Cape football opens season with win over Red Lion
The Cape football team started the 2024 season Aug. 29, with a 20-13 victory over Red Lion Christian Academy in Bear.
Sophomore quarterback Jameson Tingle threw for touchdowns to Jayden Dukes and Amari Jackson, while Jayden Messick ran for another, and the Vikings squelched a late Lions rally to take the seven-point victory back to Lewes.
Red Lion junior quarterback Evan Budinger went 10-for-18, throwing for 161 yards, and had a one-yard plunge to pull the Lions to within a touchdown with 1:23 left in the fourth quarter.
Cape struck first after the Vikings’ defense stopped the Lions on their first possession. Cape’s offense went 36 yards on two plays to set up Messick’s three-yard run to take the 6-0 lead. Senior placekicker Trent Kauffman made the extra point for his first varsity point.
With 6:06 left in the first half, Tingle hit Dukes for 28 yards for a touchdown. Kauffman converted the point after.
Red Lion got on the board with 3:58 left in the third quarter on a Raheem Spencer Jr. five-yard scamper.
Tingle then hit Jackson on a 17-yard pass at the 2:13 mark in the fourth. The point-after attempt failed, so the Vikings led 20-6.
The Lions pulled within a touchdown on the Budinger dive.
“For the first game of the season, I thought we played pretty well,” said Tingle. “Offense, defense and special teams all had an impact on the outcome. However, we all have stuff to work to be really competitive.”
Tingle went 7-for-13 for 75 yards. Messick ran for 76 yards on 16 carries. Quardell Richards rushed five times for 39 yards.
“We saw some really good improvement in many areas,” said Cape head coach Mike Frederick. “First and most important was improved tackling and eliminating the big plays. Red Lion only had one explosive pass, and with their talented QB and our inexperience on the back end of the defense, that was a concern heading into the game. We still have a ton of work to do. We are very young on the second and third levels defensively, and they played well across both position groups. Players like Zane Coulbourne, Brady Schnupp, Anthony Francis and AJ Mosley all made impact plays in their first meaningful varsity reps.”
Frederick thought the offense was very efficient for most of the night.
“The running game was solid with strong efforts from our experienced offensive line, and Dell Richards, Jayden Messick and Jameson Tingle in important spots each running the ball,” Frederick said. “Jameson was strong with his decision-making at QB and still has plenty of room for growth. We had good perimeter play in the passing game from newcomer Jayden Dukes and returning starter Amari Jackson.”
He was pleasantly surprised with special teams.
“Javian Wise was a standout on the cover teams, Navin Duffy has great potential as a punter and our new kicker Trent Kauffman did a really nice job in his first game,” Frederick said. “Overall, we are pleased with the win. We need to continue to improve every week. We look forward to the challenge of Delcastle next.”
The Vikings will travel to Delcastle Saturday, Sept. 14. Game time is 11 a.m.
