05 Dec 2025 6 min read Newsletters

Newsletter #25...Falling into winter

If you live for high school sports, you have to love the fact that there are fewer than two weeks between the football state games and the start of basketball and boys' hockey.

If you're a sportswriter trying to produce fall all-star teams and winter previews in that limited time span, you don't enjoy it quite as much.

Regardless, there's no stopping Father Time and after a fantastic fall sports season, and a very short Thanksgiving respite, the winter campaign is underway and it promises to be fantastic.

Before we talk about winter, let's take a quick trip back in time two weeks to where Thornton Academy, Westbrook and Greely all won Gold Balls on the gridiron.

In Class A, Thornton Academy has been the clear favorite all season and it capped its championship campaign with a 28-0 win over Portland, as senior standout Connor Ayoob, if he hadn't already, locked up the Fitzpatrick Trophy with a 32-carry, 233-yard, four-touchdown performance.

Read all about the Golden Trojans' latest championship here: https://www.hoffershighschoolsports.com/ta-blanks-portland-returns-to-class-a-pinnacle/

While Thornton Academy's title was expected, what happened in Class B was not. Instead, it was one of the great stories of recent vintage, as Westbrook, a program with virtually no pedigree, brought home a championship for the first time by virtue of a 40-20 win over Cony. The Blue Blazes got a defensive score from senior linebacker extraordinaire Tony Bongomin and senior quarterback Giovanni Staples ran for a touchdown and threw for two more and a whole community got to exult. At last.

Read all about Westbrook's magical finish here: https://www.hoffershighschoolsports.com/westbrooks-wonder-boys-beat-cony-for-historic-first-state-title/

In Class C, Greely's story was pretty amazing as well. One year after winning an eight-man large school championship, the Rangers moved back to 11-man for the first time since 2018 and ran the table, finishing perfect with a surprisingly decisive 41-6 win over Leavitt in the state game. Junior quarterback Luke Piper accounted for three total touchdowns and Greely continued to raise the bar for excellence.

Read all about the Rangers' victory here: https://www.hoffershighschoolsports.com/greely-caps-perfect-season-dominates-leavitt-in-class-c-state-game/

Jones makes it official

*Portland senior Cordell Jones officially signs to attend and play football next year at the University of Maine.*

The end of November wasn't kind to Portland senior quarterback Cordell Jones, as his Bulldogs lost in the state final to Thornton Academy and in the annual Portland-Deering Turkey Day classic, Jones suffered a shoulder injury in a 35-14 loss to the Rams.

Wednesday, however, things took a turn for the better, as Jones, joined by family, teammates, coaches and friends, officially committed to playing football at the University of Maine next year.

*Cordell Jones, joined by PHS football coach Nick Cliche, left, grandfather Richard Ross and father Cordell Jones Sr., is all smiles during his signing Wednesday.*

"It's been a long journey," said Jones, who will miss the first part of basketball season due to his injury. "It started when I came here sophomore year. Great teammates along the way helped me. I decided on Maine because it's home. I really like the coaches. I've built a good relationship with them. It felt like a family when I was up there visiting. I think they can utilize me in different ways and we can build something special."

"I think (Cordell's) ability to play both sides of the ball will make him successful," said Portland coach Nick Cliche. "He's an explosive athlete. They can put the ball in his hands or put him in position to make plays on defense. Players make coaches and Cordell is a once-in-a-lifetime player. He's done everything for this program the right way the past three seasons."

In case you missed it...

In addition to the football game stories, there have been three fall all-star and one winter sports preview stories since the last newsletter.

Field hockey all-star team: https://www.hoffershighschoolsports.com/hoffers-high-school-spor/

Girls' soccer all-star team: https://www.hoffershighschoolsports.com/hoffers-high-school-sports-girls-soccer-all-star-team/

Boys' soccer all-star team: https://www.hoffershighschoolsports.com/hoffers-high-school-sports-girls-soccer-all-star-team-2/

Girls' hockey season preview: https://www.hoffershighschoolsports.com/hoffers-high-school-sports-2025-26-girls-ice-hockey-preview-can-cheverus-continue-its-dominance/

Look for the boys' and girls' basketball and boys' hockey season previews and football all-star team stories to appear very, very soon.

Media

My final fall Middays with Mannix and Mannix spot:

https://thebigjab.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MMM-11-24-25-Michael-Hoffer.mp3

Tuesday's WGAN spot with Matt Gagnon:

https://wgan.com/morning-news/hoffers-high-school-sports-11/

Predictions

For what it's worth, I'm now 9-4 on my popular, prescient Patriots pick, following a correct pick in a narrow win at the Bengals and guessing wrong on Monday night's delightful home blowout of the Giants.

Features

Hoffer's High School Sports, in conjunction with cPort Credit Union, named one final fall Athlete of the Week following the football state games. Not surprisingly, the winner was Westbrook quarterback Giovanni Staples.