Westbrook is on the rise in southern Maine fall sports, that much is plain. A number of Blazes teams posted their strongest seasons of recent years in 2015.

Jeff Guerette’s football squad, for example, went 5-3 through their regular schedule (they went 3-5 in 2014), opening with a near-win against the always-strong Leavitt Hornets and picking up huge, midseason victory over eventual State Champs Marshwood. Westbrook entered the bracketing ranked fifth, and proceeded to crush No. 4 Biddeford in the quarters; they faltered in the semis, however, turning in a surprisingly weak performance against No. 1 Falmouth and finding themselves shutout, 32-0.

Beth Murphy’s field hockey squad, a mere 3-9-2 and outside the playoffs in 2014, finished 7-7 in the regular season this year and entered the tournament ranked eighth. The Lady Blazes topped No. 9 Deering 1-0 in the prelims, but succumbed to first-place Cheverus in the quarters – though, the final tally in that battle was narrow, just 2-1.

Claton Conrad’s cross country boys and Tim Even’s cross country girls are likely to become regulars at States in the coming years; both teams have missed the cut a lot in recent memory, but they not only returned in 2015, they excelled. The Gentlemen Blazes finished seventh and their lady counterparts eighth. Josh Lombardo went on to rep for Westbrook at New Englands.

Boys soccer, helmed by Greg Cavanaugh, are becoming a force in A South, though they’ve yet to quite reach the top tier. The Blazes compiled a 5-7-2 regular-season record (they were 6-5-3 in 2014) and once again entered the playoffs as the nine-seed. They upset No. 8 Deering 1-0 in the prelims and held eventual A South champs Scarborough to just two goals in the quarters. They couldn’t best the Storm’s defense in that battle, however, and retired for the year.

Andy Lefebvre’s soccer girls struggled this season, picking up a pair of wins and a tie, but also 11 losses to end up outside the bracketing looking in.

Westbrookers Steve Shackley, left, and John Gilson trade words during a break in the action early this season against Leavitt.Westbrook’s Lindsay Hildreth pursues a loose ball in a late-season matchup at Scarborough.