Published September 24, 2026 by Jimmy James, Portland Press Herald.
The Red Riots rebounded against Scarborough to pick up their first win.
South Portland (1-2) picked up its first win of the season on Sept. 18, defeating Scarborough 20-13 with a second-half comeback fueled by three rushing touchdowns from senior Christopher Salamone.
The Red Riots started their season with losses to juggernauts Bonny Eagle (3-0) and Thornton Academy (3-0), who are ranked second and first, respectively, in the latest Varsity Maine football poll.
After putting up a good fight against both of those opponents, the Red Riots sought their first victory of the season last week against Scarborough. Despite falling behind 13-0, their perseverance paid off.
Click here to watch the YouTube Short highlighting the South Portland Varsity Boys Football Team.
“Iron sharpens iron,” said South Portland coach Aaron Filieo. “… We were down seven starters against Scarborough, and Scarborough came out with a great game plan, well-coached, and kids played hard, and we were down two scores at halftime. … In our first three games, we’ve had to just kind of stay the course and then find a level of resiliency that really is foundational for trying to create an identity for this team. And so I think that there’s a lot to be learned, and I think it’s only going to make us better in the long run to know that we started off the season as tough as you can get schedule-wise.”
South Portland plays Cheverus (1-2) at 7 p.m. Friday.