The fall sports season continues to roll along with memorable action involving local squads.

The official arrival of autumn was Wednesday, so buckle up as each day will be more impactful than the last.

Here’s a look back at the week that was:

Football

It was a wild weekend on the gridiron.

In Scarborough, the Red Storm went down to the wire against visiting Bangor, but ultimately lost in stunning fashion on the final play, 37-36, to fall to 1-2 on the year. Jayden Flaker scored a pair of late touchdowns to put Scarborough on top, but after the Bangor quarterback was apparently stopped shy of the goal line, the ball came loose and was recovered in the end zone for a Rams’ score, handing Scarborough an agonizing loss. The Red Storm go to 0-3 Edward Little Friday.

South Portland, meanwhile, put up 59 points and needed most of them to beat visiting Biddeford by 25 points to improve to 2-1. It took the Red Riots all of 22 seconds to take the lead, as Jaelen Jackson connected with Ryan Thurber, who broke away for a 67-yard touchdown reception. The Tigers answered and drew even, but Jackson put South Portland on top to stay with a 17-yard rush and the hosts held a 14-7 advantage after one quarter. Both teams then scored points with abandon in the second period, 38 of them to be precise. After throwing for a score and running for another in the opening stanza, Jackson caught a TD pass to start the second quarter, an 81-yard bomb from Nate Rende. After a Jackson interception, Rende scored on a 1-yard run to make it 26-7, but Biddeford answered. Undaunted, the Red Riots came right back, as Jackson scored on a 57-yard dash and after a late Tigers scoring run, Rende hit a diving Thurber for a 21-yard touchdown with just seconds remaining, and at halftime, South Portland held a 39-20 lead.

After the Tigers fumbled on the first play of the second half, Jackson scored his final touchdown on a 25-yard run, and after Biddeford answered, Rende connected with Alex Domingos for a 42-yard score, and the advantage was 52-27 heading to the fourth period. There, the Tigers scored one final time, before Johnny Poole answered with a 4-yard rush and the Red Riots closed out their 59-34 victory. Jackson accounted for 287 yards and five touchdowns.

“We have a lot of offensive weapons,” Jackson said. “A lot of guys people don’t know about, some great blockers and runners. This is a big confidence boost.”

“Fifty-nine points is impressive,” said Red Riots coach Aaron Filieo said. “Offensively, we hadn’t been able to put a lot together, so it was nice to be able to do that tonight. Last week, I thought our defense really rose to the challenge and it was a little disheartening to see the defense play the way they played. We’ll have to figure that out. I don’t know if that was a fundamental thing or a mentality thing, but we’ll address it because we can’t continue to play like that.”

South Portland is at 2-1 Marshwood, the reigning Class B champion, Friday night.

“That’s a huge test, but we welcome the challenge,” Filieo said. “We need to play mentally tougher. That’s what it’s going to come down to, especially on defense. We talk about having a championship-level mindset and we’re not there yet.”

Cape Elizabeth improved to 2-0 Saturday after a dominant 52-7 win at Gardiner. Colin Campbell scored three touchdowns, James Rickman had two TD runs, and the Capers also got touchdown receptions from Nick Laughlin and Luke Mello and a TD run from Caden McDuffie.

“After this hour-and-a-half bus ride, it was really impressive what our boys did,” McDuffie said. “Our linemen were hitting, our wide receivers were blocking, our running backs were hitting the holes great – it just opened everything up for me, personally. We were able to do whatever we wanted all night.”

“I think we all knew we had this (performance) in our backseat, but tonight we really showed the state what we could do,” Campbell said. “Confidence-wise it doesn’t do much, because we already have that. We know what we’re capable of.”

“We want to utilize the whole field,” Cape Elizabeth coach Sean Green added. “We feel like we have guys who have come along and improved in the offseason and earned the right to carry the football. We’ve got guys that we feel confident in and we’ll give them the ball the best we can.”

The Capers look to 3-0 Friday when they visit 0-3 Hampden Academy.

Boys’ soccer

Scarborough’s boys’ soccer team remained undefeated after a 1-0 home win over South Portland Saturday. Zander Haskell scored the lone goal in the 72nd minute and the Red Storm’s defense did the rest.

“It took awhile, but I was confident we’d score,” Haskell said. “I play the same no matter the position. We’re not just good because of our skill, but we work hard too.”

“We take a lot of pride in our defensive unit,” defender Noah Flagg said. “We’re tight. We work together really hard. Our chemistry in the back is really good. If one steps, the other drops. We work around each other, so if there’s a through ball and I’m up, someone else will drop back and get it.”

“(Mpinga’s) good, but our mids can lock him down,” said Nicholas Connolly, another back. “Our mids are defensive forces. It’s all about heart and putting everything into it. Zander’s the best striker in the state and it was all about locking it down for him.”

“South Portland’s a good team,” Scarborough coach Mark Diaz added. “We thought we’d do a little better offensively, but a lot of that was (South Portland) playing well.”

The Red Storm hosted Portland Wednesday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story), visit Sanford Friday, then play at Massabesic Wednesday of next week.

“There’s a lot of parity this year,” said Diaz. “It’s a tough league. We want to put our flag in the ground. Portland’s another big one. We have to keep getting better.

South Portland was 3-2-1 after a 6-1 home win over Sanford, a 1-0 loss at Scarborough and a 0-0 home draw versus Noble. In the victory, Joey Perron had two goals, while Jack Dreifus, Jack Houle, Sam Kierstead and Che-Hao Saito each added one. Against the Red Storm, one bad bounce in the box proved to be the difference.

“That’s what happens every time we play (Scarborough),” Red Riots coach Bryan Hoy lamented. “It’s the same song: When you make a mistake, they score. They capitalize on every mistake because that’s how good they are. I think (the defender) just mis-hit it. It was a bouncing ball, up around his waist and that’s a tough ball to get out anyway. He was trying to get a one-time clear and couldn’t get all of it. There was nothing anyone could do about it at that point.”

After going to Portland Friday, South Portland visits Marshwood Wednesday of next week.

“It never gets easier in this conference,” Hoy said. “There are about 10 teams who could win it. I think we’re one of them. The tournament will be very really fun to watch. I think we learn from every game.”

Cape Elizabeth, which lost its first two games this season, improved to 3-2 after recent wins over visiting Freeport (1-0) and host Waynflete (3-1). Ben Altenburg scored the only goal in the victory over the Falcons. The Capers then snapped the two-time reigning Class C champion Flyers’ 19-game win streak Tuesday afternoon behind two goals from Eddie Caldera, another from Sam Cochran and two assists from Stewart Kelley.

“A game right after school is tough to get warmed up for, but I was pleased with how we started and how we kept it up all game,” Kelley said.

“After the Greely (loss, in our second game), we had a talk and ever since then, things have clicked,” Caldera said. “I think we just need to stay focused in practice and pump each other up in games.”

“This helps us feel confident that what we’re doing is the right path,” Cape Elizabeth coach Ben Raymond added. “There’s going to be games where things move at a faster pace and we’ll be challenged more and more, but every time we take the field, you can see the improvement. We’ll focus on improving each and every day.”

The Capers hope to make it four in a row Friday when they host Lake Region. Monday brings a trip to Wells for a makeup game, and Tuesday of next week, Cape Elizabeth welcomes Poland.

Greater Portland Christian School was 1-2 after recent losses to Rangeley (5-0) and Chop Point (2-1). The Lions were at Valley Thursday and play host to Rangeley Tuesday of next week.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, two-time reigning Class B champion Cape Elizabeth extended its win streak to 29 games after downing host Freeport (2-0) and visiting Waynflete (6-0) in recent action. Against the Falcons, Caroline Gentile scored and a second goal came on a Falcons’ “own goal.” In the win over the Flyers, Gentile, Maggie Cochran and Emily Supple all had two goals. The Capers go to Lake Region Friday and visit Poland Tuesday of next week.

Scarborough, the three-time reigning Class A South champion, improved to 6-0 after downing host South Portland (6-1) and host Portland (5-0). Against the Red Riots, Lana Djuranovic scored three goals, Evelyn Boardman added two and Delia Fravert finished with one. In the win over the Bulldogs, Ali Mokriski had four goals and Djuranovic scored the other. The Red Storm hosted Sanford Thursday, welcome Massabesic Tuesday of next week, then go to Noble Thursday of next week.

South Portland fell to 0-6 after losses at Sanford (4-1), at home to Scarborough (6-1) and at Noble (4-0). Sammy Duffy had the goal against the Red Storm. The Riots hosted Portland Thursday, welcome Marshwood Tuesday of next week and go to Massabesic two days later.

Field hockey

Scarborough’s field hockey team suffered its first loss last Thursday, 1-0, at Cheverus, in a battle of unbeatens, then improved to 5-1 Saturday after a 3-1 home win over Gorham. Against the Stags, the Red Storm only managed three shots on cage.

“It’s something we’re not used to, but we’ll take the loss now and improve from it and see them later,” Scarborough coach Kerry Mariello said. “We tend to start defensive because we like to get a feel of what (the opponent’s) like, then we start putting pressure on as the game goes on. We held strong the remainder of the game and it’s unfortunate we couldn’t get one through.”

In the win, the Red Storm fell behind in the first minute, then didn’t allow a shot the rest of the way. Maggie Pendergast tied it with a goal off a penalty corner after time had expired in the first quarter, Lillian Finley gave Scarborough the lead for good on a penalty stroke, then Bella Bateman added an insurance goal.

“This was really important,” Finley said. “We wanted to come back from our loss with a huge win. It was important to stay strong and not let that (first goal) bring us down. Our defense is really strong always. When we give up a goal, we always push back.”

“I wanted to see what this team was made of coming off a loss,” Mariello said. “It didn’t start the way we wanted to, but the girls persevered, they got through and that says a lot about this team. I knew that was in them and now they can believe it because they made it happen.”

After hosting Bonny Eagle Wednesday, Scarborough goes to Kennebunk Friday and welcomes Westbrook Tuesday of next week.

“We want to grow each game and we’re heading in the right direction,” Mariello said.

South Portland fell to 0-6 after Monday’s 2-0 home loss to Massabesic. The Red Riots were at Falmouth Wednesday, play host to Marshwood Friday and visit Portand/Deering Tuesday.

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth was 4-0-1 at press time after sandwiching wins over visiting Lake Region (2-1) and Gray-New Gloucester (8-0) around a weather-shortened 1-1 tie at Yarmouth. Against the Lakers, Grace Gray scored both goals. In the win over the Patriots, Gray had three goals and four assists, while Meghan Conley, Carmen Erickson, Abbie Homicz, Kaitlyn McIntyre and Camden Woods all scored once. At the Clippers, the Capers fell behind early, but tied it in the fourth quarter on a goal from Woods. Just before the game could go to overtime, however, thunder and lightning delayed, then eventually ended the game in a draw.

“What a bummer we couldn’t finish,” said Capers coach Maura Bisogni. “I thought it was a great game. It would have been a really exciting overtime.”

Cape Elizabeth host Greely Thursday, welcomes Fryeburg Academy Monday and is at Lake Region Wednesday of next week.

Volleyball

Scarborough’s volleyball team stayed perfect at 5-0 after a dramatic five-set (25-23, 25-22, 16-25, 22-25, 15-9) win at Gorham last week. The Red Storm were at two-time reigning Class B champion Yarmouth Thursday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for story), visit Biddeford Monday, then play host to Marshwood Wednesday of next week.

South Portland was 2-4 after a straight-set loss at Yarmouth and a three-set win at Sanford. The Red Riots were at Kennebunk Thursday, go to Thornton Academy Monday and visit Windham Wednesday of next week.

Cape Elizabeth improved to 4-2 Friday after a three-set (25-13, 25-17, 25-14) home win over Wells. After going to Westbrook Friday and hosting Biddeford Saturday, the Capers welcome two-time reigning Class A champion Falmouth Tuesday of next week.

Cross country

Local cross country runners took part in the Southern Maine Classic Invitational cross country meet Saturday in Gorham.

Cape Elizabeth’s boys came in first out of 24 scoring teams, while South Portland placed third and Scarborough was sixth. Individually, the Capers were paced by Owen Patry, who was third in 16 minutes, 24.46 seconds. The Red Storm were led by Zachary Barry (seventh, 16:47.59). The Red Riots’ top finisher was Jacob Ramos (ninth, 17:08.20).

In the girls’ meet, won by Bonny Eagle, Cape Elizabeth placed fourth, South Portland came in 15th and Scarborough finished 19th. Capers standout Hadley Mahoney was the individual runner-up in 18:36.30. The Red Riots were paced by Anna Brown (67th, 23:24.55). The Red Storm were led by Jane Curtis (78th, 23:58.28).

Golf

On the links, Cape Elizabeth remained undefeated by downing Old Orchard Beach (7-0) and Waynflete (4-3). Curtis Sullivan (42 over nine holes) had the low score versus both the Seagulls and Flyers.

Scarborough improved to 6-1 after recent victories over Portland (10.5-2.5), South Portland (7.5-5.5) and Falmouth (9.5-3.5).

South Portland improved to 3-2 with a 13-0 win over Deering Tuesday.

Kennebec Journal staff writer Drew Bonifant contributed to this story.

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

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