While it still (thankfully) feels like summer, the boys and girls of autumn are underway.

Most local teams have played at least one game and early indications are that it will be another season to remember.

There have already been plenty of thrills in football, soccer, field hockey, volleyball, cross country and golf.

Here’s a glimpse:

Football

Revenge was served in a big way by Falmouth’s football team Friday night. The Yachtsmen hosted York, which was the only team to beat them a year ago, in the opener and Falmouth made a powerful statement with a 33-0 victory.

George Gilbert set the tone with an early 64-yard touchdown run. Connor Aube added a 5-yard dash for a 14-0 lead after one quarter. Gilbert scored on a 24-yard pass from quarterback Jack Bryant to make it 20-0 at halftime. Touchdown runs from Aube (24-yards) and Nico Ciraulo (13-yards) accounted for the final score. Aube and Gilbert each ran for 89 yards and Nick Wissemann added 69. Bryant completed 5-of-10 passes for 104 yards in his first start. The Yachtsmen had 386 yards of offense.

Falmouth looks to improve to 2-0 Friday when it goes to 0-1 Westbrook. Last year, the Yachtsmen  beat the visiting Blue Blazes, 27-8.

Yarmouth was also victorious in its first game, downing visiting Lake Region, 31-13. The Clippers shot to a 14-0 first quarter lead as Jack Snyder and Remi LeBlanc scored on short runs. Andrew Beatty added a 47-yard field goal and Yarmouth was up, 17-6, at halftime. John Thoma hit Snyder and LeBlanc had another touchdown run to push the lead to 31-6 and the Clippers cruised from there.

“A win is a win no matter who it is against,” said Yarmouth coach Jason Veilleux. “Our kids lost to Lake Region this summer by a point in overtime at Leavitt’s 7-on-7 tournament, so I think some of the kids had a little extra fight in them for this season opener. Overall I was very happy with what we saw. We’ve had limited preseason action this year so I was happy to see our kids come out and fly around. I thought our defense looked tough and fast and our offense executed the majority of our plays well.”

Yarmouth hosts 0-1 Mountain Valley Friday. Last year, the Clippers beat the visiting Falcons, 42-3.

Freeport and Greely weren’t as fortunate.

The Falcons fell to 0-1 after a 49-12 setback at Poland. Eli Fox had two TD passes to account for Freeport’s 12 points. 

“We are trying,” Freeport coach Paul St. Pierre said. “We prepared really hard this week. We are just trying to move forward. We just try to win every play. We know they are going to get their plays. We are going to get ours.”

The Falcons have the daunting task of hosting 1-0 Wells in its home opener Saturday.

The Rangers dropped a 26-14 decision at Kennebunk Friday. Greely fell behind 14-0 at halftime and 26-0 after three periods, before getting fourth quarter scores from Sam Peck and Alex Kroot. 

Greely is home with defending Class B state champion Marshwood (1-0) Friday.

Boys’ soccer

Yarmouth’s defending Class B boys’ soccer team opened in style Saturday, blanking visiting Poland, 9-0, after leading at the half, 8-0. Matt Dostie had a career game, scoring four times, all in the first half. Jon Groothoff had two goals, Henry Becker and Christopher Pidden had one apiece and the final goal came on a Knights’ own-goal. Nick Kamra had two assists, while Patrick Grant added one. The Clippers were at Greely for a rematch of the past two Western B Finals Tuesday afternoon (see theforecaster.net for game story). Yarmouth hosts Cape Elizabeth Saturday and plays at Freeport Tuesday.

Greely opened with a 4-0 win at Fryeburg Academy. The Rangers hosted Yarmouth Tuesday and welcome Falmouth Thursday.

Freeport dropped a 5-0 decision at Cape Elizabeth in its opener. The Falcons host Gray-New Gloucester Thursday, Wells Saturday and Yarmouth Tuesday.

Falmouth rallied from an early deficit for a 3-1 win at Gray-New Gloucester in its first game. Ben Wuesthoff, Jonah Spiegel and Matt Polewaczyk had the goals. The Yachtsmen were home with Kennebunk Tuesday, go to Greely Thursday and host Waynflete Tuesday of next week.

North Yarmouth Academy welcomed back coach Martyn Keen with a 5-1 win at Traip Academy behind Henry Quesada’s three goals. Xander Bartone and Thomas Pitts also scored. The Panthers return to action Saturday at home versus Sacopee Valley. Traip Academy pays a visit Tuesday of next week.

Girls’ soccer

It figures to be a banner year for local girls’ soccer teams and early results reaffirmed the prowess of Falmouth, Greely and Yarmouth.

The Yachtsmen began with a 7-0 home win over Poland, as Madison Wolf had three goals, Mia Cooney scored twice and Grace Connolly and Marcy Kittridge and both had one goal. Falmouth was at Kennebunk Tuesday, hosts Greely Friday and plays at Waynflete Tuesday of next week.

The Rangers won their first outing, 5-0, over visiting Fryeburg Academy. Anna DeWolfe scored twice and Izzy Hutnak, Jocelyn Mitiguy and Courtney Sullivan also tickled the twine. Greely was home with Yarmouth Tuesday (see theforecaster.net for game story), visits Falmouth Friday and plays at Gray-New Gloucester next Wednesday.

The Clippers rolled past host Poland in their first game, 6-0. After going to Greely Tuesday, Yarmouth hosts defending regional champion Cape Elizabeth in a playoff rematch Saturday and is home with Freeport Tuesday of next week.

The Falcons dropped their opener, 8-1, at home to Cape Elizabeth. After hosting Sacopee Valley Wednesday and Wells Saturday, Freeport is at Yarmouth Tuesday of next week.

NYA lost its first game, 4-2, to visiting Traip Academy. The Panthers were home with Gray-New Gloucester Tuesday, go to Sacopee Valley Friday and play at Traip Academy Tuesday of next week.

Field hockey

Falmouth’s field hockey team has shot out of the gate in impressive fashion.

The Yachtsmen opened with a stunningly emphatic 8-0 win at Cape Elizabeth last Thursday, behind Kate Kelley’s two goals. Falmouth was at defending Class B champion York Tuesday, hosts Greely Thursday, goes to Poland Saturday and is home with Fryeburg Academy Monday of next week.

Yarmouth, after two strong seasons in Class C, is back in Class B this fall, and the Clippers fared well in their opener, downing visiting Lake Region, 6-0, behind two goals apiece from Eliza Lunt and Abby McDowell and one apiece from Ally McLeod and Emilie Martin. Friday, Yarmouth improved to 2-0 after beating visiting Gray-New Gloucester, 4-0, behind two goals from McDowell and one apiece from Martin and Molly Wilson. Bre Morrill had three assists. The Clippers were at Greely Tuesday and play host to Freeport Monday.

Speaking of the Falcons, they began with a 6-0 home win over Cape Elizabeth, as Bailey Coffin had a hat trick and Chloe Davidson, Maya Eagan and Lauren Schenker also scored. Freeport was at Gray-New Gloucester Tuesday, hosts Kennebunk Thursday and visits Yarmouth Monday. 

Greely began with a 4-0 loss at Fryeburg Academy in a playoff rematch. The Rangers then fell to 0-2 after a 3-1 home loss to Lake Region Friday. Maddy Perfetti had Greely’s lone goal. The Rangers were home with Yarmouth Tuesday, go to Falmouth Thursday, visit Cape Elizabeth Saturday, then play host to Traip Academy Wednesday of next week.

NYA began by blanking visiting Old Orchard Beach, 7-0, behind two goals from MacKenzie Sangster. The Panthers fell to 1-1 after a 2-1 double overtime loss at Sacopee Valley Friday. Keeley Bartolini had the goal. NYA was at Traip Tuesday, plays at the McAuley/Waynflete co-op team Thursday at Waynflete, hosts York Saturday and goes to Wells Monday of next week.

Volleyball

The volleyball season started with a bang Friday, when rivals and top powers Falmouth and Greely squared off in an epic match in Falmouth. The Yachtsmen, state runners-up in 2014 a year after winning it all, won the first two sets, 25-19 and 26-24, but the Rangers roared back with 25-23 and 25-22 victories to force a winner-take-all, first-to-15 fifth set. There, Falmouth hung on, 15-12, and won the match, 3-2.

“The match was two hours and 20 minutes of free sitting on the edge of your seat excitement,” said Greely coach Kelvin Hasch. 

The Yachtsmen went to Biddeford Tuesday, host Windham Friday and play at Gorham Tuesday of next week.

Greely (which got 21 kills from Kayley Cimino, 12 from Alex Tebbs and 11 from Molly Chapin in the Falmouth loss)  sought its first win Tuesday when Scarborough came calling. The Rangers look to avenge last year’s playoff ouster when they go to defending Class A champion Cape Elizabeth Thursday. Greely is home versus Cony Saturday.

Yarmouth made its Class A debut Friday and downed Gorham in four sets (15-25, 25-12, 25-20, 25-19). The Clippers were at Cony Tuesday, visit Kennebunk Thursday, host Scarborough Saturday and go to Cheverus Tuesday of next week.

NYA opened its season Tuesday at home versus Wells. The Panthers go to Lake Region Thursday and host Bonny Eagle Saturday and Deering Tuesday of next week.

Cross country

The cross country regular season began Friday. Falmouth hosted Greely, along with Gray-New Gloucester and Old Orchard Beach. The Yachstmen boys came in first and the Rangers were second. Greely’s Ryan Morrison was second individually with a time of 17 minutes, 21 seconds. Falmouth’s Sean Soucy was third in 17:29. In the girls’ race, the Yachtsmen were first and the Rangers second, but Greely had the top two individuals, Katherine Leggat-Barr (first in 19:59) and freshman Carolyn Todd (20:18). Falmouth’s top finisher was freshman Malaika Pasch (third, 20:57).

Freeport, NYA and Yarmouth ran in Gray at a meet hosted by the Maine Coast Waldorf School, formerly known as Merriconeag. Defending Class B champion Freeport won the boys’ race, with Yarmouth second and Maine Coast Waldorf third. NYA didn’t score as a team. Clippers standout Luke Laverdiere was first individually in 16:18. The Falcons were paced by Chandler Vincent (second, 16:46). Maine Coast Waldorf’s Tucker Pierce came in third (16:56). The Panthers’ top finisher was Jack Sillin (41st, 22:45). 

Yarmouth had the top three individuals and came in first in the girls’ race, with Freeport second, Maine Coast Waldorf third and NYA fourth. The Clippers featured Abigail Hamilton coming in first in 19:29. Anneka Murrin (19:57) and Grace Cowles (20:39) were second and third respectively. The Falcons were led by Lily Johnston (sixth, 21:11). Maine Coast Waldorf’s top finisher was Olivia Skillings (fourth, 20:40). Megan Alberding paced NYA with a 13th-place showing (22:56).

This weekend, Freeport hosts Falmouth, Cape Elizabeth, Old Orchard Beach and Sacopee Valley, NYA is home with Greely, Maine Coast Waldorf, Kennebunk and Poland and Yarmouth joins Fryeburg Academy and York at Gray-New Gloucester.

Golf

Falmouth’s golf team opened against defending Class A champion Scarborough and the teams each tallied 6.5 points, but the Red Storm were declared the winner on a tiebreaker. The Yachtsmen then beat Deering, 9.5-3.5.

Greely dominated Windham, 13-0, in its first match. 

NYA beat Sacopee Valley, 6.5-0.5, in its opener, then blanked Old Orchard Beach, 7-0.

Yarmouth shut out Old Orchard Beach, 7-0, to start the season. 

Sun Journal staff editor Tony Blasi contributed to this story.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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Falmouth junior Sydney Bell eludes a Cape Elizabeth defender during the Yachtsmen’s 8-0 season-opening win at the Capers last week. Bell had a goal and two assists.

Falmouth junior Maddie Rouhana battles for possession during the Yachtsmen’s season-opening 8-0 win at Cape Elizabeth.

Greely’s Ryan Morrison heads toward a second-place finish at Friday’s regular season opening cross country meet at Falmouth. The Rangers were second to the Yachtsmen as a team.