The odds seemed to be stacked against Luci Pike, the starting goalie for the Gorham girls soccer team. Monday, playing despite a groin injury and the sun in her face during most of the second half, Pike made 12 saves in a 4-3 win over Greely to help the Rams reach their third Class A championship game.
"I think when you get this far, what I'm starting to learn, that's senior experience, being in the playoffs," Gorham Coach Jeanne Zarrilli said of the senior goalie. "She shook it off because of the adrenaline, of wanting to be here and to finish it out. When you've been here a couple years and it's your senior year, I guess that's the only answer."
In his final game playing for his father, Massabesic's Tyler Morin caught three passes for 63 yards, including a 44-yard reception in the fourth quarter that helped set up the Mustangs' only touchdown Saturday in a 14-7 loss to Marshwood in a Western Class A football quarterfinal.
Or, more specifically, the viral video, courtesy of YouTube. Following are several of the videos that are mentioned in today's story about YouTube and high school sports in Maine.
Scott Descoteaux turned to a higher power in preparation for Saturday's annual "Battle of the Bridge."
After a 20-14 overtime loss to Thornton, the first-year Biddeford football coach reached into the pocket of his khaki shorts and took out a small chunk of grass and earth, taken from the grave site of Mike Landry.
Landry, the legendary Biddeford football coach, died in December of 2006 after a two-year battle with skin cancer. Descoteaux played for Landry from 1989 to 1991.
"This is from the top of his grave, from this morning," Descoteaux said. "I saw Mrs. Landry today, she was wearing his sweater, I asked her if I could wear the sweater. I gave her a big hug and I stroked the shoulder of that sweater as many times as I could.
"I think Coach is up there, smiling at the effort he saw of the kids in their orange helmets. We call it 'Tiger Pride.' I know Coach is up there smiling, in terms of what he saw, the kids playing with Tiger Pride."
Three potential Fitzpatrick Trophy candidates to watch this weekend:
Owen Jones, Mountain Valley: Jones can catch or run for the Falcons, but displayed his versatility in a 52-0 win over Falmouth, catching two touchdown passes and returning a punt for a third.
Topher Pochebit, Cheverus: The tailback has been one of the Stags' consistent performers in the backfield. In a 35-6 win over Windham, Pochebit scored two touchdowns and rushed for 160 yards. Pochebit's older brother, Andrew, was a finalist for last year's Fitzpatrick Trophy.
Sequoyah Reynoso, Fryeburg Academy: Reynoso scored three touchdowns and ran for 155 yards in the Raiders' 27-20 win at York.
Like swimmers, runners taper their workouts leading up to big meets. In preparation for Saturday's regional championships at Twin Brook Recreational Area in Cumberland, the Cape Elizabeth girls cross country team has cut down on its mileage, gotten more rest and cut its workout nearly in half this week.
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This weekend will be one of the busiest for high school sports with regional cross country, playoffs in soccer and field hockey and the final weekend of the regular season for Western A and Eastern B football. But will the forecast cooperate? The National Weather Service has rain in the forecast for Friday and Saturday.
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One more thing ... keep an eye out for a "Fitzpatrick Watch" post some time Friday afternoon.
The synthetic surface at Deering's Memorial Field proved to be problematic for the Bonny Eagle field hockey team Wednesday in a 4-3 loss to the Rams in a Western A quarterfinal.
"Even though you have a half hour or 45 minutes and you're out here practicing and you can get a feel for it, it doesn't compare with what the actual game is like," Bonny Eagle Coach Patty Bourget said.
Beginning Wednesday, tickets will go on sale at Thornton Academy for one of the state's top football rivalry games, the annual "Battle of the Bridge" between Thornton and Biddeford.
Saturday at Waterhouse Field, Biddeford quarterback Justin Gelinas made his first pass of the game a memorable one. Gelinas' pass went wide of the intended receiver and past the Marshwood sideline, then through the white latticework fence that surrounds the field, leaving a football-shaped hole.
The rain keeps coming down but many of the high school football games scheduled for tonight are still being played, including the Portland Press Herald's Game of the Week, Morse at Gardiner (scheduled for 7 p.m.).
As of 4:40 p.m. Friday, 10 area high school football games have been postponed to Saturday:
Marshwood at Biddeford, 11 a.m.
Scarborough at Massabesic, 1 p.m.
Falmouth at Mountain Valley, 1:30 p.m.
Oxford Hills at Lewiston, 2 p.m.
Gorham at Westbrook, 3:30 p.m.
Portland at Bonny Eagle, 6 p.m.
Leavitt at Belfast, 6 p.m.
Sanford at Noble, 7 p.m.
Lake Region at Gray-New Gloucester, 7 p.m.
Poland at Wells, 7 p.m.
Taking a look at possible candidates for the Fitzpatrick Trophy, given annually to the state's top senior in high school football.
Three to watch:
Jon Hussey, Marshwood: Hussey has steamrolled through opposing defenses in four of the Hawks' first six games. In a 42-21 win at Scarborough, Hussey scored four touchdowns, two on interception returns.
Darrus Grate, Morse: Grate, a tailback, missed the Shipbuilders' first two games with a broken right hand but returned to become one of the Pine Tree Conference's top rushers. In last week's 33-6 win over Leavitt, Grate ran for 298 yards and five touchdowns.
Jim Bump, Cape Elizabeth: In 2006 the quarterback helped Cape to its most successful season (in the program's third year) and has continued to guide the Capers' offense. Bump threw for two touchdowns in a 25-14 win over Wells.
According the National Federation of State High School Associations, the nation's winningest football coach is John McKissick of Summerville, S.C., who won 531 games from 1952-2005.
On homecoming weekend at Thornton Academy, the Trojans knocked Massabesic from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 14-0 win Saturday at Hill Stadium.
But before getting ready for Saturday night's homecoming dance, the Trojans ran off the field and toward the school's bell tower, where they took part in the ceremonial ringing of the bell, rung for each point the Trojans score in a home victory.
"You're going to have the momentum at the start of the game and you just don't want to lose it," Thornton Coach Kevin Kezal said. "I felt like our kids came out and played 48 minutes and I felt like we kind of had that the whole day."
The place to be this weekend, obviously, is Bonny Eagle at Deering. But several other compelling matchups dot the slate in Week Six.
Today
Leavitt at Morse, McMann Field, Bath
Last year Morse defeated Leavitt early in the season, a valuable win that secured the Shipbuilders a spot in the Eastern B playoffs. Today, both the Hornets and the 'Builders enter with records of 4-1 in a game that could, again, have playoff implications.
Gardiner at Winslow, 1:30 p.m.
Someone's going to lose this one as both Gardiner and Winslow enter at 5-0 in a game that pits the defending Eastern B champion against a favorite for this year's Class B title.
Massabesic at Thornton Academy, 3 p.m., Hill Stadium, Saco
Cheverus couldn't stop Massabesic last week; the Mustangs trailed by a point in the fourth quarter last week before a 14-point fourth quarter. Of note – Mustangs Coach John Morin spent 12 years as an assistant at Thornton Academy.
The Gorham girls soccer team shares the top spot in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America Region I girls soccer poll.
Gorham (11-0) and Acton-Boxborough (Mass.) are the No. 1 teams in a weekly top ten poll that's actually a top 11 this week and includes Falmouth (11-0) at No. 6.
That's right, we're talking trophies, specifically the Fitzpatrick Trophy. It's given annually to the top senior football player in the state, and now that high school football season has passed the halfway point it may be time to consider the candidates.
Rachel is in her fourth year as a sports reporter at the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. A Maryland native and a former college soccer and softball player, she
covered high school and college sports at newspapers in Pennsylvania, Texas and Colorado before joining the Press Herald/Sunday Telegram staff in June of 2004.
She grew up watching the NHL, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Georgetown basketball and the Baltimore Orioles and is a confessed sports nut. Her interests include reading and movies, going to
the gym, Motown and '70s R&B music and following the New York City tabloids.
Married in July, she and her husband Tommy are avid Steelers and Kansas Jayhawks fans. Their toughest decision as newlyweds has been "NESN or ESPN?"
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