” for his remarkable performances in breaking tackles in route to long gains on the gridiron.

In his junior year, he was named Webster Times Football MVP, received the Bartlett Outstanding Offensive Back Award, and won the Vincent F. Sabatinelli MVP award for his performance on Thanksgiving Day against Southbridge High School. The last award marked the first time a player on the losing team received the award, as well as the first underclassmen to receive it. During that season, he rushed for 898 yards, caught passes for 130 yards, and scored six touchdowns. As a linebacker that season he made 45 unassisted tackles.

In his senior year, Noel rushed for 1,062 yards, recorded 149 yards in pass receptions, scored eight touchdowns, and was credited with 62 unassisted tackles. He became the first player to win the Sabatinelli award two years in a row, as well as winning it, remarkably, for the second time as a member of the losing team.

Many football observers consider Noel’s senior year performance on Thanksgiving Day as perhaps the best performance ever in the Bartlett-Southbridge rivalry. In a losing effort, Noel scored 20 of the Indian’s 21 points and recorded 25 tackles while playing nearly the entire second half with a broken nose.

Noel played football for two years at Nichols College where he was named to several ECAC teams, including all conference and player of the year. He also was named to the New England Football Conference All-Star team.

Noel is a retired US Air Force Master Sergeant, who served in Desert Storm and Desert Shield.

He and Cynthia have been married for 24 years and they have two sons, Dillon, 23 and Mark, 20.