The setting was serene. A sunny Saturday afternoon, the temperature mild, the grass dry. The purple-clad fans on one side of the Boulos Stadium hill, those in red on the other. The glistening blue water of Back Cove as a backdrop. It was a near perfect day for football.

That serves as little solace to the South Portland High School football team. Under such picturesque conditions, the Red Riots stumbled on special teams early, coughed the ball up throughout and failed to get any rhythm going offensively, mustering only five first downs – two coming on Cheverus penalties – in a 21-0 road loss to Cheverus in Portland.

There was one complaint for Mother Nature on the afternoon, that being the stiff wind that made passing the football an adventure.

“It’s a tough day to throw the ball with the wind like this,” said Cheverus coach John Wolfgram. “A very tough day.”

As a result, both teams kept it on the ground. The Stags (3-0) ran 58 plays and 51 of them were running plays. They picked up 218 yards on the ground and another 71 in the air as quarterback Peter Gwilym completed three of his seven attempts.

South Portland (1-2) was less successful offensively. Ryan Curit picked up 112 yards on 29 carries, working hard for every inch. His best effort of the day, a 16-yard pickup, ended in a fumble that Cheverus recovered.

“The Curit kid is a very good runner,” Wolfgram said. “We thought we really got to the ball well against him.”

Riots quarterback Jon DiBiase, who missed last week’s game with a concussion, was three of nine passing for 12 yards. He threw three interceptions and only one of his completions went for positive yardage. He carried the ball on the only three plays that Curit did not, gaining three yards.

“We weren’t able to establish any sort of running game threat and that allowed Cheverus to control the game,” said South Portland coach Steve Stinson.

While it was a rough day for the Riots, it at least wasn’t a long one. The game wrapped up in under two hours as the running plays kept the clock moving.

South Portland had possession to start the game, but was pinned back at its own 6 after mishandling the opening kick. The Riots moved out to their 21 before punting. A short kick gave Cheverus the ball at the South Portland 35. On second down, Cheverus running back Matt Place fumbled and South Portland recovered.

The Riots returned the favor on the next play, however, as DiBiase’s pass was picked off by James Rutter.

The Stags covered 44 yards in seven plays, highlighted by a 22-yard run by Place and punctuated by a 4-yard pass from Gwilym to Liam Hobbins on a play-action rollout to the right for a touchdown. The kick failed and Cheverus led 6-0 with 4:57 to go in the first quarter.

South Portland’s next drive stalled at its own 35 and a shanked punt gave Cheverus the ball at the South Portland 40. The Cheverus drive was halted inside the 10, though, as Place was dropped for a 3-yard loss on fourth-and-three from the 4. The Riots went three-and-out and Cheverus again got the ball with a short field ahead, taking over at midfield.

Seven plays later, Matt Ball rumbled up the middle for an 8-yard TD. On the conversion attempt, Gwilym headed for the corner on a keeper. He was upended at the goal line, but not before getting the ball across, putting the Stags up 14-0 with 3:55 to go in the half.

“We made some special teams errors early in the first half that put us in a constant bind in field position,” Stinson said. “From how we handled the first kickoff, to a couple of punts that really gave us no yardage, we really put our defense in a bind.”

The Riots stopped the Stags twice more on fourth-and-short plays deep in South Portland territory before Cheverus added its third touchdown with 10:01 left in the game as Ball barreled in from about a foot out on fourth-and-goal. The kick by Cam Olson made it 21-0.

“They are a good defense,” said Wolfgram, who coached South Portland to four Class A state titles in the 1990s. “I thought we executed when we had to.”

Stinson said his defense came up big multiple times to keep the team in it, but “we were never able to physically get after the Cheverus defense enough to establish any rhythm offensively. It’s disappointing.”

Place picked up 96 yards for the Stags on 17 carries, but left early in the third quarter with an ankle injury and did not return. Ball added 54 yards on 14 carries. Spencer Cooke filled in for Place, running 15 times for 37 yards.

While Cheverus may not have the razzle-dazzle of some other teams in the SMAA, Stinson believes the Stags are going to be right in the thick of things late in the season.

“You didn’t see them once hurt themselves in the kicking game or jumping offsides, or with all those turnovers,” Stinson said. “They beat us in all those categories, turnovers, penalties and field position, which I believe are the three biggest things that win games.

“This year, there isn’t that physical team that has been Deering, that has been Bonny Eagle, that can just overwhelm everybody. They’re going to be as good as anybody all year. They aren’t going anywhere.”

South Portland is back home Friday night, hosting the two-time defending Class A state champs from Bonny Eagle. The Scots (3-0) are coming off a 41-21 win over Deering.

“We’ve got to get better,” Stinson said. “Whether we’re going to win or lose, we’ve got to keep getting better. It’s a long season. This conference is pretty screwy this year. Nobody quite knows how good anyone is, so we just need to get better and get ready for Bonny Eagle.”

South Portland’s Ryan Curit fights for yards during Saturday’s game against Cheverus.
Staff photo by Tom Minervino