SANFORD – Every preseason, coaches say the right things.

They talk about talent. They talk about commitment. They talk about winning.

But talk is cheap, and when it comes down to an eight-game schedule, nothing speaks louder than a victory – especially at the expense of another good team. For the past two Fridays, Sanford has let the scoreboard at Cobb Stadium say all that was necessary, and as those little lights winked out as the Redskins (2-0) took on Scarborough (1-1) on Sept. 9 reading 23-12 in favor of the home team, it was enough said.

In the preceding 48 minutes, the Redskins took advantage of four costly Scarborough turnovers, as well as a series of difficult penalties, and in the process rebounded from a 12-10 deficit early in the fourth. The Storm keyed in on shutting down Sanford back Alex Shain – who last week rushed for 264 yards – but couldn’t lock down fellow back Jon Schroder, who had three touchdowns, including runs of 54 and 31 yards. The latter of those plays sealed up the game with 1:04 to go, as Schroder cut left of center, made two men miss, and was gone to make it 23-12.

“We’ve been talking about that since last season – that one-two threat, me and (Shain),” Schroder said. “We think we have two of the best backs in our backfield in the state, and we pride ourselves on our running game, and we go out there and work every day to make sure of that.”

For two quarters, however, neither Shain nor Schroder got to show off much. The Redskins battled in a tough field position game with the Storm, with four Scarborough drives ending in turnovers. Arguably the most serious of these came on the second play of the second, as Scarborough quarterback Dillon Russo was picked off by Sanford defensive back Jimmie Chaisson on the Sanford 23.

Later, the Storm fumbled on the Sanford 39 yard line with 47 seconds left, and the Redskins took advantage, moving 29 yards in seven plays, capped off by a 32-yard Chaisson field goal as time expired to make it 3-0 at the half.

“Now, of course, we would have loved to have scored a touchdown,” said Sanford Head Coach Mike Fallon. “But we had one timeout left, and I was right in the referee’s hip all the way down the sideline telling him ‘I’m going to bang one, and I want you to call it as soon as I bang it,’ and we got it to two seconds. And the kids did exactly what we wanted to do – they got the ball into the middle of the field. It’s nice to have a weapon like Jimmie Chaisson, who is a good kicker. That was big.”

The Redskins emerged from the half with possession, and added to their lead with a convincing 11-play, 86-yard drive that ended with a Schroder eight-yard touchdown sweep to make it 10-0.

But Scarborough answered right back, moving 77 yards in seven plays in a drive that was highlighted by a 35-yard run by Scarborough’s Scott Thibeault that got the Storm to the Sanford 25. Russo then hit receiver Conor McCann for a touchdown pass on the next play to make it 10-6. After stopping Sanford cold, Scarborough took a 12-10 lead early in the fourth on a seven-play, 63-yard drive, which finished with a left sweep by Merrick Madden to take it in from the seven. That lead didn’t last, though. Three plays later, Schroder took a handoff from his own 46, cut left, juked by the secondary, and was gone for 46 yards to make it 16-12.

“I was very mad, because I was competing my (rear end) off out there,” Schroder said. “But my line did a great job making holes for us all night. I saw green, and I broke a tackle, and I was just off to the races after that. Once you get past the first line, you just have to make that safety miss, and it’s a footrace after that.”

A Scarborough reply was stillborn. The Storm advanced the ball out to their own 48 before Russo hit McCann in stride for what would have been a 42-yard catch-and-run, but a late hit penalty erased the play and doomed the drive. Sanford sealed it on their next possession, grinding five minutes off the clock before Schroder broke away again for a 31-yard touchdown. He finished the game with 140 yards overall.

“We shot ourselves in the foot, and it came back to haunt us,” said Scarborough Head Coach Lance Johnson. “Sanford played a great game. They were very physical, and you know they’ve got some great athletes, and they really came to play. So my hat’s off to them – the Sanford coaching staff really did a great job getting their kids ready. We made too many mistakes to beat a good team like Sanford.”

The Redskins have another tough test coming up next Friday night as they travel to South Portland for Sanford’s first road game of the season.

Going into last Friday night, it appeared that the Red Riots were reeling as Bonny Eagle pounded them in an exhibition game and then traveled to Cheverus for the season opener, where they were soundly beaten by the Stags.

On Friday night, the Riots hosted powerful Thornton Academy, which came into South Portland on the heels of a season-opening win over Bonny Eagle last Saturday.

Instead of the Trojans controlling the game, the contest was a back-and-forth one all night, with the game in doubt until one team pulled off a big play.

Much to the Trojans’ chagrin, it was the Red Riots who pulled it off. South Portland (1-1) got a 67-yard touchdown pass with less than two minutes to go to pull off the 20-16 upset win.

With just 1:32 showing on the game clock and trailing by a score of 16-14, South Portland got the ball and the momentum when the Riots stopped the Trojans on a fourth-and-six play, taking over on their own 33.

Riot coach Steve Stinson gathered his team on the sideline and called the first play of the drive.

It turned out to be the only one he needed.

Riot quarterback Michael Salvatore hit receiver Dan Medici with a little slant pass across the middle, and Medici did the rest, picking up blocks and evading tacklers while bringing the Riot faithful to their feet with a 67-yard score to seal the win.

Additional material by Sports Editor Mike Higgins