Central closes out Cape 35-16 with strong fourth quarter
Sussex Central lost a football game Oct. 6 at Appoquinimink 31-30 by yielding 18 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. A week later, on Friday the 13th, the Golden Knights battled Cape at the Castle and led 21-16 with 3:44 left to play in the fourth quarter.
This time, the game blew up late on the Vikings after Central’s Kevon Moore-Briddell completed his 225-yard night with a 28-yard rushing touchdown, and that was followed by an eight-yard interception return by William Abbott for the final score of 35-16.
Sussex Central controlled time of possession, holding the ball for the first 11 of 14 minutes, scoring on a 24-yard pass from Gabe Cannon to Joaquin Costa Rodriquez and a 24-yard run by William Harmon.
Rodney Escobar-Gonzalez was a perfect 5-for-5 on extra points in the game.
Cape got on the scoreboard in the second quarter when quarterback Jameson Tingle hit tight end Brenn Scott on a short pass over the middle; Scott turned it into a 46-yard touchdown run. The Wilson Ingerski kick made the score 14-7.
Cape was back inside the five-yard line on both sides of halftime, but came away with just a field goal. A short field goal attempt was wide left to close out the first half.
A gutsy fourth-down play-action pass from the three-yard line to Scott in the back of the end zone for an apparent Cape touchdown was waved off for an illegal lineman downfield. Cape settled for a 23-yard Ingerski field goal to trail 14-10.
The Knights marched down the field on the ensuing possession, with Moore-Briddell scoring on a seven-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 21-10.
Cape closed out its third quarter on a 25-yard touchdown run by Maurki James. The Vikings’ two-point attempt failed, and Central led 21-16 entering the final period.
And on Friday the 13th, Sussex Central rolled a crooked 14-0 fourth-quarter number on Cape to win 35-16 after being on the downside of an 18-0 shocker a week earlier.
Moore-Briddell rushed 23 times for 225 yards. James rushed 19 times for 101 yards. Tingle was 7-for-16 for 129 yards.
Cape coach Mike Frederick said he’s pleased with the effort all the way around.
“A very physical game for both teams, as guys were leaving the field more often than your average Friday,” he said. “I need to do better for our guys once we get in the red zone. Teams like Central certainly get tough once the field gets condensed. All those items aside, we had our chances to win the game against a really good team on the road. We will start winning those games, but this one got away. If you told me it would be 21-16 in the fourth with 6:30 left and we had the ball first and 10 from the 20, I still would like our chances. This time around, they made the plays.”
Looking to Caesar Rodney, Frederick said: “CR always plays tough. It tends to be a one-score game each and every year. We expect nothing different this year. Their QB is very talented, and he has weapons. We need to refocus after such a hard-fought game. Hopefully we will be ready.”
Cape (4-2) will host Caesar Rodney (0-6) at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 20, for Homecoming. The Vikings are 4-10 over the last 14 Homecoming games.
Sussex Central (4-2) will host St. Georges (2-4).
