Any way you look at it, most of the local high school sports teams had successful fall sports seasons. There were a few victories for teams that had been winless last year and some young, inexperienced teams performed better than expected. There were some regional final appearances and yes, there were a couple state championships. All in all, it was another colorful autumn for area athletes.

FOOTBALL

The Cape Elizabeth High football program has come a long way in a very short time. Never was that more evident than this year when the Capers roared through the regular season with an unbeaten 9-0 record, including a 16-14 win against the defending Class B state champs from Mountain Valley that earned the squad the top seed in the West B playoffs.

The Capers easily dispatched York in the regional semifinals and they faced off with Mountain Valley for the second straight season in the regional championship. The Falcons walked away with a hard-fought 10-0 victory to deny the Capers a shot at a Class B title, but Cape Elizabeth has served notice they’ll be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.

South Portland opened the season at 2-2 and the Red Riots soon forgot about their recent winless seasons. This year’s squad was competitive in each and every game and they ended the year at 3-5 with wins against Cheverus, Windham and Portland.

Scarborough also started the year with a 2-2 mark after a winless 2006 campaign. Although the Red Storm finished the season with four straight losses, they battled in each and every contest scoring 21 points against playoff teams Massabesic and Marshwood.

FIELD HOCKEY

The Scarborough field hockey team played well throughout the regular season and they kept that momentum going right through the playoffs as they knocked off seventh-seeded Biddeford and third-seeded Gorham to earn a spot in the West A final. The Red Storm stayed close with unbeaten Sanford before two late Redskin goals ended the Red Storm’s stellar season. Scarborough concluded the year with an impressive overall record of 14-2-1.

Cape Elizabeth’s field hockey team reached the postseason as the No. 8 team in Western Maine Class B. The Capers scored a 2-1 regional prelim win over Yarmouth before falling to top-seeded Maranacook in the quarterfinal round of play. The Capers ended the season at 6-7-2.

South Portland was unable to generate enough offense this fall and that resulted in a 0-14 season. Despite their record, the Red Riots were competitive in every game and nearly knocked off Noble in the season finale before falling by a narrow 1-0 score. South Portland had several close losses that might have been ties or wins had they been able to capitalize on more scoring chances.

BOYS SOCCER

Scarborough ably defended their Western Maine Class A title that they won in 2006 as the Red Storm went 13-0-1 in regular season play. The hard-working squad entered the postseason as the top seed. They shut down Westbrook for a 4-0 win in the regional quarterfinals before seeing their season end with an overtime loss to Greely in the semifinal round. (Greely eventually moved on and won the West A championship.)

Cape Elizabeth went 9-2-3 in Western Maine Conference play and they entered the West A tourney as the No. 4 seed. The Capers hosted No. 5 Greely in the regional quarterfinals and the Rangers began their run to the Western Maine championship with a 3-0 victory.

South Portland also reached the West A tournament thanks to a 6-6-2 record. The Riots were the 10th seed and they lost a back-and-forth battle with Kennebunk in a regional prelim by a 1-0 score.

GIRLS SOCCER

The Scarborough girls lost just two games during the regular season and they entered the West A tournament as the No. 2 seed with an 11-2-1 record. Like the boys squad, the Red Storm girls were upset by a very good Western Maine Conference team in Greely. The seventh-seeded Rangers knocked off the Red Storm by a 3-1 margin in quarterfinal play.

South Portland went 5-8-1 during the regular season and qualified for the West A tourney as the 10th seed. The Red Riots were bounced from the post-season by No. 7 Greely in a regional prelim won by the Rangers, 4-0.

Cape Elizabeth was ranked just behind South Portland in the final West A Heal Point standings. The 11th-seeded Capers ended the regular season with a 5-7-2 record and they upset sixth-seeded Thornton Academy by a 2-0 score in a regional prelim. The Capers were then knocked out of the tourney with a quarterfinal loss at No. 3 Marshwood.

CROSS COUNTRY

The Cape Elizabeth girls cross country team won just about every meet they could possibly win this fall as they proved to be the top girls team in the state. The Capers claimed the West B championship followed by the Class B state championship and they concluded their season with an eighth-place finish in the highly competitive New England championship race.

The Cape Elizabeth boys were the top team in Western Maine Class B and the young team (just one senior) finished fifth at the Class B state meet.

Scarborough’s girls team won the Western Maine Class A title and they placed second (by just four points) at the Class A state meet.

The Scarborough boys were fifth at the West A regional race and they really stepped it up with a fourth-place finish at the Class A state championship. Like Cape, the Scarborough boys had just one senior in their top seven.

South Portland’s girls were ninth at the West A regional meet – just one spot away from qualifying for the state championship race. And the South Portland boys placed 11th at the regional meet.

GOLF

Cape Elizabeth won their third Class B state championship in the last five years as the Capers used an undefeated regular season to propel themselves to the title. Cape senior Johnny Hayes capped off the highly successful season by winning the Class B schoolboy title as well.

The Scarborough golf team went 4-6 during the regular season with a pair of wins against Westbrook and a couple more wins against South Portland.

South Portland went 0-10 during the regular season that saw the Red Riots play some of the tougher teams in the league – Deering, Cheverus and Portland – along with Scarborough and Westbrook.

VOLLEYBALL

Scarborough ended the regular season with a 10-4 record and they hosted a Western division quarterfinal against Yarmouth. The Red Storm won in three straight sets earning themselves a regional semifinal match-up at Biddeford. Scarborough played well before falling to the Tigers by a 3-1 margin.

Cape Elizabeth fielded a team that played a developmental schedule against many of the junior varsity teams in the area. The Capers hope to play at the varsity level in the next year or two.

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