This story was updated on 9/4 at 8:52 a.m. to correct a first name of a Wells player

WELLS – Strangely, improbably, the opening game of the Western Class B football season was slipping away from Wells.

Additional Photos

Doug McLean of Wells finds little yardage Friday night while brought down by Andrew Lavallee of Cape Elizabeth in Wells’ 14-6 victory. Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

Andrew Lavallee of Cape Elizabeth swoops in to lay a hit on Louis Ditomasso of Wells in their opener Friday night. Wells rallied to win, 14-6. Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

The Warriors drove inside the 5 twice. They drove inside the 20 another time. They held Cape Elizabeth to a measly 7 yards of offense in the first half and no first downs.

Not until the fourth quarter of their 14-6 victory did they figure out the answer to their opening-night riddle:

They fell behind.

A long touchdown pass by Cape Elizabeth seemed to light a fire under Wells. Joey Spinelli, who had been burned on the 74-yard Cape Elizabeth scoring play, raced in to block the extra- point attempt and Wells promptly scored on its final two possessions Friday night at Memorial Field.

“We kept getting down inside the 20 and they kept being tough on (defense),” said Wells quarterback Paul McDonough, who scrambled 6 yards into the end zone for the game’s final touchdown with 40 seconds remaining. “But our group of guys stuck together and we weren’t going to let down. We knew we just needed to finish it off.”

It was McDonough who opened the lane for Spinelli on the PAT block, something Wells had practiced all week.

“The guys on the line did their job,” Spinelli said. “They forced the outside (blocker) to go in. It opened up a line right for me, right to the ball, and I was there to block it.”

Cape Elizabeth, which gained its initial first down early in the third quarter on a 7-yard run by Derek Roberts, was held to 44 yards on the ground and three first downs.

Even so, the Capers grabbed a 6-0 lead when quarterback Connor Maguire lofted a long pass near the right sideline to Bill Brooks, who kept his feet after a bump by Spinelli (the pass interference penalty was declined), hauled in the football near midfield and ran to the end zone for a stunning turn of events.

Last fall, Wells eliminated Cape Elizabeth 47-7 in a Western Class B semifinal, and suddenly it seemed the Capers were about to all but erase that painful memory.

Until Spinelli blocked the point-after kick, that is.

“That gave them the momentum after we had the momentum,” said Cape Elizabeth Coach Aaron Filieo. “That’s one of the little things that a seasoned team like Wells does. They executed and we didn’t.”

The Warriors responded to the 6-0 deficit with a 56-yard scoring drive after a short kickoff.

Doug McLean carried the ball on four of the seven plays and wound up with 118 yards on 17 carries.

Drew Shelley tied the score, sweeping left for a 30-yard touchdown run and breaking two tackles on his way to the end zone. Spinelli booted the extra point for a 7-6 lead with a little more than six minutes left.

After forcing Cape Elizabeth to punt, Wells took over with 4:16 left and drove 59 yards for the final touchdown. McLean ran for 25 yards on the opening play of the drive and McDonough scrambled for 24 to bring the ball inside the 15.

“It’s a fun win,” Wells Coach Tim Roche said. “Everybody wants to say, oh, 35-this. It ain’t going to be like that this year. I just don’t see it in (Western Class B). I see battles every week.”

“They’re definitely the team to beat,” Filieo said. “We played with a lot of passion and a lot of pride and that’s a heck of a place to start. We can go from here.”

Staff Writer Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or at:

gjordan@pressherald.com

Twitter: GlennJordanPPH

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