A wild kingdom of zebras and Sussex Central drops Cape football 35-28
Cape football was looking Oct. 21 to get out from under 10 years of chasing victory number 6 and 13 straight years of losing to Sussex Central at Legends Stadium. The monkey had become a lowland gorilla, but after Cape blocked an extra point with 7:06 remaining to retain a 28-27 lead, the Velcro monkey was starting to loosen. But before Cape could comprehend getting the ball with a one-point lead and less than seven minutes to play, a zebra jumped on Cape with all four feet.
A side judge threw a flag after the blocked point and ruled a Cape player had used illegal assistance by propelling off his own man, gaining the elevation to block the point. Central took its new life and half the distance and elected to go for two and the lead. The snap was fumbled on the 3-yard line, but the ball spun forward into the end zone where it was fallen on by Central star DeShawn Sheppard for two points and a 29-28 advantage.
“I thought we blocked the kick, then the penalty and then they put the ball on the ground on the two-point and get that,” Collick said. "I thought our kids stood up to the moment, but it just didn't go our way, but you know, sometimes you gotta make it go your way.”
The zebras were in the house all night long, throwing enough flags for 200 yards of penalties, many phantom holding and block-in-the-back calls that negated long Cape gains and put the Vikings 20 to 30 yards from the first-down markers.
Sussex Central, always a well-disciplined club, was banged for three personal foul calls given for flagrant violations not obvious. The freak flag-flying frenzy created an aura of uncertainly on both sidelines.
DeShawn Sheppard broke a run at the end of the game for the final margin of victory, 35-28.
'It was a hard-fought, rock'em-sock'em football game. It's what Friday night is all about,” said Central defensive coordinator Dave "Nut" Marvel, who has been on the staff for 31 years. "The call on the extra point was a major break for us and changed the whole complexion of the ball game. That kid Johnson is a beast. He runs to the hole faster than anyone we will see all year long.”
Sussex Central scored first on a two-yard run by DeShawn Sheppard after a 50-yard pass from Jesse Long to Trevor Mears.
Cape responded with a long kickoff return by Justin Lopez down to the 20-yard line. Diaz Nardo hit Andrew Grau for a 21-yard touchdown on a fourth and 11 as Cape tied the game at 7.
Cape scored in the second quarter, executing an 81-yard drive culminating in a six-yard touchdown run by Jerome Johnson as the Vikings led 14-7.
DeShawnSheppard answered with a 67-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 14. Sheppard scored on an 18-yard run as Central took the lead 21-14. The Vikings came right back after a nice kickoff return by Jerome Johnson with a 20-yard touchdown catch and run by Sammy Mohr as the game was tied at 21 at halftime.
Jerome Johnson scored the only touchdown of the third quarter as Cape held a 28-21 lead until the seven-minute mark when Brandon Lewis scored on a two-yard run to bring the Knights to within one, then found eight more points for the 35-28 win as the monkey wearing No. 6 survives another week.
Miguel Marino-Sanchez, Cape's sophomore soccer kicker, made all four of his extra point attempts.
