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Seahawks in control despite 14-14 tie

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PUNTA GORDA — Cape Coral High entered spring football practice with a race for starting quarterback. After Thursday night’s spring game at Charlotte, the situation remains largely unsettled.

As anticipated, both senior-to-be Colin Saring and junior Jaylen Watkins split the snaps, and each performed well. They took turns throwing first-half touchdown passes to sophomore receiver Prince Holloway in the Seahawks’ 14-14 tie with the Tarpons.

“I’ve never been a two-quarterback system guy, but I may become one,” Seahawks coach Mike Goebbel said. “I think both are going to give us an interesting combination.”

Less of a controversy Thursday night was where each of the Seahawks’ quarterbacks wanted to throw the ball, when they needed a big catch.

After Chris Johnson’s interception set the Seahawks up at the Charlotte 37, they cashed in on their opening possession. Saring threw a perfectly-timed fade pass to Holloway, who turned back away from the defender for a 24-yard touchdown reception.

In the second quarter, Watkins engineered an 11-play, 51-yard scoring drive, which was capped off by an eight-yard touchdown pass to Holloway. This time, Holloway went up over cornerback Nick Stephenson, giving the Seahawks a 14-0 lead.

“That guy (Holloway) is maybe one of the most natural receivers I’ve ever seen,” Goebbel said, “but if you looked later in the game they had three guys on him. We can’t be a one receiver team.”

Despite the final score, the Seahawks thoroughly controlled play for the first three quarters. Defensively, the Seahawks held the Tarpons to 52 yards in the first half.

In the fourth quarter, when the Seahawks brought in their junior varsity players, the Tarpons scored twice. Rod Bostic broke free for a 69-yard touchdown run, and backup quarterback Paul Balcomb hooked up with Dustin Jones for a 29-yard touchdown with only a minute left in the game.

The Seahawks were in the process of evaluating players throughout their lineup, but many of the experienced players set the tone through the first three quarters.

Junior-to-be Spencer Boyd, the team’s leading rusher last season, gained 102 yards on 15 carries. The offensive line which returns three starters in Nate Sprosty, Tony Waller and Dan Koening helped clear the way.

“I thought we did really well,” Waller said. “We had a couple new guys come in on the offensive line and they’re doing a great job. There’s a lot we can work on though to get better for next year.”

Saring started the game at quarterback and played the entire first quarter. Watkins played the second, and both quarterbacks saw some snaps in the third.

Saring completed 8-of-13 passes for 30 yards, and rushed for 28 yards on five carries. Watkins completed 4-of-4 passes for 36 yards and had 52 yards rushing on six carries.

“I think Colin showed that he can lead the team and Jaylen gives us a dimension of what people would say is a 12th man on the field,” Goebbel said.

Defensively, the Seahawks were led by defensive end Brian Justice. He made several tackles in the open field and made a key third-down stop behind the line when the Tarpons were at midfield right before halftime.

In the third quarter, Corey Hickson came off the corner and nearly sacked the quarterback. The pressure forced an interception by Watkins.

Cape Coral 7 7 0 0 — 14

Charlotte 0 0 0 14 — 14

1st Quarter

Cape — Prince Holloway 24 pass from Colin Saring (Kenton Beal kick).

2nd Quarter

Cape — Holloway 8 pass from Jaylen Watkins (Beal kick).

4th Quarter

Charlotte — Rod Bostic 69 run (Joey Masters kick).

Charlotte — Dustin Jones 29 pass from Paul Balcomb (Masters kick).