Cape football falls to St. Georges, but makes DIAA playoffs
In a game that could have gone either way, it ultimately came down to who made the bigger plays and kept the mistakes to a minimum between equally matched teams of Cape Henlopen and St. Georges. When the the final whistle was blown, the Hawks squeaked out a 31-27 victory Nov. 8 at Cape’s Legends Stadium.
“It was a really good game,” said senior Bodie Frederick. “They made just one single play more than we did. It came down to the wire, and either team could have won.”
“We left it all on the field,” said running back Jayden Messick. “This was the seniors’ last game on this field, and they played their hearts out.”
During the Hawks’ first series, Zane Coulbourne recovered a fumble to give a spark to the Vikings. They got on the scoreboard first, as Jayden Messick scampered for 39 yards and the first of his three touchdowns in the contest. He finished with a career night, rushing 22 times for 195 yards and three touchdowns.
The score was tied at 7-7 after the first quarter. The Hawks took a 17-13 lead into the halftime break. Cape was on top 27-24 after the third, when St. Georges scored late and held on to garner the 31-27 victory.
Junior Del Richards ran the ball six times for 16 hard-fought yards and scored a touchdown.
Quarterback Jameson Tingle went 13-for-23 for 111 yards. Amari Jackson pulled in five catches for 53 yards, while Anthony Francis caught two for 18 yards. Messick snagged three catches for 13 and had a 40-yard touchdown called back on a holding call. Richards grabbed two passes for 24 yards.
The Vikings ended the game with 356 total yards.
Defensively, the Vikings had great performances from Coulbourne with 15 tackles, while Robbie Payton and Richards each tallied eight. Gawaun Curtis and Sal Satori made seven and six stops, respectively.
Mistakes took their toll on the Vikings, as Payton returned an interception for a touchdown that was called back for a penalty, and Messick took a Tingle pass for a 39-yard score that was negated by a holding call.
“It was one of those games that you have to find a way to win at home,” said Cape head coach Mike Frederick. “The last two weeks have been a story to our season. We’ve had the lead in the fourth quarter in both games. You have to find a way to win. Whether it’s the offense getting an extra score or getting a big stop on D. We’ve had issues with kickoff coverage all year.
“Looking back, we played well. We ran the ball, we had stops on D; Jameson made creative plays. On special teams, St. Georges had a blocked field goal, we missed an extra point and had bad coverage on kick off returns. It comes back to bite you. We were up 10 in the third and three in the fourth at home. They just made one more big play than we did. Very proud of the fight in our guys. They will battle you for sure.”
Even with the four-point loss, the 5-5 Vikings earned a spot as the eighth seed of the DIAA Division 3A tournament. They will travel to Abessinio Stadium in Wilmington to play the No. 1 Salesianum at 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 15.
