Greely Leavitt III

When you lose a championship game, it stays with you. There's something about getting so close to your goal, only to fall short at the very end that you can't quite shake like you can a loss in the quarterfinals. It can eat at you all offseason.

If you're lucky, you'll get another shot at that team in the next season. Teams respond differently. Some run draws on third down that are destined to fail and throw bizarre interceptions in the red zone. Others come out motivated to punch the champs in the nose and make a statement.

Last night, Leavitt landed in Cumberland and punched the back-to-back defending champs in the nose.

The Hornets scored on their first possession, a strike from Landon Marquis to Darren Flagg.

Then got a strip of Greely QB Luke Piper on 4th down that they were able to convert into another score and before the Greely faithful knew what hit them, Leavitt was up 14-0. Leavitt nearly put the game away for good on their third possession, but Marquis was stopped inside the 1 yard line on 4th down.

After a couple of bad snaps thwarted their chances, Greely got on the board with a Luke Piper strike to James Tyll.

But this one was all Leavitt. Their defense gave Greely fits the entire game. Quite simply, they played like a team motived, which is exactly what Darren Flagg (3 touchdowns) said after the game.

The win puts Leavitt firmly in the driver's seat in Class C.

For Greely, the loss snaps their 21-game winning streak that dates all the way back to when they were in 8-man. It's a remarkable run and not the worst spot to get punched in the nose and figure out what they need to work on.

Michael Hoffer was there.

Leavitt’s statement victory brings Greely’s streak to an end

CUMBERLAND—Leavitt’s football team came to Glenn A. Hutchins Field Thursday evening on a mission. And it’s safe to say the end result was mission accomplished. Visiting Greely in a rematch of last year’s Class C state final, won decisively by the Rangers, the Hornets took control

Hoffer's High School SportsMichael Hoffer

Elsewhere

Megan Ritz had 4 goals as Freeport dominated Fryeburg...Oakley Frey's lone goal held up in Wells' 1-0 win over Sacopee Valley...Vivienne Corriveau scored 5 times in Yarmouth's win...Kyler deWildt's goal gave Marshwood a 1-0 win over Cheverus...Matilda Freeman's game-winner led Deering over Portland...Scarlett Floyd's goal and 2 assists paced Scarborough over Westbrook...Ella Mello's overtime goal gave York a win over Wells.

Volleyball?

I've been asked about volleyball, because I've posted a couple of volleyball clips, including this one of my niece Brooke in Medomak's win over Camden.

I can do volleyball rankings, but I need the sets. Knowing that a team won 3-0 doesn't really help me. I need the details (25-20, 25-14, you get the idea). So I might add it to the scoreboard and see what happens.

Podcast

If you haven't yet caught the latest episode of the podcast, the feedback from my conversation with BL Lippert about this weekend's Autism Awareness Games has been overwhelmingly positive (all the credit for that belongs to BL), so check it out wherever you podcast.

And go check out a game this weekend!

Hills and Hills and Hills

If you're a runner, the Waldoboro Half Marathon is right around the corner. I'm in charge of it.

It's a very small race for one simple reason: it's really, really hard. Here's the elevation map.

That's over 1,400 feet of elevation and 7 hills with a grade of over 10%. 45% of the race is uphill. There's no water stations and no course support. Like I said: crazy hard.

There's a qualification standard because I don't want to have to come get you if you can't finish.

But if this is your kind of race, all of that sounded great.

The Waldoboro Half Marathon

The Waldoboro Half Marathon is on Saturday September 19, 2026.

The Waldoboro Half Marathon

There's 2 options for Game of the Day today.

If you want a soccer game, there's the Dexter and Bangor Christian girls. The Patriots are 3-0 and averaging 11.7 goals a game with a point differential of +34. Dexter, on the other hand, hasn't allowed a goal yet. Something's gotta give.

If you're looking for a football game, Westbrook continues their early season gauntlet of a schedule. If you didn't catch the podcast episode with Blue Blazes coach Sam Johnson, here's your reminder.

This week, the Blue Blazes' defense will get a test when they take on a Marshwood team that put up a 50 spot in the opener against Sanford.

The rest of the Model's picks for today's games are after the jump.