The postseason is heating up in volleyball, field hockey and boys’ and girls’ soccer and is about to begin in football and local squads are smack in the middle of all the excitement.

The drama is heating up and there’s a lot to keep track of.

Here’s an overview:

Boys’ soccer

Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ soccer team went undefeated for the first time in three decades and is the top seed in Class B South. The Capers (13-0-1) began their quest for their first Gold Ball since 1997 Wednesday when they welcomed No. 8 Greely (8-6-1) in the quarterfinals. Cape Elizabeth won both regular season meetings, 4-0 at home Sept. 7 and 2-1 in Cumberland Oct. 8. The Capers were 8-7 all-time versus the Rangers in the postseason. The teams last met in the 2017 Class B South quarterfinals (a 2-1 Cape Elizabeth victory).

If the Capers advanced to Saturday’s semifinals, they will welcome either No. 4 Erskine Academy (7-3-4) or fifth-seeded Gardiner (9-5-1). Cape Elizabeth didn’t play either potential foe this fall.

The Class B South Final is next Tuesday in Lewiston. The state game is Saturday, Nov. 5 in Hampden.

In Class A South, South Portland, ranked fifth, passed its initial playoff test, holding off No. 12 Cheverus, 3-2, in the preliminary round Saturday. Curtis Metcalf, Joey Hanlon and Griffin Tatzlaff scored first half goals and the Red Riots held on for dear life to improve to 11-4 and advance.

“We realized it’s our senior year and we don’t want to go home,” Hanlon said. “We went all out and worked as a team and came out aggressive. It was a good game. (Cheverus) didn’t give up and kept battling.”

“We just tried to mark guys,” senior captain and back Drew Folley said. “We did a decent job for the most part. Nerves were going at the end, but we just had to go as hard as we could. It’s all mental because we knew it could have been the last game of our careers.”

“It does feel good,” added South Portland coach Bryan Hoy. “The last two (of three) times we’ve played them in the playoffs, they beat us in PKs. It’s good to not have to go to PKs and have a heart attack. (Cheverus) played really well. Credit them. They put a lot of pressure on us, especially early.”

The Red Riots moved on to visit No. 4 Gorham (11-2-1) in Thursday’s quarterfinals (rain pushed the game back 24 hours). South Portland beat the host Rams, 1-0, on Sept. 16. The teams have split four prior playoff meetings, with the Rams eliminating the Red Riots, 1-0, in last year’s semifinals.

“We have to play really hard,” Hoy said. “Gorham always plays really, really hard, especially over there. We have to play physically, play good defense and when we get chances, we’ve got to finish because we probably won’t generate many chances against them.”

If South Portland moves on to the semifinals Friday or Saturday, it will play at top-ranked Scarborough (13-1) or host No. 9 Falmouth (8-5-2).

Scarborough opened its quest for its first state title in nine years Wednesday at home against Falmouth in the quarterfinals. The Red Storm won the regular season encounter, 2-0, Sept. 26. The teams split two prior playoff meetings with Falmouth taking the most recent, 2-0, in the 2019 Class A South semifinals en route to the state title.

If Scarborough and South Portland meet in the semifinals, it was mark the fourth all-time postseason meeting. The Red Storm won the prior three, with a 1-0 victory in the 2016 Class A South quarterfinals the most recent.

The Class A South Final is Tuesday of next week in Sanford. The state final is Saturday, Nov. 5 at Deering High School in Portland.

In Class D South, Greater Portland Christian earned the No. 6 seed after a 6-6 regular season and went to No. 3 Chop Point (6-3-1) in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, Scarborough, the top seed in Class A South, improved to 15-0 after Tuesday’s 4-0 home win over No. 9 Portland in the quarterfinals. Delia Fravert had two goals and Emma Blanchette and Lana Djuranovic added one apiece. The Red Storm next host either No. 4 Marshwood (12-2) or No. 5 Cheverus (11-4) in the semifinals Friday or Saturday. Scarborough beat the host Hawks, 5-0, Oct. 1. The Red Storm are 2-1 all-time versus Marshwood in the playoffs, with a 4-1 win in the 2014 Western A semifinals the most recent. Scarborough didn’t face the Stags this season and is 6-0 all-time in the teams’ playoff series, with a 2-1 in the 2019 Class A South Final the most recent.

The Class A South Final is Tuesday of next week in Sanford. The state final is Saturday, Nov. 5 at Deering.

Cap Elizabeth, the three-time reigning Class B champion, is the top seed again in B South after a 14-0 regular season. Tuesday, the Capers began their chase for another Gold Ball with a 5-0 home win over No. 9 Wells in the quarterfinals. Caroline Concannon scored twice and Evelyn Agrodnia, Noelle Mallory and Juliet Moore also had goals.

Cape Elizabeth will next host fifth-ranked York (7-5-4) in the semifinals Saturday. The Capers beat the Wildcats twice this year, 7-0 and 5-1. Cape Elizabeth won two of three prior playoff meetings, including a 4-1 victory in last year’s semifinals.

The Class B South Final is Tuesday of next week in Lewiston. The state game is Saturday, Nov. 5 in Hampden.

Field hockey

Cape Elizabeth’s field hockey team, ranked second in Class B South, eliminated No. 7 Fryeburg Academy, 6-0, in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. Kait McIntyre scored four goals, while Sophia Chung and Grace Gray also rattled the cage.

The Capers (13-2) next host No. 3 Freeport (11-3-1) in Saturday’s semifinal round. Cape Elizabeth won both regular season meetings, 3-2 at home in double-overtime Sept. 12 and 3-2 in one overtime at Freeport Oct. 3. The Falcons won the lone prior playoff meeting, 3-0, in the 2016 Class B South preliminary round.

In Class A South, Scarborough, the No. 3 seed, was scheduled to host No. 6 Windham (9-5) Tuesday in the quarterfinals, but that game was postponed to Thurrsday. The Red Storm held off the visiting Eagles, 4-3, Oct. 11. Scarborough lost the lone prior playoff meeting, 1-0, in 11 rounds of penalty corners in the 2011 Western A quarterfinals.

If Scarborough (12-2) advances, it will host No. 7 Gorham (10-5-1) in the semifinals Saturday. The Red Storm eked out a 2-1 double-overtime victory at the Rams in the season opener Sept. 1. Scarborough is 3-2 all-time versus Gorham in the playoffs, with a 5-0 victory in the 2013 Western A quarterfinals the most recent.

Looking ahead, the Class A South and Class B South Finals are Wednesday of next week in Biddeford. The Class A and Class B state games are Saturday, Nov. 5, at Messalonskee High School in Oakland.

Volleyball

Scarborough’s volleyball team, the three-time reigning Class A state champion, was two victories shy of a repeat title at press time.

The Red Storm, ranked second, had no trouble with No. 10 Bonny Eagle in Saturday’s quarterfinals, winning in straight sets. Scarborough (13-2) hosted No. 3 Gorham (13-2) in the semifinals Wednesday. The Red Storm rallied from two sets down to beat the visiting Rams, 3-2, Sept. 16. Scarborough was 4-2 all-time versus Gorham in the playoffs with a four-set win in last year’s semifinals the most recent.

If the Red Storm advance to states again, they will play either No. 1 Biddeford (15-0) or No. 5 Sanford (12-4) Friday at 6 p.m., at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham. Scarborough lost to the Tigers, 3-1, at home Sept. 26. The Red Storm are 4-1 all-time against Biddeford in the playoffs, with last year’s epic five-set state match victory the most recent. Scarborough did not face Sanford this year and the teams have no postseason history.

Cape Elizabeth, the No. 3 seed in Class B, lost its first playoff outing, in straight-sets (21-25, 18-25, 15-25) to visiting Mt. Desert Island Saturday to finish the year 9-6.

Football

On the gridiron, South Portland, riding a three-game win-streak, hosted Portland in a highly-anticipated “Battle of the Bridge” regular season finale last Friday night with playoff positioning at stake.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Red Riots struck first, on a 1-yard touchdown run from dynamic senior quarterback Jaelen Jackson, but the Bulldogs answered with 20 straight points, including a touchdown after a successful onside kick and a touchdown pass on the final play of the first half. Jackson hit Nolan Hobbs for a 27-yard TD early in the third period to cut the deficit to a touchdown, but despite four more possessions, South Portland couldn’t score again and went down to a 20-13 defeat to finish the regular season 5-3.

The Red Riots only mustered 174 yards of offense, including just 19 on its final four drives. South Portland gave the ball away once and committed 10 penalties for 71 yards. Jackson ran 12 times for 59 yards with a touchdown. He wound up 8-of-21 passing for 125 yards with one score.

“We had chances,” Red Riots coach Aaron Filieo said. “Our expectation since day one has been to play hard for 48 minutes and fight hard no matter what. The guys continue to meet that expectation. We made some great plays when we needed to and missed some. That’s how the game goes. We continue to beat ourselves. We need to make more plays and score more points.”

South Portland hosts No. 6 Marshwood (2-6), the four-time reigning state champions, in Friday’s Class B South quarterfinals. The Red Riots beat the visiting Hawks (35-26) on Opening Night and are 2-1 all-time against Marshwood in the playoffs, despite a 49-6 setback in the most recent encounter, the 2019 Class B South semifinals.

“We’ve been playing for November,” Filieo said. “We’re fortunate to be able to host a playoff game and that hasn’t happened in awhile (since 2017). We’re excited. We’ll figure out ways to get better.”

Scarborough bounced back from a loss and improved to 5-3 with last Friday’s 56-30 home win over Edward Little. The Red Storm took a 21-8 lead after one quarter, as quarterback De’Angelo Alston hit Charlie Murray for a 59-yard score and Tom Hassett from 28-yards out and Tim Crockett added a 9-yard TD run. A 5-yard scoring run from Crockett, Alston found Keegan Weed for a 4-yard touchdown and the lead was 35-16 at the half. The Red Eddies crept back within 13 heading for the fourth quarter, but Crockett sandwiched TD runs of 6-yards and 1-yard around an Edward Little score, then Scarborough put it away with one final score.

The Red Storm, third in the Class A state Crabtree Points standings at press time, close the regular season at 8-0 Oxford Hills Friday.

Cape Elizabeth, the reigning Class C state champion, defeated visiting Cheverus, 23-6, last Friday to finish the regular season 6-2. The Capers took an early 8-0 lead on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Mike Foley to Nick Laughlin and a two-point conversion pass from Foley to Luke Mello. The score remained 8-0 into the third quarter, where Laughlin scored on a 9-yard run and after the Stags got on the board, Foley ran for a 16-yard score, then added the two-point conversion rush.

Foley finished 11-of-17 passing for 194 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He rushed 12 times for 113 yards and a TD. Laughlin caught nine passes for 156 yards and a score and ran seven times for 29 yards with a score.

“Cheverus came to play, as we expected,” said Cape Elizabeth coach Sean Green. “We were happy to gut out a win after putting ourselves in bad situations repeatedly. We had five trips to the red area in which we came out empty-handed and finished 3-of-8 in the red area. Although we only had two turnovers, we put the ball on the field multiple times in the red area getting us into second-and-long situations repeatedly. On two of the possessions, we drove inside the 5 only to shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties and poor execution. At the end of the day, we’re happy that we found a way to win.”

The Capers will be the No. 3 seed for the Class C South tournament and host No. 6 Fryeburg Academy (4-4) in the quarterfinals Friday. The teams didn’t meet in the regular season. Cape Elizabeth is 2-0 all-time versus the Raiders in the playoffs with a 33-6 victory in last year’s semifinals the most recent.

“We have a lot to work on as we look forward to Fryeburg,” Green said.

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

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