With cross country set to crown its state champions Saturday (see story), soccer and volleyball’s postseasons are also underway, with football about to follow suit.

Here’s an overview of the results to date and a look at the matchups to come:

Boys’ soccer

Two local boys’ soccer teams remained alive at press time.

In Class A South, South Portland, the No. 5 seed, began the playoffs last Saturday with a 1-0 home win over No. 12 Sanford in the preliminary round, as Anthony Perron had the goal. Tuesday, the Red Riots went to No. 4 Portland and lost, 2-1, to finish 10-5-1. South Portland fell behind by two, then got a late goal from Perron, but it couldn’t produce the equalizer.

“We put a lot of pressure on them at the end,” Red Riots’ coach Bryan Hoy said. “First half, we defended a lot, then second half, we took it to them. We had plenty of chances. We didn’t get a ton of shots, but we were right there.

“The eight teams in the quarterfinals, any one could win it. You don’t see that in other (regions). Our tournament is just straight up tough.”

The Red Riots graduate 13 players, but anticipate being a top contender again in 2010.

“We lose some really key pieces,” Hoy said. “Our senior group was very good, but we have a lot coming back.”

Scarborough, ranked third in Class A South after a 9-2-3 regular season hosted No. 6 Marshwood (9-2-3) in the quarterfinal round Wednesday night. The teams played to a 3-3 draw Oct. 11 in Scarborough. The Red Storm won the only prior playoff encounter, 1-0, in the 2014 Western A quarterfinals.

If Scarborough moved on to the semifinals, it will either go to No. 2 Falmouth (11-2-1) or host No. 7 Kennebunk (10-3-2) Friday or Saturday. The Red Storm beat the host Rams, 4-3, Oct. 7 and lost, 3-2, at the Yachtsmen Oct. 15. Scarborough beat Falmouth in the teams’ lone prior playoff meeting, 3-0, in the 2015 Class A South semifinals and split two prior playoff encounters with Kennebunk (a 3-0 Red Storm victory in the 2017 Class A South preliminary round was the most recent).

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth earned the No. 5 seed after a 7-6-1 campaign and went to No. 4 Freeport (8-3-3) for a quarterfinal Wednesday. The teams split during the regular season, with the Falcons winning, 2-1, Sept. 24 in Cape Elizabeth and the Capers taking a 4-0 decision in Freeport Oct. 19. The teams split two prior playoff meetings with the Falcons prevailing, 3-2, in last year’s regional final.

If Cape Elizabeth moved on to this weekend’s semifinals, it would go to top-ranked Yarmouth (11-0-3) or host No. 8 Gray-New Gloucester (8-5-2). The Clippers swept the Capers this fall, winning 1-0 Sept. 10 in Cape Elizabeth and 3-0 at home Oct. 5. Yarmouth has won two of three previous playoff encounters, but last fall, Cape Elizabeth ended Yarmouth’s four-year title reign with a 2-1 upset in the Class B South semifinals. The Capers beat visiting Gray-New Gloucester, 6-0, Oct. 22. The teams have no playoff history.

The regional finals are next Tuesday and Wednesday in Biddeford and Lewiston.

State Championship Saturday is Nov. 9.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough remain in line for a return to the state finals.

The defending state champion Capers earned the top seed in Class B South after a 13-1 regular season and had no trouble with No. 9 Greely in Tuesday’s quarterfinals, winning, 6-0, their 12th victory in a row. Karli Chapin and Maggie Cochran both scored two goals and Liv Cochran and Sammi Olsen also found the net.

Cape Elizabeth advanced to host No. 4 Freeport (11-3-1) in the semifinals Saturday. The Capers won the previous two meetings this year, 1-0 at home Sept. 24 and 3-0 Oct. 19 in Freeport. Cape Elizabeth took the only prior playoff meeting, 3-1, in the 2013 Western B semifinals.

In Class A South, two-time defending regional champion Scarborough dropped its final two regular season games, but still wound up third at 12-2. Tuesday, the Red Storm blanked visiting Falmouth, 1-0, in the quarterfinals on Sarah Callahan’s goal.

“Falmouth is a really good team,” said Scarborough coach Mike Farley. “It’s a credit to my kids to grind it out on the corners and free kicks we gave up. We stepped up and won a lot of the balls and if we didn’t win the initial ball, we won the knockdowns, which is really important against them. It was a battle though.”

The Red Storm will host No. 7 Noble (11-4-1) in the semifinals Saturday. Scarborough beat the visiting Knights, 3-0, Oct. 4. The Red Storm also beat Noble in last year’s semifinals, 3-1, in the teams’ lone prior playoff encounter.

The regional finals are next Tuesday and Wednesday in Biddeford and Lewiston.

State Championship Saturday is Nov. 9.

South Portland, the No. 12 seed in Class A South, finished 3-12 after a 5-0 preliminary round loss at No. 5 Windham last Saturday.

Volleyball

The volleyball playoffs have seen plenty of drama already.

South Portland, the No. 5 seed in Class A, went to Windham last Saturday for the state quarterfinals and gave the Eagles everything they could handle before losing in five-sets (23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 14-16). The Red Riots had three match points in the fifth set, but couldn’t close it out and finished the year 11-4.

Scarborough, meanwhile, ranked second in Class A, rolled over No. 7 Biddeford in straight-sets in its quarterfinal, winning, 25-13, 25-19, 25-9. Mayne Gwyer finished with 20 assists and 13 service points, Maddie Strouse had 10 kills and seven service points and Shaelyn Thornton contributed 12 service points and seven kills.

“We knew we were favored, but we knew we couldn’t let up,” Gwyer said. “We knew we were facing a good team. We know we have great hitters and a good defense. We didn’t want to give them room to come back, so it was really good to beat them in three.”

“Our goal today was serving tough and coming out strong and not letting up,” Red Storm coach Kim Stoddard said. “We did that in game one. We figured out how to do that in game two, then game three was ours to take. Any team, if you let up, they can come back. Biddeford is strong, but we shut the door.”

Scarborough advanced to host No. 3 Gorham (12-3) in Wednesday’s state semifinal round (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for match story). The teams went five-sets Sept. 17 in Gorham before the Red Storm prevailed. The teams have split four prior playoff encounters, with the Rams’ 3-1 victory in last year’s semifinals the most recent.

In Class B, Cape Elizabeth, ranked third, blanked No. 6 Mt. Desert Island (25-18, 25-12, 25-8) in the quarterfinals. The Capers (11-4) went to No. 2 Washington Academy (12-3) for Wednesday’s state semifinal round. The teams didn’t play this year and had no playoff history.

The Class A and B state championship matches are Friday at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham.

Football

The final weekend of the high school football season saw Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough and South Portland all prevail.

South Portland had the most dramatic triumph, improving to 6-2 with a 27-21 home win over Sanford. The Red Riots went up, 7-0, on quarterback Anthony Poole’s 7-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, but the Spartans rallied to tie it. Midway through the second period, Poole capped a nearly seven-minute march with a 14-yard run to put the Red Riots back on top and they clung to a 14-13 lead at halftime. Poole, who rushed for 141 yards on 21 carries in the first half, was just getting warmed up and after a seven-plus minute drive, Poole scored for the third time, on a 1-yard sneak, to stretch the lead to eight. South Portland took that advantage to the final quarter, but there, Sanford got a touchdown and two-point conversion rush to make it 21-21. The Red Riots then milked over nine minutes off the clock, twice converting on fourth down and three times moving the chains on third down and with 34 seconds to go, Poole scored on a 3-yard rush. The extra point was missed and the Spartans had one final chance, but after an apparent long go-ahead touchdown pass was called back for offensive pass interference, Poole, fittingly, ended the drama with an interception and the Red Riots prevailed, 27-21.

Poole had an all-time, heroic effort, rushing for 234 yards and four TDs on 44 carries, as South Portland posted its best mark in eight years.

“I’m a little tired, but there aren’t many Friday nights left, so anytime Coach (Aaron Filieo) calls my number, I’ll give everything I have,” Poole said. “My guys up front, they played a great game.”

“Anthony’s an absolute animal,” said lineman Nate Ellington. “He’s so good. The other team doesn’t want to tackle him. He wears them down.”

“We felt like this would be a big test for us in terms of whether or not we had what it takes to make a playoff run,”added Filieo. “We knew it would be a tough game.  It’s a great way to go into the playoffs for sure.”

South Portland, ranked fifth, is at No. 4 Biddeford (5-3) in the Class B South quarterfinals Friday. The teams didn’t meet this year. They’ve squared off 11 previous times in the playoffs, with the Tigers holding a 6-5 edge by virtue of a 34-20 victory in the 2014 Western A quarterfinals.

In Class A, Scarborough improved to 7-1 with its sixth consecutive victory, 49-7, at Oxford Hills last Friday. Jarett Flaker set the tone with a 79-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. After Chase Cleary hit Ryan Kelly for an 18-yard TD, the Vikings got on the board, but a 3-yard Thomas Galeckas scoring run made it 21-7 Red Storm after one quarter. In the second period, Cleary hit Flaker for a 31-yard score and the tandem hooked up again from 7-yards out for a 35-7 halftime advantage. Cleary then connected with Flaker with bombs from 61- and 59-yards out to account for the final score.

The Red Storm (third in the Class A Crabtree Points standings) finish their regular season Friday at home versus top-ranked, undefeated, defending champion Thornton Academy (8-0).

In Class C South, Cape Elizabeth finished fourth at 5-3 after closing with a 42-6 win at Poland. Colin Campbell’s 21-yard TD run and a 12-yard touchdown scoring pass from Gannon Stewart to Ryan McKean made it 14-0 after one quarter. Stewart then threw a pair of TD passes in the second quarter, a 65-yard strike to Nick Laughlin and a 25-yard touchdown to Matt Laughlin (8 receptions, 164 yards, three touchdowns). Matt Laughlin added a 37-yard scoring run for a 35-6 halftime advantage. Matt Laughlin’s 19-yard TD pass from Stewart (13-of-20, 263 yards, five touchdowns) in the third period accounted for the final score.  The Capers host No. 5 Freeport (6-1) in the quarterfinals Friday. Cape Elizabeth edged the visiting Falcons, 21-20, Oct. 4. The teams have no playoff history.

Press Herald staff writer Mike Lowe contributed to this story.

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

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