Newsletter #22...No time to sleep
The beauty of overtime playoff games is the drama and emotional twists-and-turns they produce.
The downside is those stories take a lot of time to write and late nights are often the end result this time of year.
Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, after writing about a Scarborough-Windham girls' soccer overtime regional final, followed by a boys' regional final between Scarborough and Falmouth that didn't require OT, but was close throughout, the clock read 2 a.m. when I packed it in for the night.
Thursday night/this morning, after writing about the Cheverus-Biddeford overtime field hockey regional final and a one-goal regional final between Freeport and Yarmouth, it's already past 1 a.m.
I'm not complaining, well maybe a little, but the point is this is the part of the season where one play, one instant can turn the fortune of an athlete, a team, a season.
And that's what makes it so palpitating.
The 2025 volleyball season has come to a close, field hockey and soccer are a day away from crowning their champions and the football playoffs are underway in all classes.
Gracious, there's been some amazing drama and I've been fortunate enough to write about most of it.
See below for story links.
I'm off to bed...
A PHS record
Portland junior place-kicker Justin Bouchard set a new program record in last week's 27-14 home win over South Portland in the "Battle of the Bridge," booting the 118th successful extra point of his career.
Bouchard, who is also one of the best onside kick specialists in the state (he had one in last year's state game win over Thornton Academy), already shares the program record for field goals made in one game and has 139 total points, good for 19th in Bulldogs annals. Bouchard also had a touchdown run earlier this season in a win over Lewiston.
Bouchard is coached by Rocco Navarro, the longtime Portland kicking coach, as well as Sam Lenson of Lenson Punting and Kicking. Lenson kicked for the University of Maine. Bouchard is seeking to build his skills and get more exposure through Kohl's Kicking and Chris Sailer Kicking. He hopes to be a placekicker in college.
Bouchard and his teammates take on rival Deering in the Class A North semifinals Friday night.
Cross country champions
A shout-out to the state cross country champions, who were crowned last Saturday in Augusta.
Portland's girls made history by winning a Class A championship for the first time in program history (the Bulldogs were runners-up in 2024). Freshman sensation Nora Schmidt completed her dazzling first high school season by placing first individually with a time of 18 minute, 50.6 seconds. The Portland boys were a close second behind Hampden Academy.
In Class B, the Freeport girls won the team title for the first time since 2006, while Greely's Rowan Barry was first individually (19:10.9). Yarmouth's boys captured the team crown for the first time in three decades, while Freeport's Alex Gilbert was the top individual (16:35.14).
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 (17 in a row)
Cheverus field hockey (16)
Greely football (17, including 2024)
Scarborough boys' soccer (17)
Scarborough girls' soccer (15)
Thornton Academy football (7)
Westbrook football (6)
Yarmouth boys' soccer (10)
In case you missed it...
If you missed any of our recent game stories, you can find them here:
Cape girls survive Freeport in OT
Yarmouth's run ends with semifinal loss at Mt. Ararat
Yarmouth field hockey ends Cape's run, advances to regional final
Yarmouth boys edge Cape in OT in semifinals
Yarmouth girls earn some revenge, dethrone Greely
Gorham volleyball three-peats at TA's expense
Scarborough girls need PKs to down Windham in regional final
Scarborough boys beat Falmouth to return to state game
Cheverus rallies to beat Biddeford in OT regional final classic
Freeport solves Yarmouth in regional final
Media
Last Friday's Middays with Mannix and Mannix spot:
https://thebigjab.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MMM-Michael-Hoffer.mp3
Tuesday's WGAN spot with Matt Gagnon:
https://wgan.com/morning-news/hoffers-high-school-sports-8/
Predictions
I'm now 6-3 on my popular, prescient Patriots pick, following Sunday's narrow win over Atlanta.
This week's guess:
Tampa Bay 24 Patriots 20
After surviving disaster last week, a market correction might be in store. This is a winnable game, but going in without some key contributors, facing a talented team, which is coming off a bye, on the road, is going to be too much to overcome, I'm afraid.
Turning to high school football, here are my picks for this week's games. I went 4-4 last week (76-23 for the season):
Portland over Deering
Falmouth over Kennebunk
Greely over Medomak Valley
Thornton Academy over South Portland
Westbrook over Marshwood
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 cPort Credit Union, named our Athlete of the Week, Gorham junior volleyball standout Liana Edwards, who led the Rams to a third straight Class A championship.
Michael Hoffer
On Tuesday, our weekly Super-Six polls featured a final poll for volleyball and the latest rankings for football, boys' soccer, girls' soccer and field hockey.
Michael Hoffer
Wednesday saw us feature the Falmouth at Kennebunk football semifinal as our Game of the Week:
Michael Hoffer
Thursday, our weekly Hoffer's High School Sports podcast featured legendary basketball coach Bob Brown.
Michael Hoffer
Enjoy the weekend, everyone.
May we all experience as much joy as Freeport senior goalie Maddie Kryzak and her teammates after Thursday's therapeutic win over Yarmouth in the Class B South Final:
See you again right here, next Friday.
Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffersports@yahoo.com
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