Freeport’s Maximillian Peters runs for a touchdown during the Falcons’ 63-12 win at Madison last Friday. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
Freeport is off to a 2-0 start in Class D, outscoring opponents Lisbon and Madison by a combined 98-34 score. The Falcons know the schedule is about to get much tougher, beginning with Saturday night’s home game against 2-0 Wells.
“I’m actually looking forward to it,” said Freeport Coach Paul St. Pierre. “This is the right opponent at the right time. This is what we need. Wells will test us in ways we haven’t been tested. These are the type of games that will prepare us for November.”
It’s not just this week’s game against Wells. Freeport’s final six opponents – Wells, Medomak Valley, Fryeburg Academy, Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale, Foxcroft Academy and John Bapst – enter Week 3 a combined 10-1. Each is a contender to make a deep playoff run, including Wells, Medomak Valley and Fryeburg in Class C.
Freeport has to be considered a contender in Class D, with several key players back from the team that went 6-3 last season and reached the semifinals. The Falcons have a deep group of skill players and showed them off in last week’s 63-12 win at Madison, with five players scoring at least one touchdown. Running backs Nick White and Jordan Knighton, along with quarterback Aidan Heath, gained experience last season.
“This team’s been playing together for a long time,” St. Pierre said.
UPPING THE TEMPO at practice was one key to the improvement Scarborough saw from its 35-0 season-opening loss to Thornton Academy to its 33-21 win at Bonny Eagle last week. Another was settling on a quarterback, Coach Packy Malia said.
Against Thornton, the Red Storm played both DJ Alston and Keegan Weed at quarterback. Against Bonny Eagle, Scarborough used Alston, with Weed moving to wide receiver.
“It lets us get our best athletes on the field at the same time,” Malia said. “It’s something we’ll continue to evaluate.”
This week, the Red Storm go from facing one of the traditional Class A powers to the best team in Class B over the last decade, Marshwood. The Hawks have won the last four Class B state championships and six of the last seven. Marshwood rebounded from a Week 1 loss at South Portland with a win over Noble last week.
“When we got asked what non-league teams we’d like to play, one of the teams on my list was Marshwood,” Malia said. “They’re extremely well-coached and masters of their wing-T (offense).”
Another improvement Malia said he needs to see is consistent play. Too often, the Red Storm make mistakes at key times.
“We’re showing them on film, what we’re doing is working. We just shoot ourselves in the foot too much,” Malia said.
SATURDAY’S 40-0 VICTORY over Winslow was the kind of win that will help the Medomak Valley football program continue its growth, said Coach Ryan Snell.
“It’s getting recognized not only in our program, but statewide as well,” Snell said.
The Panthers had already made big strides, winning seven games last season, earning the top seed in the Class C North playoffs and reaching the regional semifinals for the first time.
Beating perennial contender Winslow, however, had been well out of reach. Entering Saturday’s game, Medomak Valley and Winslow had played three times, with the Black Raiders winning all three by lopsided scores. Winslow took the first meeting in 2018, 35-0. In 2019, Winslow won 76-6 in the regular season and 42-6 in the playoffs.
Snell said in the first half of that playoff game, his team began to see it can play with the powerhouse programs. The Panthers trailed just 6-0 at the half.
Next up for 2-0 Medomak Valley is a homecoming game under rented lights against Nokomis, a team it defeated in two close games last season. Hours after the win over Winslow, Snell and his coaching staff were prepping for the Warriors.
“We were running film of Nokomis Saturday night,” Snell said. “We played them twice last season and both were one-score games.”
Medomak Valley has 48 players in the program, about the same number as last season. Participation is strong in the youth football league, too, Snell said.
“We were worried the newness would wear off, but that hasn’t been the case,” Snell said.
AROUND THE STATE: Winslow will honor former head coach Mike Siviski at halftime of Saturday’s game against Belfast. Siviski coached the Black Raiders for 35 seasons, retiring in 2020. He won 287 games, seven state championships and 11 regional titles at Winslow. … A big game in eight-man Small School South is on the schedule Friday night, with 2-0 Mountain Valley at 2-0 Maranacook. The game is the third straight at home for Maranacook to open the season, but the Black Bears will be home at Ricky Gibson Field of Dreams just once over the final four games of the regular season. … Of the five teams with 100 or more points scored through two games, only Class C Oceanside (114 points) plays 11-man football. The other four – Dexter (124), Mountain Valley (118), Mattanawcook Academy (114) and Waterville (102) – play eight-man.
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