The football regular season hit the three-quarter pole last weekend and local teams are all over the map in regards to playoff positioning.

The biggest success story continues to be the Greely Rangers, who improved to 5-1 last weekend with a 41-0 victory at Gray-New Gloucester. Greely continued to demonstrate it throws the ball as well as anybody as quarterback Drew Hodge hit Svenn Jacobson and Nick Maynard with long touchdown passes for a 14-0 lead after one quarter. After Jacobson scored on a long TD run, he caught another scoring pass from Hodge. A touchdown run from James Ferrar gave the Rangers a 35-0 lead at halftime and a Hodge TD run in the third period accounted for the final score.

Greely sits fifth in the Western Class B Crabtree Points standings. The Rangers face a big home test Friday night when perennial powerhouse Mountain Valley pays a visit. The Falcons have struggled and are just 2-4, but remain as dangerous as always. Greely has never beaten Mountain Valley, falling, 35-7, last season, at Rumford. The Rangers close the regular season the following week when they host Falmouth in the “Battle of Route 9.”

Speaking of the Yachtsmen, they fell to 1-5 and 10th in the standings after a 44-6 loss at Fryeburg Friday afternoon. Falmouth was down 22-0 after one period and didn’t score until the fourth quarter, when a long TD run from Austin Wheeler accounted for the final score.

The Yachtsmen host top-ranked Westbrook (5-1) in a playoff rematch Friday night. Last year, Falmouth fell at the Blue Blazes in the regular season, 28-25, then lost to them at home in the Western B quarterfinals, 12-7. A Falmouth upset could resurrect playoff hopes.

In Western C, Freeport got back in the win column Saturday, handling host Telstar, 42-13. After a scoreless first period, the Rebels scored first on a long run, but James Purdy took over the in the second period, running for a pair of scores and hitting Dan Burke with a TD pass and a 21-7 halftime lead. A Burke TD run, a Purdy-to-Paul Nixon scoring pass and a TD run from David Scheadler gave the Falcons some breathing room. Telstar scored one final TD in the third period, but Freeport cruised to the win and evened its record at 3-3, snapping a three-game losing streak.

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The Falcons are in a five-team race for the No. 8 spot in the Crabtrees and sit in eighth heading into Saturday’s home tilt with 2-4 Winthrop. The teams didn’t play a year ago. Freeport, which hosts Yarmouth in the regular season finale Oct. 20, has little margin for error the final two weeks.

The Clippers are still in the playoff hunt as well, but the two-time defending state champions have made life difficult for themselves after a 35-13 home loss to Lisbon dropped them to 1-5. Yarmouth struck first on a TD run from Caleb Uhl (seeing his first action of the season), but the Greyhounds tied the score later in the first period, went ahead to stay with a second quarter touchdown and added two more in the third for a commanding 28-7 lead. Lisbon added another TD in the fourth period before the Clippers got a late touchdown pass from Brady Neujahr to Rhys Eddy.

Yarmouth (10th in Western C) has a tough test in its home finale Friday, as 5-1 Dirigo (ranked second) pays a visit. The teams didn’t meet a year ago. The Clippers, despite their record, can earn a playoff berth for the fourth straight year with a win. Yarmouth’s finale, at Freeport, Oct. 20, will also be pivotal.

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

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Yarmouth junior quarterback Brady Neujahr throws a pass during Friday’s 35-13 home loss to Lisbon, which dropped the two-time defending Class C state champion Clippers to 1-5.

Yarmouth junior Matt Woodbury hauls down a Lisbon runner.


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