The opening night of the 2012 high school football season brought a win for the road team and losses to both who played at home.

Scarborough, which has made the Western Class A playoffs two years running, went to Kennebunk Friday night to face a Rams squad the Red Storm didn’t play a year ago.

Scarborough got off to a promising start when senior Dillon Russo scored on a 1-yard run in the first period for a 7-0 lead. Russo struck again before halftime, on a 12-yard scamper and senior Merrick Madden added a two-point conversion to make it 15-0 Red Storm at the break. Scarborough’s defense was stellar throughout, never surrendering a point, and the Red Storm put it away in the fourth period when junior Charlie Raybine scored on a 9-yard run to give Scarborough a 22-0 win.

Russo finished with 118 yards and two scores on 12 rushes. He also completed 5-of-10 passes for 109 yards (two went to Madden for 59 yards). In addition to his touchdown run, Raybine excelled defensively, making 11 tackles. Junior Brendon Smith added nine tackles and senior Nik Pelletier had seven tackles and a sack.

“I was very pleased to open the season with a victory on the road,” said Red Storm coach Lance Johnson. “We controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Our defense played well when Kennebunk threatened us in the red zone. Russo throwing and running was very impressive and (junior) Kenny Adams gave us a big spark off the bench.”

Scarborough looks to go 2-0 Friday when it welcomes dangerous Bonny Eagle (0-1). Last fall, the Red Storm lost at home to the Scots, 34-20.

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South Portland hosted Windham and while the new-look Red Riots hung tough for awhile, they ultimately had no answer for the explosive Eagles. Trailing 8-0 in the second quarter, junior Duncan Preston scored South Portland’s first touchdown on a 70-yard run. The extra point failed and by halftime, the Red Riots were down, 26-6. Windham pushed its lead to 47-6 before a late 1-yard TD run from junior Joey DiBiase accounted for the 47-13 final score.

Preston finished with 94 rushing yards and a TD and completed seven passes for 76 yards.

South Portland hopes to balance its record Friday when it goes to 0-1 Biddeford. The Red Riots haven’t played the Tigers since Oct. 4, 2008 (a 21-6 home victory).

Cape Elizabeth welcomed reigning Class B state champion Wells. Last year, in the opener, the Capers gave the host Warriors a scare before losing, 14-6. This time around, the story was similar as Cape Elizabeth tied the game before halftime on a 10-yard TD run from senior quarterback Connor Maguire. Wells went ahead to stay with two third period touchdowns and the Capers couldn’t muster any more points, falling, 21-7.

“I was pleased with our level of play,” said Cape Elizabeth coach Aaron Filieo. “We really put ourselves in compromising circumstances due to unnecessary penalties that accumulated over 60 yards.”

The Capers go to 0-1 York Friday night. Last year, Cape Elizabeth edged the visiting Wildcats, 28-17.

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“The foundation is poured and now it is time to begin the framing process,” Filieo said. “We definitely expect to come out next week against York and improve our efforts in the area of penalties. York is a very good team and we will have to play a cleaner game to be successful.”

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

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South Portland senior Liam Rottkov throws a Windham ballcarrier for a loss during the Red Riots’ 47-13 loss to the Eagles in Friday’s opener.

Cape Elizabeth senior quarterback Connor Maguire beat the Wells defense to the pylon for the Capers’ lone touchdown in Friday’s season-opening 21-7 loss.


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