(Ed. Note: For the complete Waynflete-NYA boys’ soccer story, with additional photos, and the Waynflete-Yarmouth field hockey story, please visit theforecaster.net)

The postseason is just days away (golf states kicks off the fun Saturday) and there’s definitely a playoff feel in the air in the other sports as well. The time to secure a playoff spot and a strong postseason seed is disappearing as quickly as the leaves on the trees.

Here’s a glimpse:

Football

While Deering went through a tumultuous week off the field, then fell to 0-5 with a 29-16 home loss to Lewiston (please see story), both Cheverus and Portland enjoyed easy victories yet again.

The Stags improved to 5-0 Saturday by dominating visiting Edward Little, 48-0. Cheverus has now outscored the five teams it’s vanquished, 261-55. Touchdown runs from Cody O’Brien (18-yards) and Joe Fitzpatrick (19-yards) and a 20-yard interception return from Will Hilton gave the Stags a 21-0 lead after one quarter. An 8-yard pass from Ethan Jordan to Fitzpatrick and an 81-yard TD run from O’Brien made it 35-0 at halftime. Liam LaFountain (61-yard run) and Lowell Harmon (6-yard run) added second half scores to account for the final score.

The Stags will finally get a stern test Saturday when they host 4-1 Thornton Academy, the defending Class A champion, which ended Cheverus’ record 34-game win streak last year in the regional final, 20-13.

The Bulldogs improved to 4-1 Saturday with a 68-0 drubbing of host Oxford Hills. Portland dominated in every facet imaginable, with two blocked punts, an interception and a fumble recovery complementing touchdowns from six different players. Junior quarterback Jordan Talbot rushed for 110 yards and threw for 74 more, accounting for two scores in each fashion. Justin Zukowski tacked on 95 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“No game is ever easy and no opponent is ever taken lightly,” said Portland’s Ronald Hargrove, who had a 56-yard TD run. “Coach (Jim Hartman) made us practice hard this week, unlike last week, and we came out clicking I feel like on all cylinders. The bus ride was a little bit of a long one, although not as long as Bangor, and you could tell there was a sense of urgency right when we got off the bus.

“We’ve been trying for two years to get these boys to do what we did at Yarmouth (where the coach won 2010 and 2011 Class C championships), and this is as close as we’ve gotten,” Hartman said.

Portland returns home Friday to host 3-2 Windham. The teams didn’t play last fall.

Boys’ soccer

The roller-coaster ride that is Western A boys’ soccer continued last week.

Deering now finds itself first in the Heal Points standings after responding from its lone loss with wins at Westbrook (4-0) and Marshwood (2-1, in double overtime). Against the Blue Blazes, Alec Halpin, David Bujambi, Stephen Ochan and Shervin Sabeti all scored. Ben Peterson had both goals against the Hawks, including the winner. The Rams took an 8-1-1 record into a home showdown versus defending Class A champion Scarborough Tuesday. Deering plays at Thornton Academy Thursday.

Portland dropped to third at 7-2-1 after a 2-1 loss at South Portland Thursday. The Bulldogs, who had blanked visiting Marshwood two days prior (Alex Frank and Sam Farr scored), got a goal from Yusef Yama in the defeat and had a late potential game-tying goal called off. Portland faced another stiff test Tuesday when it hosted Gorham. The Bulldogs go to Westbrook Tuesday of next week.

Cheverus remains unheralded and is now ninth at 6-2-1 after home wins over Thornton Academy (4-0) and Massabesic (3-0). Jamie Biegel and Charlie Mull both had two goals against the Golden Trojans. Biegel, Grady Levesque and Nick Turner scored against the Mustangs. The Stags were at South Portland Tuesday, host Bonny Eagle Thursday and play at Noble Tuesday of next week.

In Western C, Waynflete suffered a tough 1-0 home loss to rival North Yarmouth Academy last Wednesday. Milo Belleau did make 13 saves in defeat.

“It took us awhile to get our legs,” Flyers coach Brandon Salway said. “We played our best after they scored. We played with more intensity. We were a little undermanned today. I hate to lose, but I really liked what I saw and how we responded. It will motivate us going forward.”

Waynflete improved to 6-2 Friday with a 1-0 win at Sacopee Valley (Clancy Mitchell had the goal). The Flyers (fifth in Western C) were home with Freeport Tuesday, welcome Gray-New Gloucester Friday and host Sacopee Valley Monday.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, defending Class C champion Waynflete is now 6-1-2 and fifth in the Heals after settling for a 1-1 tie at NYA and beating visiting Sacopee Valley, 2-0. Arianna Giguere scored on a penalty kick against the Panthers. Leigh Fernandez and Ella Millard had the goals against the Hawks. The Flyers were at Freeport Tuesday and host Sacopee Valley Monday.

In Western A, Deering takes a 7-2 record and the No. 8 spot in Western A into Wednesday’s showdown at defending champion Scarborough. Last week, the Rams blanked visiting Westbrook, 4-0, and lost at Marshwood, 1-0. Edie Pallozzi, Megan Violette, Ewka Varney and Alexis Elowitch scored in the victory. Deering plays host to Thornton Academy Friday and goes to McAuley Wednesday of next week.

Cheverus is 11th in the region with a 1-7-1 record following a 7-1 loss at Thornton Academy and a 4-1 home loss to Massabesic last week. Katie Gordon scored against the Golden Trojans. Abby Goodrich had the goal against the Hawks. The Stags host South Portland Wednesday, go to Bonny Eagle Saturday and welcome Noble Wednesday of next week.

Portland began the week clinging to the 12th and final playoff spot in Western A with a 3-4-1 mark following losses to visiting Marshwood (4-0) and at South Portland (2-1). Emma Stehli scored against the Red Riots. The Bulldogs go to Gorham Wednesday, host McAuley Saturday and welcome Marshwood Monday.

McAuley is just out of the playoff picture, sitting 13th at 4-5 after wins at Noble (4-3) and at home against Bonny Eagle (1-0). In the win over the Knights, Ayla Tartre and Ally Tillotson both scored twice. Becca McNamara scored against the Scots. The Lions were at Marshwood Monday, visit Thornton Academy Wednesday, play at Portland Saturday and welcome Deering Wednesday of next week.

Field hockey

Cheverus’ field hockey team began the week 9-2 and fourth in Western A after beating visiting Noble (6-0) and host Portland (3-1) last week. Against the Knights, Elyse Caiazzo had a hat trick, while Meredith Willard, Mary Kate Slattery and Emily Michaud also rattled the cage. Caiazzo had another hat trick versus the Bulldogs. The Stags hosted Sanford Tuesday, then have a showdown at defending regional champion Scarborough Thursday (see theforecaster.net for game story). Cheverus closes the regular season at home against South Portland Wednesday of next week.

Deering was 3-7-1 and 13th (only 12 teams make the playoffs) after a 5-0 home loss to Massabesic and a 2-1 win at Noble last week. Kaytlin DiBiase and Amanda LeMoult scored in the victory. The Rams were home with Portland Monday, go to Sanford Thursday and close at home with Scarborough Wednesday of next week.

Portland took a 3-8 mark and the No. 14 spot into Monday’s game at Deering after winning at McAuley (9-0) and losing at home to Cheverus (3-1) last week. Lauren McIntyre and Gabby Wagabaza both scored twice against the Lions, while Wagabaza had the lone goal against the Stags, her former team. The Bulldogs host Gorham Thursday and close at home with Marshwood Tuesday of next week.

McAuley fell to 0-11 and 17th after losses to visiting Portland (9-0) and host Sanford (15-0). The Lions were home against Scarborough Tuesday, go to South Portland Thursday and close at Thornton Academy Wednesday of next week.

In Western C, Waynflete fell to 0-8-1 and 13th after losses last week at Yarmouth (4-0) and Traip (3-0). The Flyers fell behind by four at the Clippers in just over 10 minutes, but played strong the rest of the way.

“We’ve always been a second half team,” said Waynflete coach Kelly Hoffman. “(Yarmouth) left in their starters in the second half and we shut them out. That feels good.”

The Flyers were home with Sacopee Valley Monday, go to powerhouse NYA Wednesday, welcome Wells Friday and close at home with Poland Tuesday of next week.

Cross country

Cheverus joined many other area runners in Belfast for the Festival of Champions Saturday.

In the boys’ race, won by Lewiston, Cheverus came in 27th. Parker Montano was 52nd (17:14.41). The girls’ race was won by Mt. Desert Island. Cheverus placed 28th. Kaitlyn Dostie was 27th (20:18.97).

Deering’s boys took a trip to the Thetford Woods Trail Run in Vermont, where the Rams were 26th out of 51 teams from all over the Northeast. Yahye Hussein was 17th (17:33).

Waynflete joined Kennebunk, Lake Region, Sacopee Valley, St. Dom’s and York at Poland. The Flyers girls were third behind York and St. Dom’s. Phoebe Colvin Oehm was third individually (22:49). Waynflete’s boys came in fourth (Julian Ireland came in 13th, 20:17).

This weekend, Cheverus joins Massabesic and Thornton Academy at Gorham, Deering (along with Biddeford and Sanford) runs at Windham, McAuley joins Noble and South Portland at Scarborough, Portland (with Marshwood and Windham) runs at Bonny Eagle and Waynflete joins Falmouth and Gray-New Gloucester at Greely.

Golf

The golf regular season came to a close last week. Portland wound up 7-3 after wins over Scarborough (7.5-5.5) and Cheverus (9.5-3.5). Deering had a surprisingly strong 4-6 regular season after downing Cheverus (8-0) and South Portland (9-4) in its final matches. The Stags finished 0-10.

The SMAA qualifier was Monday. The golf team state match is Saturday with the individual championships Oct. 19. Those matches will be contested at Natanis in Vassalboro.

Volleyball

Cheverus’ volleyball team was hanging on to the 10th and final playoff spot in Class A at press time with a 5-4 record. Last week, the Stags defeated visiting Thornton Academy, 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 27-25) and lost, 3-0 (13-25, 13-25, 16-25), at Cape Elizabeth. Against the Golden Trojans, Caroline Petitti had a match-high four aces, Emma Ryan, Abby Biegel and Steph McKew each had four kills and Maria Nappi finished with eight digs. Cheverus was home versus Biddeford Tuesday, then returns to action next Wednesday at home against Cony.

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

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Portland senior Justin Zukowski tackles the helmet off Oxford Hills punter Patrick Macro after chasing him down when a bouncing snap rolled past Macro. The Bulldogs dominated the Vikings from start to finish Saturday, 68-0.

Waynflete junior Harry Baker-Connick tries to get around NYA defender Chase Gendron during the Flyers’ 1-0 loss to their rival last week.