enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Justin Young, the Sanford quarterback, is one of the first players through the sign made by the cheerleaders, on the way to the field for another season opener.

enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

And the season begins at Sanford – before school even starts and with about 600 fans in the stands – as the captains from Sanford and Thornton Academy meet for the coin toss. In two months the season will end, but the passion and memories will endure for much longer.

enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Roland Cote not only has been going to Sanford High games for about 50 years, but was the quarterback on that legendary 1959 unbeaten team that was a state champion.

enlarge John Ewing/Staff photographer

Mike Fallon, the 12th-year Sanford coach, suffered through a loss but emphasized the positives with his players.

BEYOND THE SCOREBOARD ABOUT OUR SERIES Welcome to "Beyond the Scoreboard," a feature that will run on Fridays this fall in the Portland Press Herald. The series offers a unique look at high school football around southern Maine, seen from the eyes of participants, spectators and those who work behind the scenes. MORE ONLINE Check out an audio slideshow at the "Beyond the Scoreboard" Web page at www.pressherald.com. NEXT FRIDAY We explore life in the trenches for a group of offensive linemen.

SANFORD — The clatter of cleats started softly and grew as more and more football players strode down the paved path sloping into the bowl that is Stephen A. Cobb Stadium.

First came the visitors from Thornton Academy, trotting around the end zone to the opposite side of the steep hill that leads down from a parking lot and dressing rooms inside a brick schoolhouse.

Then came Sanford, the home team, crashing through a large sign of white paper, painted and held by cheerleaders, that read "Trash the Trojans" as the opening strains of an AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" poured through loudspeakers mounted on light poles.

High school football season had arrived.

"The atmosphere of a Friday night football game," said Sanford senior quarterback Justin Young, one of the first players through the ripped sign, "is way beyond any other atmosphere of any other (high school) sporting event."

In an attempt to tap into that atmosphere, the Portland Press Herald will shine a weekly Friday night light -- or possibly a Saturday afternoon illumination -- on a different aspect of the game or the people who play and support it.

Although no longer the only sport in town, football remains a rallying point for a school and a community.

It occupies the center of every homecoming celebration, steeped in tradition and pageantry and functioning as something of a rite of passage for teenagers on the threshold of adulthood.

The series kicks off in Sanford, a town with a football tradition that includes three state championship teams -- 1956 and 1959 in Class B, and 1998 in Class A -- and three Fitzpatrick Trophy winners: Paul Belanger in 1976, Tony Matoin in 1978 and Kevin Bougie in 1999.

Success has been elusive of late, with three one-win seasons followed by last fall's 3-5 record.

But hope and optimism abound in August, before the start of school, before the leaves turn, before practice regularly ends in darkness.

Young was last year's junior varsity quarterback until a broken wrist ended his season. A former water boy with a lanky build (5-foot-10, 140 pounds), he took over the varsity reins from three-year starter Derek Legere.

Baseball remains Young's favorite sport, but his agility and passing touch make him well-suited to run Sanford's wing-T offense, which features deception, misdirection and roll-out passes.

Despite a smallish offensive line, Sanford's outlook seemed rosy to Young as the final hours of August wound down. His team had been practicing for nearly three weeks. He had attended summer passing camps with his receivers.

Both of his parents played sports for Sanford High -- his father Al is now the school principal -- and he has attended nearly every Sanford football game since the age of 5.

"I'm excited," he said. "It's going to be fun. We're going to try and make it to the playoffs."

Sanford's last playoff appearance came in 2002. Last Friday's opponent, Thornton Academy of Saco, had lost its previous two opening games and is eager to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

Under a threatening sky, the visiting Trojans clattered down to the field and burst through a sign painted by their own maroon- and-white-clad cheerleaders.

Even in pregame calisthenics, the difference in size was obvious. A check of the program showed seven Thornton Academy players weighing at least 250 pounds. Sanford has nobody bigger than 240.

"We're pretty green in the trenches," said 12th-year Sanford coach Mike Fallon. "We've got some good kids, some older kids, but they're kind of cutting their teeth. It's going to be a big challenge with Thornton Academy."

AN EARLY START

Sanford seemed up to the challenge, holding the Trojans scoreless in the first quarter as a light rain fell.

Ryan Slattery made the game's first tackle, in Thornton Academy's backfield....