One of the semifinalists for the Fitzpatrick Trophy was Josh Woodward, a quarterback from Thornton Academy. His father, Scott, won the award in 1984 as a standout from Biddeford High.

The James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy banquet chairman and master of ceremonies, Jack Dawson, pointed out that the Woodwards are the first father and son to be either a finalist or semifinalist in the 40-year history of the award.

Other semifinalists honored at Sunday’s banquet were Kyle Bishop, Waterville; Max Cloutier, Leavitt; Michael Cyr, Scarborough; Ethan Drigotas, Kennebunk; Luke Duncklee, Cony; Nick Gagne, Biddeford; Jon Haws, Hampden Academy; Caleb Kenney, Portland and Nick Proscia, Yarmouth.

Jamie Ross of Deering and Cam Kaubris of Mountain Valley were finalists along with winner Peter Gwilym of Cheverus. They sat at the head table with Dawson and former Maine college football coaches Tom Austin of Colby and Howard Vandersea of Bowdoin. Vandersea is president of the Maine Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, which helps to organize the banquet and voting process.

FOR A TEAM that lost nine seniors, including its entire starting five, South Portland (8-1) has been the early season surprise in SMAA boys’ basketball. Coach Phil Conley has molded a cohesive unit that will wind up with a high seeding in the Western Class A tournament if it continues to play like it has.

Undefeated Cheverus (9-0) is the team to beat. The next best team could be one of several, and the Red Riots are in the mix.

THE SCARBOROUGH GIRLS’ hockey team is one of the best in the state with an 8-1-2 record. But the Red Storm obviously rely heavily on All-State defenseman Abby Rutt.

Scarborough lost its first game of the season, with Rutt not there. The Red Storm’s two ties, against Winslow last month and against York on Saturday, were against teams that geared their defenses to stop Rutt.

After Saturday’s scoreless tie with York, Rutt called it “a good game, a good wake-up call.”

In other words, Scarborough and Rutt will likely see similar defenses in the future.

“You need to skate through it,” Red Storm Coach Caitlin Cashman said. “I’m about moving your feet and going to the net. The other team can be chippy. We’re just going to skate through it.

“When you engage (with the opponent), you lose your mental game. We saw a little bit of that (Saturday). We need to stay disciplined.”

WHEN BIDDEFORD beat Falmouth 6-1 in a boys’ hockey game last week, Biddeford Coach Rich Reissfelder was not thrilled with his team. The Tigers went to the penalty box too often — with as many as four players sitting there at once — and were on the penalty kill 10 times.

Reissfelder reminded his team after the game that “we hold ourselves to a higher standard.

“To take penalties like that — and to have four of our best players in the box at once — is a recipe for disaster.”

FOR THE FIRST TIME in three years, winter weather was cooperative enough for Leavitt High to hold its Hornet Classic cross-country ski race on trails behind the high school in Turner.

Nearly 300 skiers from 19 schools competed in the 5-kilometer races, won by Becca Bell of Yarmouth and Tyler DeAngelis of Maranacook. Yarmouth, in its familiar blue-and-white cow-patterned racing suits, won both team titles, 18-51 over Mt. Blue in the girls’ race and 46-48 over North Yarmouth Academy in the boys’ race.

The races also marked the debut of Greely’s new suits, a hideously-clashing version that senior captain Connor Regan described as “dual-sided pants.”

Regan was the individual runner-up, finishing 20 seconds behind DeAngelis. Over the previous three winters, Greely sported suits Regan described as purple snakeskin, color blast and pink giraffe.

“I guess it’s a way to make our team a little more unique,” Regan said. “The parents love it, because they can pick out a Greely skier from miles away.”

Greely’s boys finished ninth. Thomas Sullivan, Andrew Beckman, Ben Woodbury and Ben Johnson each finished among the top 20 for Yarmouth.

The Clippers also placed four girls among the top eight, with Tara Humphries (third), Alison Totta (sixth) and Sarah Becker (eighth) backing Bell.

“It was nice to finally get a big race under our skis,” said Yarmouth Coach Bob Morse, whose team will race a Western Maine Conference classic event this morning at Twin Brook in Cumberland, the boys at 10:30 and the girls an hour later.

— Staff Writers Tom Chard, Kevin Thomas and Glenn Jordan contributed to this report.