QB Jack Hughes’s connection with wide receiver Connor Kelly midway through the second quarter of the Red Storm’s matchup with visiting South Portland on Friday night, Oct. 9, offered up everything a football fan could want: execution, spectacle and (of course) points.

The two boys’ hookup put Scarborough ahead for good. Hughes, Kelly & Co. continued to pile up scores on the attack while their teammates on defense thwarted the Red Riots at every turn. 40-7 in the end.

“It was good to come out and play well in all phases,” said Scarborough head coach Lance Johnson. “We scored on the punt return, had an excellent kicking game, the offense played well – we only punted once, and only had one turnover.”

The Storm have a versatile offense, one they put through its paces to capitalize on their opening drive. Hughes, Anthony Simoneau and Drew LeClair added runs while Hughes targeted multiple receivers, including Kelly, to chew through six minutes and reach third and goal on South Portland’s five. From there, Hughes dashed right, then left again and into the end zone. Emmett

Peoples added a pretty PAT for 7-0.

Johnson is happy with his team’s balance. “I feel good. Last week, we got Drew LeClair back from injury, so we’ve got Drew and Owen Garrard and Anthony Simoneau, we’ve got three backs, so we rotate those guys in and they all run hard. Jack’s a decent runner, and we run some draws with him, and he’s a great passer. And we’ve got good receivers.”

The Riots answered early in the second, when QB Nick Mezzanotte broke through the middle of the fray to run a keeper 66 yards and into Scarborough’s inner sanctum. Zack Johnson’s successful extra point tied things at seven all.

“We went back and forth early on,” said South Portland head coach Steve Stinson of the game’s early flow, “and we were competing at a high level, defensively, but to their credit, they made some plays to extend some long drives and get points.

“They did some good things offensively. They established some things on the run game, and obviously they had some concepts in the pass game that Jack Hughes did a great job of executing.”

Mezzanotte’s play turned out to be the Riots’ biggest and flashiest of the night – it comprised a huge chunk of their total yardage – because the Storm seized control from there. After a strong Simoneau return on the ensuing kickoff, Hughes, Leclair and Garrard combined to move the ball to first and 10 at the South Portland 29, which is when Hughes found Kelly to pry the action apart.

Hughes dropped back after the snap and quickly looked right – a moment of misdirection to bait the Riots defense – then immediately swiveled his head back center, clapped eyes on Kelly, dashing up the middle, and launched a laser-guided lob 29 yards into Kelly’s hands for 13-6. A follow-up two-point conversion attempt died on the table, but it wouldn’t matter in the end anyway.

“Besides that one play,” Johnson said of Mezzanote’s 66-yard explosion, “I think our defense did a great job all night long. Gave us good field position and forced them to continue to punt. It’s huge when the defense does that.”

Four minutes later, Hughes linked up with Kelly again, this time from the South Portland seven. That made it 19-7, but the Storm weren’t about to sit back. The Riots received to start the second half, but went three-and-out and punted. Kelly fielded that punt – and promptly returned it 65 yards up the left side for his third TD of the night and 26-7 (after a successful two-point conversion.)

Near the end of the third quarter, then, Hughes threw his third passing touchdown of the evening, a 17-yarder to Wyatt Tanner. Peoples split the uprights again for 33-7.

Lastly, in the fourth, Garrard crossed the goal line, swinging out right from the Riots’ 26 to skirt their defense and score largely unobstructed. Cue Peoples, who made it 40-7 and closed the night.

Scarborough vaults to 4-2 off the rivalry W. The No. 2 Storm recovered beautifully after suffering a 48-7 thrashing at first-ranked TA last weekend; should those two teams meet again in the postseason, it could well be a much tighter affair.

“It’s a big bounce-back for us after last week,” said Johnson of Scarborough vs. TA, in which the Storm turned the ball over five times. “We got on the kids in film, and in practice, and made them really step up the intensity.”

The Storm’s next bout is Saturday the 17th, on the road at Cheverus; they close their regular schedule hosting Deering on the 23rd.

South Portland – who’ve faced turmoil off the field as well as on it this year – slide to 2-4. Injuries have plagued the Riots in recent weeks, and a drug-related incident cost a key senior his place on the roster.

Stinson is rolling with the punches, though, and keeping his boys’ eyes trained on the game. “The guys that we have are practicing football and coming out and playing football,” he said simply.

The Riots have two tough games remaining on their schedule: TA on Friday the 16th, and Portland – undefeated and No. 1 in A North – on the 23rd.

“At this point, struggling the last few weeks, we know we’ve got to focus on us,” Stinson said. “Focus on having a great week of practice and having a performance next week on senior night, honoring our seniors, that our kids can be proud of.”

Scarborough QB Jack Hughes receives the snap from center John Stolz in the Storms’ huge win over South Portland Friday night.South Portland QB Nick Mezzanotte breaks away from the pack to speed 66 yards upfield for the Riots’ only touchdown at Scarborough on Friday night.South Portland’s Finn Zechman fights for extra yardage as a pair of Stormers, including Anthony Simoneau (30), clap irons on his legs, trying to haul him down.Scarborough’s Jacob Gardner jukes with the ball as a South Portland defender approaches.South Portland’s Spencer Houlette wraps up Scarborough’s Connor Kelly on one of Kelly’s many carries for the Storm Friday night. Kelly had three TDs in the rivalry matchup.Drew LeClair cuts through the middle for Scarborough on Friday night.