Newsletter #57...The list of active legends gets smaller
Tuesday's highly-publicized retirement of Portland boys' basketball coaching legend Joe Russo didn't just mark the end of a transcendent, triumphant era, it also marked the continuation on a recent trend which has seen several veteran (an in some cases, iconic) leaders step aside.
Since the start of this decade, the likes of Jim Hartman (Portland and Yarmouth football), Mike Hagerty (Yarmouth boys' soccer), Brandon Salway (Waynflete boys' soccer), Mike Farley (Scarborough girls' soccer), Jeanne Zarrilli (Gorham girls' soccer), Robin Haley (Falmouth field hockey), Kerry Mariello (Scarborough field hockey), Sarah Boeckel (Cape Elizabeth volleyball), Kelvin Hasch (Greely volleyball), Jon Roberts (Scarborough volleyball), Jim Senecal (Yarmouth volleyball), Jim Ray (Cape Elizabeth boys' basketball), Todd Wing (Deering boys' basketball), Travis Seaver (Greely boys' basketball), Bob Davies (Thornton Academy boys' basketball), Mike Murphy (Deering, Scarborough and Westbrook girls' basketball), Lynne Hasson (South Portland and NYA girls' basketball), Eric Marston (Thornton Academy girls' basketball), Deron Barton (Falmouth boys' hockey), Barry Mothes (Greely boys' hockey), Tony DiBiase (South Portland, Portland and Cheverus baseball), Mike Rutherford (Portland and Westbrook baseball), Robbie Ferrante (Portland softball), Tom Griffin (Scarborough softball), Ashley Pullen (Falmouth girls' lacrosse) and Julia Sterling (Yarmouth and NYA girls' lacrosse) have concluded their time as head coaches.
All of those coaches won triple-digit number of games and most won at least one state title, if not many.
Their reasons for departing were myriad. Some reached retirement age, others moved away, some got tired of dealing with the challenges of coaching in this day and age.
The bottom line is that collective centuries of institutional knowledge are no longer on the sidelines.
I'm now in my 26th year covering high school sports. There are now only eight coaches remaining who were coaching their current team when I started.
The list includes:
Kevin Kezal (Thornton Academy football)
Dave Halligan (Falmouth boys' soccer and boys' basketball)
Mike Andreasen (Greely boys' soccer)
Rocco Frenzilli (Portland boys' soccer)
Mark Diaz (Scarborough boys' soccer)
Derek Soule (Greely baseball)
Ben Raymond (Cape Elizabeth boys' lacrosse)
Cathie Connors (Waynflete girls' lacrosse)
That's it.
Hopefully they all still have many years left. All these departures make me feel older by the minute.
A fun contest
Last Saturday, on a beautiful afternoon at Boulos Stadium, cPort Credit Union and Hoffer's High School Sports sponsored a halftime field goal kicking challenge and both contestants, Anthony Salvaggio and Jeff Holmes, nailed their attempts from 10- , 15- and 20-yards, but couldn't quite finish from 30-yards out, leaving them with $100 apiece, which they were both kind enough to donate back to Cheverus Athletics.
Game stories
Links to game stories you might have missed since last week:
Windham field hockey stays hot with win at Scarborough
South Portland football rallies to beat Massabesic
Cheverus football humbled by powerhouse Marshwood
Greely field hockey blanks Edward Little
Greely volleyball wins again, blanking Hampden Academy
Yarmouth girls rally for rainy win at crosstown rival NYA
Cheverus' late heroics spell victory at Biddeford
Scarborough boys continue to surge with win over Falmouth
Gorham beats TA in volleyball late-season showdown
Features
Every Monday, HHSS, in conjunction with partner cPort Credit Union, will name a "Player of the Week." This week's selection is Gorham senior field hockey standout Sydney Quimby, who set a new program record for goals in a game.
Michael Hoffer
Each Tuesday, HHSS releases Super-Six polls for football, field hockey, boys' soccer, girls' soccer and volleyball. Here's this week's rankings:
Michael Hoffer
Media
This Tuesday's WGAN spot:
https://wgan.com/morning-news/hoffers-high-school-sports-37/
Predictions
This week's popular, prescient Patriots pick (4-1 to date):
Patriots 23 Jets 17
Last week was a lot of fun. For starters, I got to be there in person to see the most prolific Patriots' offensive effort in several seasons. It appears they're rounding back into form and if they don't cough up the ball, they should take care of the Jets. It's a division game, however, so it won't be as easy as many think.
Closer to home, here are my picks for this week's high school football games (9-3 last week, 54-15 to date):
Cape Elizabeth over Lake Region
Deering over Cheverus
Freeport over Dirigo
Scarborough over Gorham
Greely over Hermon
South Portland over Noble
Thornton Academy over Sanford
Kennebunk over Westbrook
Yarmouth over Orono
Portland over Oxford Hills (Saturday)
Windham over Falmouth (Saturday)
On a heater
The following teams have won at least five games in a row at press time:
Cheverus field hockey 12 (29 dating back to last year)
Cheverus volleyball 9
Greely volleyball 10
Scarborough girls' soccer 8
Thornton Academy football 6 (15 dating back to last year)
Thornton Academy field hockey 5
Yarmouth football 6
Yarmouth boys' soccer 8
Yarmouth field hockey 12
Upcoming
Looking ahead, the next week features an abundance of intriguing games.
Friday's gridiron action includes Greely hosting Hermon in a compelling Class C battle, Yarmouth looking to continue its dominance against visiting Orono and Scarborough seeking its first win at Gorham. Thornton Academy goes to Portland in a key boys' soccer contest and Freeport hosts Greely with the No. 2 spot in Class B South field hockey hanging in the balance.
Saturday, Portland's football team goes to Oxford Hills for a contest which will go a long way toward determining who will get the top seed in Class A North. Thornton Academy hosts Sanford/Kennebunk in a makeup field hockey game, which has big standings implications. Freeport at Greely is a meeting of Class B South girls' soccer contenders.
Monday sees the volleyball regular season come to a close with Scarborough hosting Thornton Academy in a possible Class A playoff preview and Greely playing host to York in a battle of two of the top teams in Class B. Yarmouth and Freeport meet for the second time in field hockey, but it probably won't be the last time they square off this fall.
Tuesday, can't-miss regular-season ending showdowns include Cheverus at Sanford field hocky, Greely at Yarmouth and Portland at Scarborough boys' soccer and Greely at Yarmouth and Cape Elizabeth at Freeport girls' soccer.
And then, the postseason begins in field hockey, soccer and volleyball...
Enjoy the weekend, everyone. See you right back here, next Friday.
Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffersports@yahoo.com
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