DOVER-FOXCROFT — Thirteen pounds.

Those are the first things noticeable about Davis Turner’s appearance at Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl XXVI camp this week. He’s substantially bigger than the high school senior who dominated games at linebacker for Oxford Hills last September and October.

And before you rush to judgment, let it be known that this isn’t an early start on the “Freshman 15” that some recent graduates achieve on the pizza-and-video-games diet.

He’s on the training regimen that the University of Maine football program prescribes for each of its incoming scholarship athletes.

“I’ve been on the program all summer,” Turner said. “Coach (Jack Cosgrove of Maine) said he didn’t care what I came up at.”

The six-foot Turner has evolved from 210 to 223 pounds in a short time span.

It’s lean muscle mass, and getting the Viking-turned-Black Bear to invest the time and energy wasn’t a hard sell. After a lifetime playing football and hockey, Turner is restless without crunching human contact.

“I’ve been working out summer and running,” Turner said. “It’s a little different from football. (At the Lobster Bowl) we’ve got three-a-days and we’re doing football. In the summertime you can’t really go out and practice by yourself. It’s not the same feeling. You’ve just got to work out and push yourself.”

This week has provided a welcome opportunity for Turner to get back into a hit-and-be-hit frame of mind.

Staying in shape and being in football shape are notoriously two different things. Turner’s physical presentation at camp suggested that he was already better prepared for the rigors of Saturday’s game (6 p.m., Waterhouse Field, Biddeford) than most.

“You get tired, but you think about it and that it’s to represent the kids, and you give it your all,” Turner said “We’re playing for the kids, raising money for the kids, trying to get the kids better. That’s what the game is all about.”

Turner was defensive player of the year in Class A East as a senior. He made 104 regular-season tackles and led Oxford Hills to four wins and a playoff berth for the first time in 10 years.

A three-year starter for the Vikings, Turner also played fullback and lived up to the lofty standard set by his older brother.

Dexter Turner, now a defensive lineman at Maine, made two sacks in the 2013 Lobster Bowl, one producing a safety in the East’s 25-13 victory.

“He had a good game, so I have to try to be better,” Davis Turner said. “Getting here definitely was my goal when I found out about the Shrine game, and then Dexter went two years ago. I had to.”

Although he now bleeds Black Bears blue, Turner is elated to represent Vikings’ green-and-gold one more time.

Oxford Hills has made its presence felt in Lobster Bowls past. Dexter Turner’s safety is one of only two in the history of the game. Ethan Sutton scored two long touchdowns in 2007.

“It definitely means a lot, especially being the one kid from Oxford Hills out of the whole team,” Turner said. “I hope I represent it well.”

Turner has enjoyed the camaraderie of the East squad. He became fast friends with Windham’s delegation. Fellow linebackers J.T. Williams of Mt. Blue and Peter Boyer of Foxcroft are his roommates.

“It’s good because you play against these kids, and some of them you don’t know. Then you open up to them and talk to them and hang out with them all day. They’re experienced and the same level of play. It’s an awesome experience,” Turner said. “You’re on the field and you’re not supposed to like them. Then you come here and become great friends with them.”

After being the decided underdog in the early years of the Lobster Bowl, the East holds a two-game winning streak and has won six of the past nine. It was 32-13 a year ago.

Turner thinks his team could show that same well-rounded efficiency again. Chris Bartlett of Belfast is the coach, with a staff that includes Dave Sterling of Edward Little and former Lewiston coach Bill County.

“The defense is strong, and our offense looks lights-out,” he said.

When it’s over, Turner has roughly three weeks to prepare for the next phase of his life and football career. Maine opens camp August 9.

“I’m excited for that,” Turner said. “I think I’m ready. Three-a-days here are going to help with all the running.”

Good point. He may have to put some of those pounds back on, beginning Sunday.

koakes@sunjournal.com