Portland and South Portland and Kennebunk
A trio of Southern Maine teams grab wins in the final minute
For Friday night of Week 6, I doubled up on Portland games.
First, I headed to Fitzy to check out Portland and Bangor. The Rams struck first when after a 73-yard Gavin Hughes catch and run got them in the Red Zone, Hughes seemed to fumble shy of the end zone, but the officials ruled him in and Bangor took a 7-0 lead.
I've watched this 20 times and looked at Travis Lee's angle and he's at least a yard short...and that's being generous.
I'm going to guess the official who made the call has also watched it 20 times and would like that one back.
Portland rallied. Alex Martin scored, then blocked a pass, allowing Bailey Jordan's pick 6 and Portland took a 21-7 lead into the half. That's when I left.
Bangor wasn't done. Hughes caught 2 more touchdown passes from Alex Tennett to erase the Portland lead and tie it at 21. It all came down to who had the ball last. Alex Martin made sure he was in the end zone when he dove inside the pylon with 13.3 seconds left and the Bulldogs kept their dream of the 1 seed in A North alive with a 28-21 win.
When I got to South Portland, the Riots were down 12-0 to Massabesic in the second quarter. A couple minutes later, they forced a fumble, only to give it back on the next play. But the Stangs, uh, weren't in a hurry and ran out of time in the Red Zone before the end of the half.
In the second half, Massabesic continued to bleed the clock with their run game. Eventually, they gave up the ball and SoPo struck quickly when Christopher Salamone broke free from 59 yards out to get them on the board. THEN, Massabesic fumbled on the first play of the next possession and Ben Dube found the end zone on the next play.
Suddenly, South Portland had erased Massabesic's lead within 30 seconds and had their own 13-12 lead. Massabesic re-took the lead with a Gavin Jipson touchdown catch on 4th down, then SoPo answered with Chase Lappin's nice catch over the middle with 1:40 left.
Down to 1 timeout, Massabesic worked their way down the field, but had to burn it on an inside run around midfield. Then Dube sealed it an interception and South Portland handed Massabesic their second loss of the season while moving up to 3rd in the Crabtree.
After the game, I spoke to Ben Dube.
Michael Hoffer was there.
Michael Hoffer
Even further south, the Game of the Day lived up to the hype.
Down 6 with 7.5 seconds left, Kennebunk got in their bag. Running back Bradley Farrell threw his second score of the game–a 5 yard touchdown pass to quarterback Giovanni D’Elia to tie the game at 34. The extra point sealed it and the Rams won a thriller to move to 5-1.
Elsewhere
Lucas Klehn ran for 3 scores as Bonny Eagle continued to roll...Darren Flagg scored 5 times, picked off 2 passes, and Leavitt kept rolling...Luke Piper accounted for 4 touchdowns in Greely's win over Oceanside...Owen Ross ran for 4 touchdowns as Falmouth pulled away from Gorham...Ethan Closson threw 4 touchdown passes, ran for one, and returned a kick 91 yards in Old Town's blowout of Lake Region. The Coyotes have scored 132 points in their last 2 games...Brennan Tabor ran for 4 touchdowns as TA turned a 14-0 deficit into a 53-6 run against Noble...Windham's Patrick Davenport ran for 3 scores in a win over Edward Little.
An official in Missouri has been suspended after his actions during a high school football game on Thursday night.
I’ve received a statement from a MSHSAA member after this incident (video below) during Thursday night’s matchup between Glendale and Kickapoo.
— Danielle King (@DanielleRKing_) October 9, 2026
“We were made aware of the situation, and the official in question has been suspended indefinitely.”
🎥: @ShotzByLogan pic.twitter.com/UNRQARJE9Z
There's no scenario where this sort of thing is even remotely ok.
This guy should not be officiating at any level.
If you're reading this newsletter, you probably don't need to be sold on Cooper's potential for his sophomore season, but it's nice to see one of the national NBA writers recognize it.
The only teenage rookies in NBA history who’ve scored more points than Flagg were Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Kevin Durant. All of their true shooting and effective field goal percentages were lower than Flagg’s. This isn’t a 19-year-old who lost his way. It’s a generational prodigy who spent months tinkering, learning, and enduring through the type of struggle that will benefit him in the long run. Year one forced Flagg to develop by forcing him to think through thorny circumstances instead of consistently putting him in a position to succeed. Trial and error. He responded by rarely looking flustered. It was almost eerie how instantaneously he belonged.
The Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame, which I really do need to go check out, is looking for nominations for the 2027 class.
RIP to the one and only Mike Ditka.
Our Adventures in B South continues today in Portland as Cheverus hosts Marshwood on their brand-new football field.
Marshwood enters the weekend as a prohibitive favorite to grab one of the top 2 seeds in B South, while Cheverus is favored to make the playoffs with a long-shot chance at getting a home playoff game.
I've been updated the spreadsheet once a week for football, but the playoff calculator seems to have locked in yesterday's results anyway, which is nice.
A Stags win will take their home playoff game odds to 13%. A Marshwood win will take their 1 seed line to 62% and all but assure them a bye.
The rest of the Model's picks for today's games are after the jump.