Buckle up, the fall sports postseason is upon us.

It’s time for regional championships in cross country, playoffs in soccer, field hockey and volleyball and the end of the regular season for football.

And the best is yet to come.

Here’s a look at where things stand with the biggest games of the year on the horizon:

Football

Yarmouth’s football team is taking the eight-man large school division by storm this fall and improved to 7-0 Saturday after a 68-0 home domination of Ellsworth. The Clippers shot to a 30-0 lead after one period, as Spencer LaBrecque ran for three different scores, from 10-, 25- and 4-yards out. Sam Bradford then hit Rufus McVane for a 60-yard TD. In the second period, Bradford scored on a 65-yard scamper, LaBrecque ran it in from 60-yards out and Bradford connected with Kai Sullivan on a 15-yard score to make it 52-0 at the half. Michael McGonagle, who eclipsed Anders Overhaug’s single-season school record of 1,723 rushing yards, set in 2011, added a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and in the fourth, Liam Henning’s 15-yard TD run accounted for the final score. Yarmouth, which is ranked first in the South division, closes with a big test Friday at 6-1 Mt. Ararat.

Greely dropped to 0-6 after a 42-8 loss to Spruce Mountain, in a game played Friday night on the turf at Yarmouth High. Andrew Padgett’s TD run accounted for the Rangers’ points. Greely, which is sixth in the eight-man large school South division (where four teams qualify for the playoffs) closes at 4-3 Morse Friday.

Falmouth improved to 5-2 and third in Class B North following last Thursday’s 64-0 home win over Brunswick. Finn Caxton-Smith rushed for four touchdowns, Ali Carter ran for two, Matthew Grace gained 120 yards and scored one TD and Indi Backman and Taylor Evers also had scoring runs. The Navigators close the regular season at second-ranked Cony in a pivotal contest Friday.

Freeport had its bye last weekend and the 4-2 Falcons, who are ranked first in Class D, have a huge showdown at home versus reigning champion Foxcroft Academy (5-1) Friday night.

Boys’ soccer

Yarmouth’s boys’ soccer team, the two-time reigning Class B state champion, took a 10-1-2 record into Tuesday’s showdown at three-time defending Class C champion Waynflete (see pressherald.com/forecaster/forecaster-sports/ for game story). Last week, the Clippers edged host York (2-1) and blanked visiting Greely (3-0). In the win over the Wildcats, Zach Kelly (from Truman Peters) and Matt Gautreau scored the goals. Against the Rangers, Ben Flowerdew had a goal and an assist and Justin Dawes and Zach Turkel also scored.

“We all believe in ourselves,” said Flowerdew. “We play for each other and we’ll save our best for last.”

“I think the difference today was our depth and their health,” longtime Yarmouth coach Mike Hagerty said. “We play a lot of kids and we’re not tired at the end of games. Our bench has done a good job making the most of their minutes. We’ve probably had six different starting lineups this year. Overall, the kids played calm and composed. When we find feet, we’re pretty good.”

The Clippers were second to Cape Elizabeth in the Class B South Heal Points standings heading into the Waynflete showdown.

“We have intentionally played a lot of numbers knowing our depth would be key come our playoff run,” Hagerty said. “Our goal has been to start better, but we’ve always been a wear-teams-down, second half team. We go 18-deep on a regular basis and I feel confident in our bench.”

Freeport was 6-3-4 and sixth in Class B South entering Tuesday’s finale at top-ranked Cape Elizabeth. Last week, the Falcons downed visiting Greely (2-1) and Poland (7-0). Against the Rangers, Cam Tourigny and Garrett Richeson scored in a 47-second span to erase a second half deficit and goalie Adam Clough made six saves.

“It’s a huge win for us,” said Clough. “We needed this one badly. Later in games we struggle a bit, but we hung tough at the end today.”

“It was a frustrating first half,” Richeson said. “We talked about it at halftime and we came out strong as a team in the second half and we dominated.”

“That’s been our mantra this year, we’ve been a streaky team and can get a roll for 10 minutes at a time, but we have to find a way to be more consistent for 80 minutes,” added Freeport coach Bob Strong. “We’re playing our best soccer right now and we’re near-healthy. We should hopefully be ready to challenge. I think it’s anyone region. Cape Elizabeth has proved they’re the team to beat, but on any given day, anyone could challenge them.”

Greely fell to 6-6-1 and eighth in Class B South after losses last week at Freeport (2-1) and Yarmouth (3-0). Against the Falcons, Owen Piesik scored the goal and Landon Dominski made six saves, but it wasn’t quite enough.

“It’s frustrating because we haven’t put it all together yet against a good team,” said longtime Rangers coach Mike Andreasen. “I would have liked to see us put more shots on goal. I did like that we played urgently and in some of the other games, we didn’t play that way.”

At the Clippers, Dominski stopped nine shots, but Greely fell to 0-20-1 in the past 21 meetings against its rival.

“Yarmouth is like worker ants,” said Andreasen. “They never quit and you can’t make a mistake against them for 80 minutes. They wear you down. They play at a high level.”

The Rangers closed at home versus York Tuesday.

In Class A South, Falmouth finished the regular season 7-5-2 following a 2-1 home win over Portland, a 1-0 home loss to reigning state champion Marshwood and a 1-1 draw at Kennebunk. In the victory, Ben Pausman scored on a penalty kick and Justin Mayo added a goal to help the Navigators erase an early deficit.

“We’re willing to fight,” Pausman said. “When we put everything on the line and when we’re out there winning 50-50 balls, we’re as good as any team in the state. That’s really exciting at this point of the season.”

“We just focused on fundamentals,” Mayo said. “When everyone does their job, that’s when we find success. We limit mistakes and that’s how we’re winning those games.”

“We got down and we didn’t break,” added longtime Falmouth coach Dave Halligan. “We kept fighting and that’s all I want to see right now. Win or lose, these are the games that make you better.”

Finn Cameron had the goal in the tie against the Rams. The Navigators were ranked ninth in Class A South at press time and could play a preliminary round playoff game on the road this weekend.

“There’s no pressure on us,” Halligan said. “Look how young this team is and the experience they’re getting. We hope to keep winning. It’s more fun that way. This tournament is going to be great.”

Reigning Class D South champion North Yarmouth Academy was 7-6 and fifth entering Tuesday’s finale at Traip Academy. Last week, the Panthers lost at home to Sacopee Valley (2-0) and won at St. Dom’s (1-0). In the victory, goalkeeper Tanner Anctil made saves and the only goal was an “own goal.” Rodgers Crowley got the play started.

“I don’t even know what happened,” Crowley said. “It ricocheted a few times off some defenders. I would have preferred if I scored it. It was a great recovery from No. 10 Jack Byrne over there. (Byrne) crossed (the ball) on the ground, and I think I kind of just threw my toe at it and it ricocheted in. It is what poachers do. That is the technical term for it. In Europe, they (say) that’s a poacher’s finish.”

“We just came off a tough loss to to Sacopee Valley a couple of nights ago,” fist-year NYA coach Branden Noltkamper said. “For any coach, you are looking for a reaction from your team, and I thought we reacted well to everything. I thought we had a good training session yesterday and came in and it showed today. We play a tough schedule year-round. It is probably fair where we are at right now.”

The boys’ soccer playoffs begin this weekend with the preliminary round on the fields of the higher seeds.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, three-time state champion NYA improved to 13-0 and first in the Class D South Heals following wins last week at Sacopee (2-0), at home over St. Dom’s (6-0) and at Waynflete (3-0). Sarah Moore and Hayden Wienckowski had the goals against the Hawks. In the win over the Saints, Angel Huntsman scored twice, while Moore, Wienckowski, Anna Belleau and Lila Casey also tickled the twine. Against the Flyers, Belleau, Leah Dube and Emily Robbins all scored. The Panthers, who are riding a 33-game unbeaten streak, closed at home versus Traip Academy Tuesday.

In Class A South, Falmouth was 8-5 and sixth after Saturday’s 3-2 loss at Marshwood. The Navigators closed at home versus reigning state champion Windham Tuesday.

In Class B South, Yarmouth was second to Cape Elizabeth with a record of 10-3 after wins last week over visiting York (1-0) and host Greely (2-0). Ava Feeley had the lone goal, on a penalty kick, against the Wildcats. In the win over the Rangers, Feeley and Aine Powers scored. The Clippers hosted Wells in the finale Tuesday.

Greely was 8-4-1 and fourth in Class B South following a 1-0 home win over Freeport and a 2-0 home loss to Yarmouth. In the victory, freshman Avery Bush had the lone goal, from Allie Read.

“For the freshmen that are on the team, there’s pressure to step up,” said Bush. “We know we have to be the best we can be. It feels great when we do that. It’s just amazing to feel like we’re helping this team.”

“We’re the underdogs compared to Cape and Yarmouth, but I think we can do it,” Read said. “When we work together and play well, we’re really unstoppable.”

“Our defense communicates and adjusts well,” Rangers coach Rachel Williams added. “They do what they need to do. They have a lot of poise and they’re consistent with good discipline.”

Greely closed at York Tuesday.

“We have a young team, but both Cape and Yarmouth know we can compete with them,” Williams said. “On any given night, it’s anybody’s game.”

Freeport was 6-6-1 and 10th in Class B South after a 1-0 loss at Greely and an 8-0 home win over Poland. Against the Rangers, goalie Lauren Roussel made five saves, but the Falcons couldn’t score.

“We just have to do a better job in the offensive end,” said Freeport coach David Intraversato. “We’ve talked about it all year. We’ve just had trouble scoring goals. We were close, one touch away.”

In the victory, Silvi Strong had two goals, while Kenzie Cochran, Skylar MacDonald, Rosie Panenka, Pearl Peterson, Rosie St. Cyr and Kate Tracy had one apiece. Emily Olsen added four assists. The Falcons closed at home versus undefeated, three-time state champion Cape Elizabeth Tuesday.

“We’re looking better every day,” said Intraversato. “The girls can have confidence knowing they can play with these (top teams).”

The girls’ soccer playoffs begin this weekend with the preliminary round on the fields of the higher seeds.

Field hockey

Freeport’s field hockey team is surging into the playoffs. The Falcons finished 10-3-1 after 5-0 victories at Gray-New Gloucester and Fryeburg Academy last week. Against the Patriots, freshman Lilliana Larochelle scored twice, classmates Emily Groves and Reed Proscia added one apiece and Ava Gervais also scored.

“We’ve all just been able to work together and push ourselves,” said Gervais. “There’s just a lot of excitement and drive.”

“It’s a lot of kind of young players this year, so I think at the beginning of the year it was just trying to figure out who’s going to be playing, who’s going to be a contributor right away,” Freeport coach Marcia Wood said. “No one really knew what we were going to do until some of those freshmen and the sophomores really stepped up.”

In the victory over the Raiders, Groves and Chloe White both scored two goals and Sophia Bradford added one. The Falcons will be the No. 3 seed for the Class B South playoffs and will host a quarterfinal round contest next week.

Yarmouth was 7-6 and fifth in Class B South entering Tuesday’s finale at Greely. Last week, the Clippers edged host Fryeburg Academy in overtime (4-3), then fell at top-ranked York (4-1). Sophie Smith scored twice, including in OT in the victory. Smith had her team’s lone goal against the Wildcats.

Greely was 2-9-2 and ninth entering Tuesday’s home finale versus Yarmouth. Last week, the Rangers beat visiting Wells (7-1) and lost at home to York (3-0). In the victory, Grace Belanger and Marisa Crowley both scored twice and Julia Brubaker, Lauren Hazard and Lia Traficonte added one goal apiece.

In Class A South, Falmouth finished the regular season 7-6-1 after wins at Marshwood (2-0) and home over Portland/Deering (3-0). Allison Sweetser had two goals and Anna Turgeon one against Portland/Deering. The Navigators were eighth in the Heals at press time and if that holds, would host a preliminary round playoff contest.

The field hockey playoffs start this weekend with the preliminary round on the fields of the higher seeds.

Volleyball

Yarmouth’s three-time reigning Class B champion volleyball team will be the top seed for the upcoming state tournament after capping a 13-1 campaign with 3-0 wins at Windham and York (25-13, 25-19, 26-24).

Greely finished 9-5 after blanking host Westbrook and downing visiting Messalonskee in four-sets (25-21, 19-25, 25-23, 25-22) last week. Against the Eagles, Olivia Talley had 18 kills, eight digs and a block, Sophia Ippolito recorded 10 digs and 34 assists, Lily Dube had 22 digs and Molly Mulligan finished with eight digs and six kills. The Rangers were ranked eighth in the Class B at press time and will likely host a preliminary round match.

Falmouth wound up 6-8 after a straight-set (26-28, 20-25, 19-25) loss at Cape Elizabeth last week. The Navigators were seventh in Class A at press time and will host a prelim.

In Class C, NYA finished the regular season with a 4-10 mark after a five-set home loss to Lake Region, a three-set (17-25, 23-25, 12-25) home setback to Wells and a 3-1 home loss to Jonseport-Beals last week.

The volleyball playoffs begin with the state preliminary round Thursday on the courts of the higher seeds.

Cross country

The cross country regional championship meet is this Saturday at Twin Brook Recreation Center in Cumberland where the state meet will also be held the following Saturday, Oct. 29.

Press Herald staff writer Drew Bonifant and Sun Journal staff writer Tony Blasi contributed to this story.

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

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