This weekend is one of those biggies with just about something for everyone: playoff football and soccer, championship cross country and big collegiate contests as well.

The State High School Cross Country Championships will be contested at Twin Brook in Cumberland in all three classes.

The schedule has Class B girls at 11 a.m., Class B boys at 11:45 a.m., Class C girls at 12:30 p.m., Class C boys at 1:15 p.m., Class A girls at 2 p.m., and Class A boys at 2:45 p.m.

State meet qualifiers from the Mid-coast region girls include Brunswick (Allie Burns, Tessa Cassidy, Brooke Escoe, Laurel Margerum, Teresa Murphy, Emma Nagler, Lily Sanders, Tiffany Tanner, Anna Turner, Ruth Van Kampen) in Eastern A, along Mt. Ararat individual runners Kelly Lynch and Amy Segars.

“I think we should finish in the top four,” said Brunswick coach David DeLois, whose charges won the Eastern “A” title last week. “The Western teams with Bonny Eagle and Massabesic are strong and I think Bonny Eagle, with their times, is the best. Obviously, Hampden will be there as well.”

In Class B look for Freeport (Sydney Ambrose, Elly Bengtsson, Nina Davenport, Chloe Hight, Emily Jennings, Bethanie Knighton, Ella Russell, Hannah Schnyder and Hayley Steckler), and Lisbon (Caitlyn Bundy, Bailey Eveson, Kaylin Le, Allie Lycette, Abigail Roy, Bree Sautter, Adrianna White).

Also running will be Morse individuals Kelsea Albertson and Amy Franklin.

In Class C girls there is Merriconeag Waldorf, (Fiona Ahearne, Fiona Chace-Donahue, Emma Dolan, Phoebe Dolan, Sylvie Fenderson, Emma Goldberg- Courtney, Fiona Libby, Samantha Pierce, Carlin Tindall, Lily Tupper).

For the Class A boys look for Brunswick individuals Jason Higginbotham and Christopher Tanner, and Mt. Ararat’s Matt Gott, Nathan MacKenzie and Sam Wood.

In Class B boys, Freeport (Eric Brobst, AJ Daniel, Mark Donahue, Matthew Francis, Tyler Frey, Henry Jaques, James Saucier, Chandler Vincent, Austin Williams) is competing, along with Lisbon’s Nicholas Harriman, Morse’s Christopher Walfield, and Wiscasset’s Nick Smelcher of Lincoln Academy.

The Merriconeag Waldorf boys (John Burgess, Lars Gunderson, Zach Neveu, Tucker Pierce, David Ritger, Graham Roeberg, Lincoln Samuelson, Dylan Wu) will also run in Class C, along with Wiscasset’s David Pearson.

Now let’s go to soccer where the semifinal round gets under way.

On to the soccer pitch

In Western Class D semifinals, we have the top-seeded Richmond girls (13-1) playing host to Searsport (8-3-4, and an 8-1 quarterfinal winner over Rangeley) at 3 p.m. today.

In Eastern Class A, the No. 2 Mt. Ararat girls (13-2) play host to No. 3 Hampden Academy (10-3-2) on Saturday (2 p.m.), while No. 4 Brunswick (10-4-1) heads to top-seeded Bangor (14-1, 4-0 winner over No. 8 Mt. Blue) for an 11 a.m. matchup.

In regular-season action, Mt. Ararat defeated the Broncos 2-0 and Bangor prevailed over the Dragons, 2-0.

No. 5 Freeport (10-5), coming off a 1-0 Western Maine Class B quarterfinal girls win over No. 4 Yarmouth, is set to visit top-ranked Cape Elizabeth, 12-2-1 and 4-0 winner over No. 8 Poland. The Falcons opened the Western Maine Conference season with a 5-0 loss to the Capers.

Also, in boys soccer play, the No. 4 Mt. Ararat boys (10-3-2) are heading up to No. 1 Hampden (14-1) Saturday fora6p.m.clash.Intheregular season, the Eagles lost to the Broncos 2-1.

The second-seeded Richmond boys will host No. 3 Chop Point (9-2) this afternoon at 2 p.m. in semifinal play.

Football fever

In football, the quarterfinals begin tonight with Western Maine Class B and Western Maine Class C.

In B action, No. 7 Mt. Ararat (4-4) travels to 6-2 York, while No. 8 Morse (3-5) heads to No. 1 Kennebunk.

In regular-season action, the Eagles lost to York 34-0 and Morse fell to the Rams 50-7.

“Health-wise we are pretty beat up, we lost some key players to injuries, and of course this time of the year everyone has bumps and bruises,” said Mt. Ararat coach Frank True.

“No excuses though, we have been dealing with players being out all year. We take a lot of pride in saying next man-up and set the expectations that they play at a high level while they’re filling in.”

What did the Eagles learn from their first encounter with York?

“We learned that even though we were defeated by them, that we had a lot to do with it,” offered True. “We didn’t execute our responsibilities the way we can, we had them in third- and fourth-down multiple times and didn’t get off the field like we should have. We made some poor decisions with the ball that cost us on a few drives, and I think we lost some of our poise in the fourth quarter. Our kids are fired up to get another chance to show how far our progress has come this year.”

So, what will it take for Mt. Ararat to tack on an upset to the Wildcats?

“Technique will be key — we can’t make mistakes against a good football team and expect to overcome them,” said True. “They are a sound disciplined team that doesn’t make mistakes. We have to be able win the field position game and understand that punting and pinning them deep are key points in the game.

“Then we will need to take advantage of any opportunity that they give us, there won’t be many, but we have to be ready when it comes. Offensively, execution of our blocks and running behind our pads, making good decisions with the ball, and taking what they give us and staying patient.”

And, road trips can be a little tricky.

“We made the trip earlier in the season and it wasn’t too bad, but we did start a little sluggish so we are working on avoiding that scenario again,” said True. “We’re working on making sure the ride home will be an exciting one.

“Although it would be great to play in front of our home fans, and give the community a home playoff game, we didn’t earn it this year. We have received a lot of community support this year which has been fantastic for the kids, there always seems to be a buzz around town talking MTA Football.

“Our team can’t thank everyone enough for the support they have given us this year. On behalf of the players and coaches I want to give a big thank you to everyone for making this year special.”

In Class C, No. 6 Freeport (4-4) heads to No. 3 Spruce Mountain (6-2). The two schools met in the season opener with the Falcons falling, 53-20.

On Saturday, No. 3 Lisbon (6-2) will entertain No. 6 Maranacook (4-4) in a West D quarterfinal tilt. The Greyhounds won their regular season meeting, 24-6.

Bowdoin busy

The Bowdoin College cross country teams will compete at the New England Small College Athletic Conference championship this Saturday at Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford, Conn.

Leading the way for Bowdoin will be defending men’s champion Coby Horowitz, who will look to become the first Polar Bear to repeat as conference champion. The Bowdoin men finished third at the 2012 championship race while the women took seventh.

The Polar Bear men will be looking for their first NESCAC title since claiming consecutive crowns in 2001 and 2002. Horowitz picked up right where he left off in 2012, winning the Southern Maine Invitational and the Maine State Championships, while finishing second at the Hanover Pre-National Invitational.

A First Team All-NESCAC performer in 2011 and Second Team All-NESCAC Second Team in 2010, Horowitz was the Most Outstanding Performer a year ago. He is not the only Bowdoin harrier capable of turning in low times, as senior Nick Saba was the runner-up at the Bowdoin Invitational and placed sixth at the Hanover Pre-National Invitational, and senior Sam Seekins is a 2012 All-NESCAC First Teamer. The Polar Bears won their own invitational and the Maine State Championships.

The women’s team will look to build off its thirdplace finish at the Maine State Championship two weeks ago.

Lucy Skinner has been the top runner for the women’s team, winning the state race and placing second at the Bowdoin Invitational earlier this fall. Madelena Rizzo will also look to make a run at All-NESCAC honors after posting top-10 finishes at the state race and Bowdoin Invite.

The NESCAC postseason begins in earnest on Saturday with men’s and women’s soccer and field hockey on tap.

Plus the football team begins its quest for a Colby- Bates-Bowdoin title, traveling to Bates for a 12:30 p.m. clash.

This gridiron game features two 2-4 squads, although Bates is coming off a 21-3 loss at Colby. Bates looks to defeat Bowdoin for the third consecutive season and Bowdoin leads the series 66-42-7.

Bates ranks second in the NESCAC in rushing offense with 218.8 yards per game on the ground. The team has rushed for 230 or more yards in four games this season.

Bowdoin quarterback Mac Caputi is 75 for 157 for 775 yards, three TDs and six interceptions.

Zach Donnarumma has rushed 105 times for 398 yards and two TDs and Tyler Grant 43 times for 212 yards and two scores.

Defensively, Joey Cleary leads with 42 tackles and 25 assists (and two INTs), followed by Brian Glazewski (27-25, two sacks), Griffin Cardew (27-13) and Reeder Wells (20-9).

Men’s soccer garnered the fifth seed and travels to No. 4 Tufts (8-5-1). Ironically, the two teams met on Tuesday with the host Jumbos prevailing, 1-0.

The Bears are 8-3-3 under first-year coach Scott Wiercinski with 32 goals scored and 12 allowed, along with a six-game win streak.

Leading scorers are Zach Danssaert (5-7), Austin Downing (5-0), Andrew Jones (4-2) and Hunter Miller (3-3).

The third-seeded field hockey squad (12-2) is hosting No. 6 Trinity (8-6) on Saturday at 1 p.m. in a quarterfinal game. These two teams faced off on Oct. 5, with Bowdoin collecting a 2-1 overtime win on the Bantams’ home turf.

In a 4-0 win over Colby last Saturday, Bowdoin collected its 40th consecutive home victory, breaking the program’s previous record of 39 straight home wins set between 2004-08, and is the longest current streak in Division III field hockey.

Bowdoin leads the NESCAC in goals per game (5.00) and goals-against (00.75). Bowdoin is ranked second in the nation by NFHCA Coaches poll behind Montclair State with Tufts third, Middlebury fifth and Amherst seventh.

Rachel Kennedy leads with 16 goals and five assists, followed by Katie Riley (10-15), Liz Znamierowski (7-2) and Colleen Finnerty (6-6), while goaltender Hannah Gartner has a 0.64 GAA in 13 games, with five shutouts.

The women’s soccer team beat Tufts 3-2 on Wednesday. With the win, the Polar Bears (11-2-1, 7-2-1 NESCAC) earned the third seed for the NESCAC Tournament and will host No. 6 Tufts (8-6) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Bears have scored 31 goals and allowed eight, led by Kiersten Turner (11-4), Jamie Hofstetter (6-3) and Molly Popolizio (4-2). Goaltender Bridget McCarthy sports a 0.78 GAA with three shutouts.

Bowdoin women’s rugby completed its regular season last week with a 56-12 win over the University of Maine-Orono Saturday at Pickard Field. The 6-1 Polar Bears are scheduled to host the New England Small College Rugby Conference Championships on Saturday against Tufts University at 1 p.m.

Bowdoin dropped a 29-17 decision to Tufts back on Sept. 28.