Newsletter #21...Time to crown champions
The postseason fun is at a fever pitch and tomorrow afternoon, state champions will be crowned in volleyball.
Next Saturday brings titles for field hockey and soccer, which will cap what promises to be a memorable playoff week.
The football playoffs are about to kickoff in Classes B, C, D and eight-man, while the Class A regular season comes to a close later tonight.
Shiny trophies are about to become the norm.
Let's start with volleyball, where either third-seeded Gorham will win a third consecutive championship, or fourth-ranked Thornton Academy will capture its first crown in Class A Saturday evening (look full coverage of that match right here at Hoffer's High School Sports.com).
The Rams ended Cheverus' best-ever season in Wednesday's semifinal round, 3-1, while the Golden Trojans made history with a 3-1 win at Scarborough in their semifinal.
Courtesy Jeff Christenbury.
Gorham showed signs of mortality during the regular season, starting 2-2, but the Rams have put it all together when it matters most and will have a short trip down the street to play for a big crowd at the University of Southern Maine.
Thornton Academy dropped four of 14 regular season matches, but has produced the most impressive playoff victory so far, beating a Scarborough squad which appeared to be a team of destiny.
It could be a classic.
There were some close calls but no big upsets to speak of in the early field hockey and soccer playoff rounds.
Cheverus-Biddeford and Yarmouth-Freeport field hockey regional finals are still distinctly possible.
Top seeds Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth, Freeport, Greely, Scarborough, Windham and Yarmouth are still alive in the girls' soccer tournament, while the Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth, Gorham, Greely, Scarborough, South Portland and Yarmouth boys are also still chasing Gold Balls.
A terrific weekend on the gridiron also looms, as Cheverus goes to Marshwood and Falmouth hosts Gorham in the Class B South quarterfinals, Freeport has a showdown at Oak Hill in the Class D quarterfinals and Yarmouth and Mt. Ararat are set to do battle in a compelling 8-man large division South Region semifinal.
Thornton Academy will be the top seed for the Class A South semifinals, which begin next week. The Golden Trojans will face South Portland.
In Class A North, Portland will again be the top seed and could meet rival Deering in the semifinals.
There's so much hanging in the balance and the next week will be dizzying and dazzling.
Back to the future at PHS
Once upon a time at Portland High School, boys' lacrosse excellence was defined by the last name Jurgelevich, as Kirk Jurgelvich was a loyal assistant to head coach Eric Begonia and his boys, K.R. and Ryan, played pivotal roles on championship-caliber teams.
Thursday, Portland named Ryan Jurgelevich as its new boys' lacrosse varsity coach.
Jurgelevich was a sophomore goalie on Portland's lone state championship team in 2009 and went on to play at the University of Southern Maine. Jurgelevich played two years with the Vermont Voyageurs box lacrosse team and has previously served as a youth lacrosse coach.
Jurgelevich replaces Mike DiFusco, who went 79-83 over a dozen seasons.
On a heater
Several local squads have produced long win streaks. Here's a list of teams who have won at least five games in a row at press time:
Cape Elizabeth girls' soccer (15 in a row)
Cape Elizabeth field hockey (5)
Cheverus field hockey (14)
Greely football (17, including 2024)
Scarborough boys' soccer (15)
Scarborough girls' soccer (13)
Thornton Academy football (6)
Westbrook football (6)
Yarmouth football (7)
Yarmouth boys' soccer (8)
Yarmouth field hockey (15)
In case you missed it...
If you missed any of our recent game stories, you can find them here:
South Portland/Westbrook downs Windham for first playoff win in ages
TA rolls at Bonny Eagle behind Connor Ayoob's 304 yards
Scarborough sweeps Falmouth in volleyball quarterfinal
TA upset by Noble in field hockey prelim
Gorham wins field hockey quarterfinal in OT at Scarborough
Scarborough girls rally to beat Marshwood in overtime thriller
Cheverus juggernaut rolls on with quarterfinal win over SP/Westbrook
Gorham downs Cheverus in volleyball semifinals
Media
Tuesday's WGAN spot with Matt Gagnon:
https://wgan.com/morning-news/hoffers-high-school-sports-7/
A lengthy podcast visit with Lucas McNelly of Mainebasketballrankings.com
Lucas McNelly
Predictions
I'm now 5-3 on my popular, prescient Patriots pick, following Sunday's win over Cleveland.
This week's guess:
Patriots 23 Falcons 20
I have a bad feeling about this one. Atlanta is hot or cold and since it was cold last week, it could pose some problems this weekend. The Falcons have some skill players on offense that could expose the Pats' defense. Regardless, the New England offense and its star quarterback should have enough to keep the good times rolling.
How much fun is it to be watching winning football again?!!
Turning to high school football, here are my picks for this week's games. I went 9-3 last week (72-19 for the season):
Cheverus over Marshwood
Deering over Windham
Falmouth over Gorham
Freeport over Oak Hill
Portland over South Portland
Bonny Eagle over Scarborough
Thornton Academy over Noble (played Thursday, picked Thursday)
Yarmouth over Mt. Ararat
Daily features
All season long at Hoffer's High School Sports, we'll have fresh, unique content every weekday, in addition to the myriad game stories.
This past Monday, HHSS, in conjunction with our partner, cPort Credit Union, named another "Player of the Week," Portland's senior all-purpose star, Cordell Jones:
Michael Hoffer
Tuesday brought the release of our latest Super-Six polls for football, boys' soccer, girls' soccer, field hockey and volleyball:
Michael Hoffer
Wednesday saw us feature Yarmouth at Mt. Ararat football as our Game of the Week:
Michael Hoffer
Thursday, our weekly Hoffer's High School Sports podcast featured a playoff preview, with predictions.
Michael Hoffer
Enjoy the weekend, everyone.
May we all experience as much joy as Gorham's volleyball team did after beating Cheverus in Wednesday's Class A state semifinal:
See you again right here, next Friday.
Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffersports@yahoo.com
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