(Ed. Note: For the complete Yarmouth-Freeport boys’ soccer, Yarmouth-Freeport girls’ soccer and Freeport-Cape Elizabeth field hockey game stories, see https://stage.pressherald.com/forecaster/forecaster-sports/)

The fall sports season is now in full gear and all local teams have seen action, with several squads having played multiple games.

The early returns have been promising and the contests will only increase in importance in the days to come.

Here’s a look back and a look ahead:

Football

Three of four Forecaster Country football teams have gotten out to 2-0 starts.

Falmouth, which edged visiting Cheverus, 26-20, in its opener, had a much easier time in week two, downing visiting Mt. Blue, 49-7. The Navigators raced to a 28-0 lead at the half and took a 42-0 advantage to the fourth period before putting it away. Quarterback Peyton Mitchell had an early touchdown run and pass and Indi Backman also ran for a score. Lucas Dilworth had an interception. Backman finished with 166 yards on nine carries and scored three times. Mitchell gained 40 yards on six rushes and had two TDs. He also completed 3-of-8 passes for 38 yards and a score. Falmouth hopes to stay perfect Friday when it goes to Cape Elizabeth (1-1).

Freeport, which defeated visiting Lisbon, 35-22, in its first game, rolled Friday at Madison, 63-12. On the opening drive, quarterback Aidan Heath found Max Peters for a score on a 15-yard screen pass to make it 7-0 just 1:10 into the game. The Falcons then got a pair of 8-yard touchdown runs from Nick White and Jordan Knighton following Madison turnovers to take a 19-0 lead into the second quarter. White added two more scores on Freeport’s next two drives, first on a 37-yard scamper down the sidelines and again on a 59-yard reception from Heath. After tackling the Madison punter for a safety on the ensuing drive, touchdown runs from Colby Bourgoin (19-yards) and Knighton (36-yards) put the Falcons up 49-0 at the break. Bourgoin scored from 5 yards out with 6:32 left in the third quarter to make it 57-0 before Madison finally got on the board. Freeport responded with a 47-yard touchdown run from Evan Mahaney with 8:51 to go for its final points.

Knighton finished with 95 rushing yards and a touchdown on eight attempts, as well as three receptions for 49 yards and a score. White ran for 78 yards and two TDs on four attempts and had one catch for a 59-yard score. Bourgoin ran for touchdowns on two of his three carries, gaining 35 yards total. Heath completed 7-of-9 passes, good for 131 yards and three touchdowns.

“We have a lot of playmakers and when we’re clicking like we were tonight, it’s special to watch,” said Freeport coach Paul St. Pierre. “It’s great to know we have so much athletic ability when we need it and that they’re always working so hard to get better.”

The Falcons hope to go 3-0 Saturday, but it won’t be easy, as 2-0 Wells, which is coming off an exhilarating win over Cape Elizabeth, comes to the Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field. Kickoff time is 6 p.m. (see pressherald.com/forecaster/forecaster-sports/ for game story).

“We’re going to go right back, start watching film and get ready for these big games coming up,” White said. “It was a team effort, but we know we still have work to do.”

“We needed something to build on and this gives us that as we go back to practice next week,” said St. Pierre.

Yarmouth, which won just once in 2021, has already doubled its win total after beating visiting Lake Region (45-6) in the opener, then prevailing, 28-16, at Camden Hills Saturday. The Clippers led early, 8-0, on an 8-yard touchdown run from Spencer LaBrecque, took a 14-8 lead when Rufus MacVane scored on a 5-yard rush, fell behind, 16-14, then went on top to stay on a 57-yard TD run from McGonagle and put it away on LaBrecque’s second score, a 2-yard rush. McGonagle finished with 206 yards on 35 carries. Yarmouth, which also features players from North Yarmouth Academy, hosts 1-1 Gray-New Gloucester Friday.

Greely, which is back as a stand-alone program this season, lost its opener, 26-12, at Gray-New Gloucester, then fell to 0-2 Friday after losing at home to Waterville, 52-22, the Rangers’ first home game since 2018. Greely tries again for its first win Friday when it goes to 0-2 Lake Region.

Boys’ soccer

Falmouth’s boys’ soccer team was the lone unbeaten, untied local squad at press time. Last week, the Navigators improved to 3-0 with wins over visiting Noble (8-0) and host Sanford (4-2). Against the Knights, Sam Yoon scored three goals, Mason Quiet added a goal and three assists and Finn Cameron, Michael Christmas, Ian Christy and Justin Mayo all scored once. In the win over the Spartans, Quiet scored three goals and Ben Pausman had the other goal. Falmouth hosts Massabesic Thursday and welcomes Gorham Tuesday of next week.

Two-time reigning Class B champion Yarmouth settled for a 1-1 tie against Cape Elizabeth in its opener, then rallied for a dramatic 2-1 win at rival Freeport and blanked visiting York (5-0) last week before downing visiting NYA Monday (2-1) to improve to 3-0-1. Against the Falcons, a team the Clippers haven’t lost to this century, they were down with under 10 minutes to play, but Zach Turkel and Justin Dawes scored late goals to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

“It’s encouraging we can come back, but we don’t want to put ourselves in that position in the first place,” Turkel said.

“I think we do better when we’re facing adversity,” Dawes said. “Getting momentum when we tied it up really fired us up. We flip the switch when we’re down, because we know we have to work that much harder.”

“We were never worried, no panic,” said senior captain Liam Hickey, whose throw led to the winning goal. “We knew we just had to keep playing. We had a lot of close calls and we knew we had to keep fighting and we’d eventually find a goal. We got two in at the end and that was big for us.”

“The kids’ character came through,” added longtime Clippers coach Mike Hagerty, who has never lost to the Falcons in his 26 seasons. “I really believe it’s a karma thing. These kids do so many good things in our community and so many good things for the youth. When they were young, the upperclassmen did so many good things for them. They’ve bought in to working hard and doing things the right way. We turned it on when it counted.”

In the victory over the Wildcats, Hickey scored twice and Zacarias Bindas, Zach Kelly and Stevie Walsh all added one goal. Against the Panthers, Matt Gautreau and Truman Peters scored the goals. Yarmouth has a showdown at Greely Wednesday (see pressherald.com/forecaster/forecaster-sports/ for game story) and visits Poland Saturday.

“We want to play our best in October and November,” Hagerty said. “This team has a very high ceiling.”

Freeport, which opened with a 1-1 home tie versus York, lost a 2-1 home decision to Yarmouth and played host Greely to a 3-3 draw last week and was 0-1-2 at press time. Kaiden Jacobs scored the goal against the Clippers, but the Falcons couldn’t hold on.

“I honestly believe that Yarmouth appeared to be in better physical shape than us in the last 10 minutes and we had trouble keeping up,” Freeport coach Bob Strong said. “Yarmouth’s a great team and we’ll see them at least one more time. I thought it was a very evenly played match until the last 10 minutes when they turned it on. It’s nice to see Yarmouth celebrating a victory against us like that. It shows us we’ve arrived, but we haven’t crested yet.”

In the tie against the Rangers, Jacobs, Israel Bossay and Owen Ruseicki all scored goals. The Falcons were home versus Lake Region Tuesday, host Cape Elizabeth Thursday and go to Fryeburg Academy Tuesday of next week.

“I think there’s a lot of parity in the league again, which I’m happy to see,” Strong said. “It’s one game at a time for us.”

Greely takes a 1-1-1 record into Wednesday’s home showdown versus Yarmouth. After opening the season with a victory, the Rangers were blanked (4-0) at Cape Elizabeth and tied visiting Freeport (3-3) last week. In the draw, Ethan Njitoh had two goals and Tommy Bennert added the other. Greely goes to Lake Region Friday and returns home next Tuesday to meet Gray-New Gloucester.

NYA, the reigning Class D South champion, started with shutout losses at reigning Class C champion Waynflete (6-0) and Richmond (1-0), then got in the win column Saturday at Wells (4-1) before falling to 1-3 Monday after a 2-1 setback at Yarmouth. Tanner Anctil made seven saves in the loss to the Bobcats. In the victory, Rodgers Crowley scored all four goals, all coming in the second half. Against the Clippers, Crowley scored the goal and Anctil made 11 saves including three on one-on-one situations. The Panthers host St. Dom’s Wednesday and welcome Traip Academy Friday.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, NYA, the three-time reigning Class C champion, improved to 2-0 with last Wednesday’s 8-0 home win over Richmond. The Panthers, who haven’t lost a game since 2020, got two goals from Leah Dube and one goal apiece from Anna Belleau, Charlotte Harper-Cunningham, Angel Huntsman, Emily Robbins, Michala Wallace and Hayden Wienckowski. NYA goes to St. Dom’s Wednesday and visits Traip Academy Friday.

Class B South preseason favorite Yarmouth is hitting its stride. The Clippers, who opened with a 2-1 loss at three-time champion Cape Elizabeth, got on track last week with a 3-0 home victory over Freeport and a 2-0 win at York. Against the Falcons, Aine Powers scored early on a rebound, then Boston College-bound senior standout Ava Feeley registered her first two goals of the year.

“Freeport’s a huge opponent for us and we just had to come together and connect and we got the result we wanted,” Feeley said.

“This is going to be a big win for us at the end of the year,” Yarmouth coach Higgins said. “(Freeport’s) a very good team.”

Feeley scored both goals in the win over the Wildcats. The Clippers hosted Greely Tuesday and welcome Poland Saturday.

“We have teams coming for us this year and it’s motivation for us,” said Feeley. “We take (expectations) with a grain of salt. We know we have a lot of work to do, but we’re ready.”

Freeport fell to 0-3 with a 3-0 loss at Yarmouth and a 2-1 home setback to Greely last week. Against the Clippers, the Falcons couldn’t rally after an early deficit.

“We have to focus on playing mistake-free from the beginning of the game,” Falcons coach David Intraversato said. “It’s hard to come back against a great team like Yarmouth. They’re strong. We hung in there and in the second half, we were pretty even I thought.”

Silvi Strong scored an early goal against the Rangers, but the Falcons couldn’t hold the lead. Freeport looked to get in the win column Tuesday at Lake Region and goes to Cape Elizabeth Saturday.

“We’ve got things to work on still,” Intraversato said. “We have a tough schedule, but we’ll figure it out. It’s a good group. Probably the most skilled group I’ve had.”

Greely suffered its first loss last Tuesday, 4-0, to visiting Cape Elizabeth, then improved to 2-1 with a 2-1 win at Freeport. In the victory, Holly Moss and Shaylee O’Grady scored the goals, while goalkeeper Elise Ekowicki made eight saves. The Rangers were at Yarmouth Tuesday, welcome Lake Region Friday and go to Gray-New Gloucester Tuesday of next week.

Falmouth beat host Noble (6-2), then suffered a 3-2 home loss to Sanford last week. Monday, the Navigators improved to 3-1 with a 3-0 home victory over Kennebunk. Falmouth goes to Massabesic Thursday, then has a playoff rematch at Gorham Tuesday of next week.

Field hockey

Freeport’s young but promising field hockey team lost its opener at York, then beat visiting Yarmouth (6-0) and Lake Region (4-1) last week. In the win over the Clippers, freshman Emily Groves scored three times, while Ava Gervais had two goals and Anna Machino added one. Against the Lakers, Groves scored all four goals and Chloe White had three assists. Monday, at Cape Elizabeth, the Falcons dropped a double-overtime thriller, 3-2. White produced an early lead, but the Capers were up, 2-1, with 4:34 remaining when Sophie Bradford scored to tie it. Cape Elizabeth then won it with just 38 seconds to go in the second OT.

“Yes, it’s disappointing, but we didn’t have much gas left in the tank,” said Falcons coach Marcia Wood. “I’m proud that when Cape scored, we (answered). It’s a young team, so experiencing an overtime was great. Experiencing a tough game and the sadness of losing a tough game, now they know what it feels like. A tie would have been better, but we do see them again in the regular season and we’ll probably see them in the playoffs too.”

Freeport is at Greely Friday (see pressherald.com/forecaster/forecaster-sports/ for game story) and returns home Tuesday of next week to face Fryeburg Academy.

“The girls are starting to get it,” said Wood. “I’m looking forward to having three days (of practice) before we play Greely. We need to go over some things and once we do that, we should play even better. First game to now, everyone has really stepped up.”

Greely suffered a 3-0 home loss to Fryeburg Academy last week, then dropped to 0-3 Monday after a 2-1 overtime setback at St. Dom’s. The Rangers go to Cape Elizabeth Wednesday and welcome Freeport Friday.

Yarmouth fell at Freeport (6-0) last week. Monday, the Clippers improved to 1-2 with a 7-0 home win over Wells. Freshman Celia Zinman scored three goals, Sophie Smith added a pair and  Colleen Lynch and Madison Wiles added one apiece.

“It was nice to get a ‘W’ under our belt,” said Yarmouth coach Molly Saunders. “Skills are finally starting to click for us on the turf, but there’s always plenty to work on and improve.”

After going to Gray-New Gloucester/NYA Wednesday, the Clippers visit Poland Friday, then go to Cape Elizabeth Monday of next week.

Falmouth suffered its first loss, 5-0, at Biddeford last week to fall to 2-1. The Navigators hosted reigning Class A champion Cheverus in a playoff rematch Tuesday (see pressherald.com/forecaster/forecaster-sports/ for game story), go to Gorham Thursday and welcome Massabesic Monday.

Volleyball

Yarmouth’s three-time reigning Class B champion volleyball squad improved to 3-0 and made it 36 straight victories by downing host Cape Elizabeth in three games (25-15, 25-10, 26-24) in a state rematch and visiting Greely in four sets (25-14, 23-25, 25-17, 25-13) last week. Against the Rangers, Dorcus Bolese had 12 kills and Madi Beaudoin added six aces. The Clippers were at Gray-New Gloucester Tuesday, host South Portland Friday and visit Cheverus Tuesday of next week.

Greely won its first two matches, 3-2 at Wells and 3-1 at Noble, then fell to 2-1 with a 3-1 (14-25, 25-23, 17-25, 13-25) setback at Yarmouth last week. Against the Clippers, Olivia Talley with nine kills and Lillian Dube with 14 digs. The Rangers were home with Falmouth Tuesday, host Gray-New Gloucester Friday and travel to Lake Region Monday.

Falmouth improved to 2-1 with five-set wins last week over visiting Cheverus (25-22, 25-22, 14-25, 23-25, 15-13) and host Bonny Eagle. Against the Stags, Victoria Abbott had 11 kills to go with four aces, Kylee Armer added six kills and two aces, Gabby Bardwell had three kills and six aces and Ginerva Marcoccio recorded 15 assists. The Navigators went to Greely Tuesday, go to Portland Friday and visit Biddeford Tuesday of next week.

NYA fell to 0-2 with a 3-1 loss at Gray-New Gloucester, then got in the win column with a 3-1 (25-22, 25-14, 22-25, 25-18) home victory over Sanford. The Panthers go to Lewiston Wednesday and host Westbrook Thursday.

Cross country

Greely hosted a four-team cross country meet last week. The Rangers boys were first and were led by William Coull, who was third individually in 18 minutes, 30 seconds. The girls came in second to York. Freshman Rowan Barry (22:12) finished fourth individually.

Falmouth joined Deering and Sanford at Noble. The Navigators girls were first, as Maeve Ginevan led the way with a time of 22:01.81. The boys were first, as Miles Woodbury (18:50.09) and Isaac Seeker (19:30.50) were second and third individually.

Yarmouth and Maine Coast Waldorf took part in a four-team meet at Sacopee Valley. The Clippers girls were first with MCW second. The Clippers produced first-place individual Madeleine Jones (21:06). MCW’s Rahel Delaney was second (21:07). In the boys’ race, Yarmouth was first and MCW placed fourth. The Clippers were led by Cameron Pernal (third, 19:05). MCW was led by Will Barmby (15th, 20:01).

Golf

On the links, reigning Class A state champion Falmouth improved to 3-1 with wins last week over Cheverus (10-3) and Portland (11-2).

Defending Class B champion Yarmouth beat Freeport and NYA in a three-team match last week to improve to 7-0 on the year, while the Falcons downed the Panthers.

Greely suffered its first loss last week, 7-6, to Thornton Academy to fall to 2-1.

Kennebec Journal staff writer Mike Mandell contributed to this story.

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

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