SCARBOROUGH — Scarborough High football coach Lance Johnson is proud of his team’s fitness.

But he admits there’s one downside to having a team in great shape.

Scarborough quarterback Zoltan Panyi, a junior, made his first start a winning one last week by stepping away from a blitz by one of the state's top linebackers, then throwing a touchdown pass that beat Portland. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Athletes of the Week

BOYS

Alex Sprague, Bonny Eagle football: Sprague, a junior running back playing in his first varsity game, scored five TDs – three on kickoff returns of 78, 90 and 80 yards – in the Scots’ 60-20 rout of host South Portland. Sprague also had seven carries for 69 yards and two TDs.

Honorable mention

Ben Breton, Windham cross country: Breton, a senior, posted the fastest time by six seconds in the SMAA Relays at Thornton Academy, covering the 1.4-mile course in 7 minutes, 47 seconds.

Nate Richards, Deering football: Richards, a senior running back, scored four touchdowns in the Rams’ 54-7 win against Massabesic. He had touchdown runs of 89, 32 and 1 yard, and scored on a 36-yard pass from Joe Pelletier, finishing with 140 yards rushing and 89 receiving.

Alex Frank, Portland soccer: After Noble scored the game’s first goal, Frank, a senior midfielder, scored three of his own to lead the Bulldogs (2-0) to a 5-1 win Tuesday.

GIRLS

Hannah Costin, Marshwood field hockey: Costin, a senior midfielder, had five goals and an assist in two wins, including three goals in a 4-1 season-opening win over Scarborough. She added two goals and an assist in a 3-0 win over South Portland.

Honorable mention

Bella Robinson, Thornton Academy field hockey: Robinson, a senior forward, had three goals and an assist in two games. She scored twice, including the tying goal, in a 3-3 tie with Gorham.

Kayla Raymond, Bonny Eagle cross country: Raymond, a sophomore, ran 10 seconds faster than anyone else in the SMAA Relays at Thornton Academy, completing a 1.4-mile course in 9 minutes, 9 seconds to lead Scots to the team title.

Gaby Panagakos, Scarborough soccer: Panagakos, a junior, assisted on the tying goal and scored the winner with 10 minutes left in a 3-1 win over Deering. She added a goal in a 2-2 tie against Sanford.

– Staff report

PRESS HERALD/ FIFTH QUARTER POLL

Here are the top 10 football teams in Maine, based on voting from Press Herald Staff Writer Steve Craig, Lee Goldberg of WCSH-6 and two coaches from each of the four classes.

(With total points, and first-place votes in parentheses)

1. Thornton Academy (6) 92

2. Bonny Eagle (4) 80

3. Brunswick 52

4. Windham 47

5. Deering 42

6. Scarborough 34

7. Biddeford 33

8. Brewer 20

9. Wells 14

10. Portland 10

“I can’t run them as punishment because they don’t get tired,” Johnson said, a small smile creasing his face. “That’s a little bit frustrating. They’ll just run forever and be out there, and look at you like you’re funny.”

It’s a trade-off Johnson gladly accepts. He believes his team gained physical and mental toughness through a summer and preseason that emphasized cross-fit style training, and it paid dividends Friday in the opening 14-13 win at Portland.

“Big difference between last year’s game and this year’s game was that we matched their toughness and physicality, and hung in there. I don’t think we executed very well but we played tough,” Johnson said.

Portland is coming off a 10-1 season, its only loss in the Class A final to Thornton Academy. The Bulldogs are again a top contender in the North.

“It was a giant win,” said Dakota Joy, a tri-captain and three-year starter at left tackle and defensive tackle. “Portland’s a tough team and they’ll definitely win a huge chunk of their games. So that helps us in the standings a lot.”

Joy and fellow captains linebacker Matt Cook and slotback/linebacker Drew LeClair said toughness – a stout defense and resiliency after a bad play – was not a team strength in recent seasons.

“A lot of people usually kind of look down on us and say we only make it to the semifinals and get blown out,” LeClair said. “I think that’s what gave us motivation this year, people not really respecting us.”

Johnson, in his seventh season, has always emphasized conditioning, he said, but the offseason regimen has grown. This offseason the team mixed push-ups, squats, abdominal exercises and burpees into their running routines while also using the weight room for strength training.

Scarborough shut out Portland in the second half.

“You could definitely notice in that Portland game, our practices made that game a lot easier for us, just conditioning wise,” Cook said.

“The second half, you could see a lot of their guys having cramps and I didn’t see one of our guys putting their heads down sucking wind,” LeClair added. “That was a big factor in the Portland game.”

The Red Storm play Bonny Eagle at 7 p.m. Friday. The Scots, consensus Class A South co-favorites with two-time state champ Thornton Academy, beat host South Portland, 60-20.

“It’s our first home game, new uniforms, we definitely have something more to prove,” LeClair said.

Making his first start, Scarborough junior quarterback Zoltan Panyi capped the go-ahead drive against Portland with a 25-yard touchdown throw to Tim Carion. The play drew raves from Johnson for the way Panyi sidestepped blitzing linebacker Nick Archambault, then reset his feet.

“There aren’t many kids in the state who could have made that play,” Johnson said of Panyi. “Archambault is a stud. Very few kids are going to avoid him. Then (Panyi) stuck his foot in the ground and makes the throw for the winning touchdown.”

Freeport lost all eight games in 2015 by at least 20 points. Twenty seconds into its opener last Saturday, Austin Bouchard of Poland took the first play from scrimmage around left end 65 yards for a touchdown.

“The first reaction to that from everybody, even the coaches, was ‘Oh, boy, last season all over again,’ ” Freeport second-year coach Paul St. Pierre said.

“I think everybody felt that for at least a second.”

Unlike last season, Freeport kept the game at 8-0 through a quarter, tied it before the half and scored two late touchdowns to snap a nine-game losing streak with a 22-8 win.

“Going in tied at halftime, you could see the look on all their faces said, ‘We can win this now,’ ” St. Pierre said. “They have a lot more confidence, a lot of faith in themselves.”

Nearly all of the returning players contributed to a 4-0 junior varsity record last year. The roster, still small at 29, is deeper with seniors Connor Dostie and T.J. Morrill. Dostie had not played football since middle school. Morrill, who had never played football, joined the team the third week of his junior season, and is now a two-way starter and kicker.

Those two combined for the clinching score. Morrill batted a Poland pass into the air, and Dostie intercepted it and returned it for the score, with Morrill making a key block.

Key players like QB/MLB Josh Burke, RB Max Doughty and TE/LB Austin Langley had pivotal roles on Freeport’s baseball team that won last spring’s Class B South title.

“A lot of these kids have had success in other sports or in middle school football,” St. Pierre said. “You’re starting to see that vibe in practice. They approach it with a winning attitude.”

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