South Portland football ghostbusters, and other things learned at Thursday's practice

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South Portland special teams work on extra points during football practice Thursday. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)

Growth in sports comes in different forms. For many teams, it is improvement, whether from one season to another or from the beginning of preseason to the end of it. For others, it's literal growth, as in, more team members.

Varsity Maine went to Thursday's Poland and South Portland football and Skowhegan cross country practices. Here's what we learned in South Portland:

Red Riots ready to rise

The biggest takeaway from Thursday's practice? The Red Riots are confident they can improve on last year's 5-5 season that ended with a Class A South semifinal loss to Thornton Academy.

"I think our team's really good. I think we've got a shot to get that Gold Ball," said senior tight end and tri-captain Kai Turner, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound tight end/linebacker. "Everybody on our team knows it. We should be pretty good."

Turner, senior receivers Darius Johnson and Alex Horton, and senior quarterback Parker Reny provide the ingredients for a strong passing attack that has drawn attention from other Class A coaches.

"I think our offense is going to be hard to beat and hard for defenses to guard," said the 6-4, 205-pound Johnson.

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Horton (5-10, 165), known for speed and crisp routes, believes South Portland is the "most talented" team in Class A South, but more importantly, "we have the mentality that we want to get better."

The Army wants Johnson

Johnson said he's received a full scholarship offer from Army. After first seeing Johnson at a Boston College camp, Army's coaches invited him to their facility where they made the offer. Johnson said he also has an offer from Maine but plans to enroll at West Point.

"They have been in contact with me every day, calling, texting, supporting me through this entire process, and they've been showing me the most love, so I think I'm going to go there," Johnson said.

Ghost story

What would a summer camp experience be without a ghost story? Horton had a tale to tell after South Portland's preseason week at Camp Cobbossee in Monmouth.

Horton and his cabin mates were awakened the first night by the sound of someone walking the floor in football cleats.

"We all thought it was a ghost or something. We had a sophomore Chase Lappin, who went to Catholic school, do an exorcism in case it was a demon or something. That was the funniest thing I've seen at camp," Horton said. "We didn't hear anything after that, so who knows?"

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