Quarterback Jaelen Jackson has helped South Portland win three straight games heading into its traditional rivalry game with Portland on Friday night. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer
With high school football teams in Class B and C wrapping up the regular season this weekend, it means rivalry games for several schools. The rivalry game with the most at stake could be the Battle of the Bridge between Portland (4-3) and South Portland (5-2) at South Portland’s Martin Memorial Field on Friday night.
The Bulldogs and Red Riots are in a three-way battle with Massabesic (5-2) for the top seed in the upcoming Class B South playoffs. Depending on the outcome of the game between Kennebunk (4-3) and Marshwood (2-5), the loser of the Portland-South Portland game could drop to fourth place, said Aaron Filieo, South Portland’s coach. Portland and South Portland are tied for second place in the latest Crabtree standings, behind No. 1 Massabesic.
Portland Coach Jason McLeod said he hasn’t looked at the playoff implications of the game yet. He just knows his team is fired up to take on a big rival.
“It’s the Battle of the Bridge. We don’t need a lot of motivation to play this game,” McLeod said.
Since a 41-13 loss to Class C Cape Elizabeth on Sept. 23, South Portland has played its best football of the season. The Red Riots shut out Noble (21-0) and Biddeford (28-0) before beating Class A Scarborough (27-7) on Saturday.
“Cape was a wake-up call for us. We thought we were ready to play, and we weren’t,” Filieo said.
In Portland, the Red Riots face an opponent equally as hot. Since three straight September losses to Class C power Leavitt and Class A opponents Bonny Eagle and Oxford Hills, Portland has won three straight by an average score of 40-11.
“They’re good at all positions. They run the ball well. They have a strong offensive line,” Filieo said of Portland. “They had a fantastic season last year and have some confidence.”
Slowing down the Red Riots starts with containing quarterback Jaelen Jackson. Jackson ran for 254 yards and three touchdowns and threw for another score in last week’s win at Scarborough.
“(Jackson) does it with his feet and his arm, and he’s done it all year long,” McLeod said. “They do a lot of things that force you to prepare on both sides of the ball. … I think both teams are finding their identity. South Portland, they’ve gotten better progressively every week.”
Another rivalry game in southern Maine on Friday night is Thornton Academy (5-2) at Bonny Eagle (4-3). Between them, Trojans and Scots have won eight of the last nine Class A state championships.
In Class C South, Wells (5-2) plays at York (5-2) in a game between York Country rivals. Wells is coming off a 28-21 triple-overtime win over Class B Kennebunk.
THE EIGHT-MAN Small School playoffs begin Friday night, including a matchup between two teams who are quite familiar with each other – Old Orchard Beach and Telstar. This is the second week in a row that Telstar (3-4) will make the long drive from Bethel to Old Orchard Beach (5-2). Old Orchard, the No. 4 seed in the South division, closed out the regular season last week with a 48-6 win over the fifth-seeded Rebels.
“We’re trying to approach it like we didn’t just play them last week,” said OOB Coach Dean Plante. “We should have a pretty good blueprint and confidence.”
The winner will play at the South’s top seed, Mountain Valley (7-0), next week. The Falcons received a bye to the regional semifinals when No. 8 Traip Academy (0-7) elected not to take part in the playoffs. In the other two South quarterfinals, No. 6 Boothbay (2-5) plays at No. 3 Dirigo (5-2), and No. 7 Sacopee Valley (1-6) is at No. 2 Maranacook (5-2).
For Old Orchard Beach, success this season is the result of the growing pains of last season, in which the Seagulls had 22 freshmen and sophomores on the roster. With no season in 2020 because of pandemic restrictions, that meant Plante had two classes who had never played varsity football.
“It was like having two freshmen classes,” Plante said.
This season, Plante has seen improvement on both sides of the ball, and it was all on display in last week’s win over the Rebels. Last season, the Seagulls were more likely to try to run over an opponent rather than attack through the air. Now that sophomore quarterback Brady Plante has some experience, Old Orchard’s offense is more diverse. Last week, Brady Plante threw a total of four touchdown passes to three receivers – Riley Provencher, Wesley Gallant and Brady Croteau – and ran for another score.
The Seagulls can still run the ball. In a 46-6 win over Sacopee Valley, Elijah Vasquez ran for three touchdowns.
Plante thinks defensive improvement has been a key to his team’s success. Only undefeated Mountain Valley has allowed fewer points than Old Orchard in the South division. The Seagulls give up just under 18 points per game.
“We’re a year older and defending much better. This year, we’re able to defend the trenches better,” Plante said.
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