Cape football opens season Thursday versus Red Lion
The Cape football team closed out preseason at Legends Stadium Aug. 24 versus the Appoquinimink Jaguars. The encouraging takeaways were that both offenses looked good, which raised defensive concerns.
Both teams played offense and defense for 20 plays each followed by some down and distance. There was no kicking game.
Second-year coach Mike Frederick assessed his team’s condition heading into the season and home opener Thursday, Aug. 31, versus Red Lion Christian Academy: “We’re ready to see these student-athletes get rolling. They have put in a great off-season and done what we have asked this preseason. Coming out of camp, we continue to look for depth within a couple of position groups. The numbers are there as the roster grows, but we are young in many spots and inexperienced. I can honestly say that no coach is ever fully certain what the team’s limitations or ceiling are. You are always hopeful they will reach their potential, but never certain.”
Frederick, a talker and storyteller, continued, “As [University of Virginia coach] George Welsh used to tell us, a week from now half the teams in the nation will be unbeaten and the other half winless and that one game at the beginning of the year does not make or break a season. Then he would say something about NASCAR playing their Super Bowl in Week 1, which never really made sense to this Philly kid. But he said to just trust he was making a good point. We play a very talented team in Red Lion. Playing non-defined boundary schools is tough. But we need to get ready for the schools we play in our classification by facing great competition.”
Appoquinimink finished 6-4 last season, while Cape was 4-6. The Jaguars won at Cape 21-14, with junior Daniel McConomy scoring three touchdowns. Cape’s Maurki James scored both of the Vikings’ touchdowns. Both McConomy and James were held out of the Thursday night scrimmage.
Appoquinimink opens the season Friday, Sept. 8, at Odessa High School.
Bits and bytes - Red Lion has 46 players on the roster, with 33 being freshmen and sophomores. Red Lion was 7-3 in 2022, including five consecutive wins to close out the season before losing to Saint Mark’s in the state tournament 45-18. Freshman quarterback Jameson Tingle will wear No. 4. The precocious player has patience and poise, and he is accurate from midrange to the long passing game. Tingle was protected during preseason live action, but it's about to get real for all players. Cape returns Wilson Ingerski, now a senior kicker and punter. Wilson is a weapon. Coach Ben Ashby will be the wig-wag – using hand signals – sending in plays called by Mike Frederick.
