Cape fends off Pirates 28-23
PORT CHARLOTTE – After a sloppy game in the rain and mud, Cape Coral High prevailed over the Port Charlotte Pirates 28-23 Friday night.
The 4-0 record for the Seahawks is the school’s best start in head coach Mike Goebbel’s time at Cape High.
“We thought we’d be 4-0 at this point,” said Goebbel. “We didn’t think it would be this much of a fight, though.”
The Seahawks needed a late touchdown last week against North Fort Myers to pull out a 25-20 win, and needed help from their defense Friday night to make up for four more turnovers by the offense.
On the second play of the game, quarterback Jaylen Watkins fumbled on a draw play. The ball was recovered by the Pirates (0-4) inside the Cape 20-yard line. Port Charlotte only came away with a field goal.
The Seahawks responded with a 32-yard touchdown run by running back Jeremy Davis. The future Miami Hurricane took a toss to his right, then reversed his field before finding a hole to go the distance.
“That’s one of those ‘yes, yes, yes, or no, no, no’ plays,” Goebbel said. “Jeremy takes a lot of those. Sometimes they’re a bust, and other times he gets a big play out of it. In this case, a touchdown.”
Davis totaled 125 rushing yards on only 10 carries, the longest being a 67-yard run that set up a touchdown catch by Spencer Boyd.
Following the tough win, the Seahawks head into a bye week before hosting Palmetto Ridge in their district opener on Oct. 9.
“I don’t know much about them (Palmetto Ridge),” said Goebbel. “I know they were 1-9 last year, and that they have a new coach, but we’ll have to study the game film this week.”
After widening the gap to 14-3 on Watkins’ touchdown run, Port Charlotte responded with a one-yard touchdown run by running back Logan Tuttle.
The Seahawks once again responded with a touchdown, this time by Boyd. The Notre Dame recruit finished with 46 yards and a touchdown.
Trailing 28-17 late in the fourth quarter, Port Charlotte quarterback Tyler Harless found wideout Craig Mapp in the end zone with less than a minute remaining, but the ensuing onside kick was recovered by Lance James for the Seahawks, ultimately deciding the outcome of the game.
“We’re definitely gonna have to do some conditioning in the off week,” said Goebbel. “We’ll try to look at some different plays that we want to run in the second half of the season.”
Cape Coral 14 7 0 7 – 28
Pt. Charlotte 3 7 7 6 – 23
First Quarter
PC – FG, Bradley Yunker 39
Cape – Jeremy Davis 32 run (kick blocked)
Cape – Jaylen Watkins 1 run (Josh Monteagudo run)
Second Quarter
PC – Logan Tuttle 1 run (Mark Baten kick)
Cape – Spencer Boyd 14 pass from Watkins (Phil Brownson kick)
Third Quarter
PC – Tyler Harless 1 run (Baten kick)
Fourth Quarter
Cape – Boyd 3 run (Brownson kick)
PC – Marky Charpentier 11 pass from Harless (pass failed)