Seahawks achieve perfection
Cape Coral defeated Lehigh 28-7 Friday night to complete their regular season undefeated at 10-0. It was the first time the Seahawks accomplished this feat since 1993.
“I’m so glad for these guys and what they accomplished,” said Cape coach Mike Goebbel. “Thirty years from now they will be able to look back and say, ‘We went undefeated.'”
As he reflected on this year’s Seahawks record he thought back to his own high school days.
“My senior year in high school our team did the same thing,” Goebbel said. “It is awesome. There’s nothing like it. It’s been over 40 years, and we’re still close.”
Goebbel graduated from Columbus (Ohio) Eastmoor High in 1966, and played for the same coach as Bishop Verot coach Phil Dorn.
The final score does not reflect the struggle the Seahawks went through to win. The first quarter was a defensive battle with no score and each team struggling to get a first down.
Lehigh (5-5, 5-0 district) had the first big play when quarterback Larry Overstreet hit Markees Brantley on a 45-yard pass. That put the ball at the Cape 15. Three plays netted them minus four yards. They faced fourth down on the Cape 19-yard line.
Overstreet found Troy Campbell in the left corner of the end zone behind Cape’s Jeremy Davis for the touchdown.
Cape responded quickly. On the first play after the kickoff, Davis initially was bottled up by the Lightning, but broke free and raced 85 yards for a score.
At the end of the first half the offensive total yards were close with Lehigh holding a slight edge 158-135. The Lightning had five first downs to the Seahawks’ two. The score was knotted at 7-7.
In the third quarter, Lehigh went exclusively with the run, and literally ground out several first downs, chewing up more than six minutes on the clock. The Lightning had a first down at the Cape 15. Ironically, the Seahawks defense stiffened and Lehigh faced an identical fourth-and-14 at the Cape 19. Overstreet sent a pass into the end zone. This time Davis intercepted it in the end zone for a touchback.
“They (Lehigh) got to Davis early, and kept going at him. We needed to get burned in order to start playing our coverage in the right way,” said Goebbel.
Davis’ interception in the end zone was the first of three he had in the second half. Lehigh threw only four passes in the second half, all of them were caught by the wrong team. Late in the game Prince Holloway had the fourth interception.
Cape hosts Lakewood Ranch Friday night in the regional quarterfinals.
Lehigh 0 7 0 0 – 7
Cape Coral 0 7 0 21 – 28
Second Quarter
L – Troy Campbell 19 pass from Larry Overstreet (Michael Thomas kick)
C – Jeremy Davis 85 run (Simon Perez kick)
Fourth Quarter
C – Austin Luby 14 pass from Jaylen Watkins (Perez kick)
C – Davis 70 interception return (Perez kick)
C – Davis 17 run (Perez kick)