SOUTH PORTLAND – The shine may not have quite come off the Massabesic bandwagon, but the gold trim was certainly dimmed through the fog on Sept. 23. The Mustangs – hot off a 3-0 start – traveled to South Portland on a murky Friday night, only to have the Red Riots loom like phantoms out of the mist, foiling Massabesic at every turn.

The Mustangs’ lone score – a 13-yard right sweep by senior fullback Sam Chaves with 3:46 to go in the first – briefly tied the game at 7-7. But South Portland roared right back, scoring on their next drive – an inexorable eight-play, 65-yard surge capped off by a 2-yard carry by senior back Joey DiBiase.

It was the first of three touchdowns for DiBiase, who finished the evening with 172 yards of total offense. He and his teammates never glanced back after retaking the lead, scoring a total of 32 unanswered points as Massabesic looked increasingly lost on both sides of the ball. At times, South Portland made their push towards the 39-7 win seem more pleasure cruise than the battle royale the game had been billed as.

“We pride ourselves on being physical,” said South Portland Head Coach Steve Stinson, whose Riots have cracked off three straight after starting the season 0-1. “We play in a very physical conference up here week in and week out, and we certainly wanted to come out and be physical defensively, and run vertically at them offensively. And we were able to establish both when we went out there.”

South Portland established their offensive attack immediately, taking the opening kickoff and driving the length of the field. Senior quarterback Michael Salvatore finished off the possession with a four-yard touchdown run, and just 2:08 into the game, the Red Riots led 7-0. It was the beginning of a tough evening for the Mustangs’ defense.

“I thought that we had learned from watching what had happened to other teams in the league this year, that if you don’t come to play, then it doesn’t matter who you’re playing,” said Massabesic Head Coach John Morin. “If you’re not ready to play against a good football team – which South Portland certainly was tonight – then you are going to get gashed.”

“And we didn’t come to play; we didn’t come to play mentally, and we didn’t come to play physically,” Morin continued. “We did not answer anything that they brought to the table tonight.”

Massabesic went nowhere on their ensuing drive and was forced to punt, but on the second play of South Portland’s possession, Salvatore was picked off by Mustang junior defensive back Dan Welch. Following a penalty, the Mustangs took over on the Riots’ 37, and Chaves scored six plays later. However, South Portland responded immediately with DiBiase’s first touchdown, then shut down Massabesic’s offense again at the start of the second quarter. The Riots fourth drive ended in a second DiBiase touchdown to make it 21-7, and South Portland made it 27-7 at the half when Salvatore hooked up with senior Logan Gaddar on a 32-yard touchdown pass 54 seconds before the break.

“He was an all-conference player last year, and in my book he is an all-conference player this year,” Stinson said, commenting on DiBiase. “We won without him last week, but the way our scheme works up front, he has confidence when he is coming downhill full speed. I wouldn’t want to tackle him.”

The Mustangs went three and out to start the third, but blocked a South Portland field goal on the Riots’ next possession. When the Mustangs got the ball back on the 20, they strung together easily their most impressive drive on the night, going 76 yards on 17 plays, twice converting on fourth downs. Massabesic moved to within striking distance at the South Portland 4-yard line, but junior back Casey Nava fumbled a pitch from quarterback Jake Desrochers on the first play of the fourth quarter, and the loose ball was picked up by South Portland senior Brendan Horton, who returned it for a Riot touchdown.

“I just hit the quarterback, and I got up, and I saw I think Zach Compton smack the ball as it was already on the ground,” Horton said. “So I just picked it up. I started cramping the moment I picked it up, and I almost fell over, but I just kept going.”

South Portland later added a final touchdown on a one-yard run by DiBiase.

“We just tried to be the more physical team,” DiBiase said of his night. “It’s been put in our head by Coach Stinson that we need to go one hundred percent on every play. And also the line had a great game – they worked real, real hard this week, and also at the beginning of the season.”