Cape Elizabeth’s Sarah Knupp plays the ball during the Capers’ 7-0 loss at undefeated, defending state champion Yarmouth Saturday night.

South Portland’s Nicolas Borelli (front) and Liam Piper take part in a cross country meet last week at Kennebunk. Piper finished 17th and Borelli was 25th as the Red Riots placed fifth as a team. 

Considering it’s felt like summer the past several days, the fact that the fall sports season is halfway over might be hard to believe.

In truth, we are closer to the start of the playoffs than the beginning of the season, and there is a lot of excitement in store.

Last week produced its share of drama and here’s a look back, with a glimpse at what’s to come as well:

Football

Scarborough’s powerhouse football team shook off its loss to Thornton Academy and got back on track last Friday, rolling at Massabesic, 63-14, to improve to 3-1. The Red Storm fell behind, 7-0, early, but tied it up on the first of Owen Garrard’s five touchdown runs and went ahead to stay when quarterback Zoltan Panyi hit Cody Dudley with a TD pass. In the second period, Panyi found Connor Kelly for a score, then Garrard had three straight touchdown runs. After a Mustangs TD, Garrard’s fifth score made it 49-14 at halftime. Jarret Flaker then returned the second kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown and a TD run from Salvator DeBenedetto accounted for the final score.

Scarborough (third in the Class A South Heal Points standings behind defending state champion Bonny Eagle and Thornton Academy) returns home Friday night to host 2-2 South Portland.

South Portland saw its two-game win streak snapped last Friday at Bonny Eagle, 48-0. The Scots went up, 14-0, after one period, led, 34-0, at halftime, then tacked on a touchdown in both the third and fourth quarters.  

The Red Riots (fifth in Class A South) lost last year at home to Scarborough, 38-6.

Cape Elizabeth improved to 3-1 and fourth in Class C South with last Friday’s 35-15 home win over Maine Central Institute. The Capers host 0-4 Gray-New Gloucester Friday night. Last year, Cape Elizabeth handled the visiting Patriots, 57-0.

Boys’ soccer

South Portland’s boys’ soccer remained undefeated at press time, improving to 7-0-1 and fourth in Class A South at press time with recent wins at home over Kennebunk (5-0) and at Windham (7-2). Kyle Patterson had three goals and Charlie Cronin and Cooper Mehlhorn also found the net in the win over the Rams. Against the Eagles, Cronin and Patterson each had a hat trick and Mehlhorn also scored. The Red Riots had a huge test Thursday when they hosted Falmouth. South Portland goes to Cheverus Tuesday.

Scarborough improved to 6-2 and seventh in Class A South after an 11-0 home blanking of Noble and a 3-1 victory at Kennebunk. Brandon Wasser had four goals and Marco Manfra added a pair, with four assists, against the Knights. In the win over the Rams, Manfra, Anthony Clavette and and Alex Dobecki all socred. The Red Storm hosted Windham Thursday and play at Falmouth Tuesday of next week.

Cape Elizabeth dropped a 2-1 decision at three-time defending Class B champion Yarmouth last Friday, then improved to 4-2-1 with a 3-1 home victory over Gray-New Gloucester Tuesday. Against the Clippers, John O’Connor’s goal gave the Capers a halftime lead, but Yarmouth rallied in the second half.

“We’re trying to get a little better every day,” Cape Elizabeth coach Ben Raymond said. “We’re pleased with the way we competed tonight, but we’re not pleased with the result. The kids are more confident about who they can compete with and where they stand. It doesn’t get any easier.”

In the victory, O’Connor had two goals and Matt Concannon also scored. The Capers play at York Saturday and visit Freeport Tuesday.

Greater Portland Christian School was 3-3-1 and eighth in Class D South following a 3-1 win at Highview Christian, a 7-0 loss at home to Pine Tree Academy and a 2-2 home tie versus Rangeley. After hosting Vinalhaven Wednesday, the Lions are idle until next Thursday when Chop Point pays a visit.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, Scarborough led the Class A South Heals at press time at 8-0 after blanking visiting Deering (2-0), dominating host Biddeford (10-1) and shutting out visiting Sanford (5-0). Against the Rams, Leah Dickman and Gaby Panagakos had the goals. Panagakos scored four goals, Molly Murnane and Ashley Sabatino added two apiece and Lizzy Flanders and Lauren Sabatino had one each in the win over the Tigers. Against the Spartans, Dickman had hat trick and Murnane and Ashley Sabatino also tickled the twine. The Red Storm go to Maine Girls’ Academy Saturday and visit Noble Wednesday of next week.

South Portland was 2-2-3 and ninth in Class A South at press time after a scoreless tie at Portland and an 8-0 home victory over Massabesic. In the draw, the Red Riots couldn’t generate many chances, but held on to split Heal Points.

“We’re at the point now where a tie feels like a loss, but we didn’t deserve a tie, Portland outplayed us,” said Red Riots coach Jeff Selser. “I thought we controlled the overtimes, which is 10 minutes out of 90. Portland controlled most of the other 80.”

In the win, Evelyn Selser had three goals, Mackenzie Farnham and Hattie Tetzlaff both scored twice and Brooklynn Ortiz had a goal as well. South Portland hosted Biddeford Wednesday, goes to Falmouth Saturday (see theforecaster.net for game story) and visits Westbrook Wednesday of next week.

Cape Elizabeth fell to 5-3 and seventh in Class B South after losses at Yarmouth (7-0) and Gray-New Gloucester (1-0). The Capers dug a 5-0 halftime hole at the defending Class B champion Clippers in a playoff rematch and couldn’t respond.

“It was a tough one today,” Capers coach Craig Fannan said. “We have to take our hats off to Yarmouth tonight. We made some uncharacteristic errors. They didn’t let up.”

Cape Elizabeth hosts York Saturday and welcomes Greely Thursday of next week.

GPCS fell to 0-6 and 11th in Class D South after losses at Highview Christian (3-0) and at home to Pine Tree Academy (2-0) and Rangeley (4-0). After hosting Vinalhaven Wednesday, the Lions go to Buckfield Tuesday and visit North Yarmouth Academy Wednesday of next week.

Field hockey

Scarborough’s field hockey team continues to impress. The Red Storm improved to 8-0 and third in the Class A Heals after Monday’s 8-0 blanking of host Deering. Lucy Malia, Carrie Timpson and Lauren Topchik all scored twice and Julia Booth-Howe and Cat Taylor added one goal apiece. Scarborough was home with Noble Wednesday, goes to Bonny Eagle Friday and welcomes Windham Tuesday of next week.

South Portland fell to 3-5 and 13th in Class A South after a 4-1 home loss to Biddeford last Thursday. Sara Axelrod had the Red Riots’ goal. After going to Gorham Wednesday, the Red Riots host Falmouth Friday and visit Thornton Academy Tuesday.

Cape Elizabeth fell to 2-6 and ninth in Class B South following losses at Yarmouth (4-1) and Fryeburg Academy (4-0) and at home to Poland (5-0). The Capers were at Greely Thursday, visit Freeport Saturday and travel to Old Orchard Beach Wednesday of next week.

Volleyball

Cape Elizabeth’s volleyball team took a 9-0 record and the top spot in the Class B Heals into Thursday’s home showdown against visiting Scarborough (see theforecaster.net for match story). The Capers were coming off four-set victories over visiting Greely and host York. Cape Elizabeth welcomes Greely Tuesday. 

Scarborough made it seven straight victories and improved to 7-1 and third in Class A after sweeping visiting Marshwood (25-4, 25-12, 25-15) and earning a measure of revenge for last year’s state final loss with a four-set (25-15, 25-14, 25-27, 25-16) home win over Greely Tuesday. The Red Storm were at Cape Elizabeth Thursday and go to Gorham Tuesday of next week.

South Portland was 5-3 and seventh in Class A after a four-set (25-21, 25-11, 15-25, 25-23) home win over Bonny Eagle, a three-set (25-20, 25-14, 25-10) victory at Marshwood and a three-set (25-15, 25-23, 25-13) home victory over Massabesic. Molly Mawhinney registered 12 kills against the Scots. Mawhinney had seven kills and Shannon Murphy finished with 11 assists in the win over the Hawks. Against the Mustangs, Grace Rende served six aces. The Red Riots went to Portland Thursday and welcome Biddeford Tuesday.

Cross country

Scarborough’s cross country team took part in a seven-team meet at Thornton Academy last week. The Red Storm boys were third and the girls came in fourth. Bethany Sholl was second individually in the girls’ meet in 19 minutes, 12 seconds. The boys were led by Harrison Osborn (third, 16:51).

South Portland joined Falmouth, Portland and Windham at Kennebunk. The boys came in fifth and were paced by Cliff Robbins-Sennewal (15th, 18:32). The girls were also fifth and were led by Rachel Kingsley (23rd, 25:07).

Cape Elizabeth joined Lake Region and St. Dom’s at Sacopee Valley. The boys finished second to the Lakers. Ricky Peruzzi was second individually for scoring purposes in 19:43. The girls’ team finished second to the Saints. Zoe Evans placed third in 24:12.

The Festival of Champions will be held Saturday in Belfast. Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough and South Portland will take part.

Golf

The final matches of the golf regular season are upon us and the Southwestern Maine Activities Association and Western Maine Conference state qualifiers will be held next week.

Scarborough took a 7-2 record into Thursday’s finale against Deering. The Red Storm’s most recent wins were over Cheverus (11-2) and South Portland (11.5-1.5)

South Portland was 0-9 entering its finale Thursday against Cheverus. The Red Riots were coming off losses to Portland (9-4) and Scarborough (11.5-1.5).

Cape Elizabeth was undefeated going into its final matches against NYA and Freeport. Last Wednesday, the Capers beat York, 6-1.

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