Cape Elizabeth receiver Tommy Foden and quarterback Ezra Wolfinger are finally clicking, and that doesn’t bode well for Cape’s opponents.

The two hooked up for five touchdown passes in just over two quarters as the Capers (5-0) scored the game’s first seven touchdowns in Friday night’s 58-34 home win over Gray-New Gloucester (0-5) at Hannaford Field.

Foden caught TD receptions of 16, 31, 25 and 65 yards in the first half, when he also added a 62-yard punt return for a score. His sixth TD came three minutes into the third quarter on a 4-yard pass. The point-after made it 51-6 at that point and Foden and Wolfinger were given the rest of the night off.

Foden also ran the ball eight times for 88 yards. Wolfinger was 7-for-10 passing for 185 yards and six TDs.

“It was our breakout game,” Foden said. “Our first four wins were arguable in that they weren’t pretty wins. I think we really came together and brought a strong, united front tonight.”

Of the connection between him and Wolfinger, Foden said simply, “Me and Ezra are getting better together.”

Cape coach Aaron Filieo liked the way the two players weren’t afraid to improvise and play “backyard football” at times.

“A couple of the plays, it just seemed like Ezra and Tommy were right on the same page,” Filieo said. “It’s stuff that you used to see with Montana and Rice where you think, ‘Geez, he’s not open.’ But he threw it. They just knew where each other would be on the field.”

The Capers capitalized on good field position on their first drive. After forcing the Patriots to punt, Foden returned the kick to the Gray-New Gloucester 30. Three plays later, Wolfinger found Foden for a 16-yard scoring strike just over three minutes into the game. Kyle Piscopo added the PAT.

After a Gray-New Gloucester three-and-out, Cape drove 67 yards in five plays, the last one a 29-yard TD run by Matt Weiss. After a missed PAT, it was 13-0 with 4:25 left in the first. Gray-New Gloucester fumbled on its first play after the kickoff and Cape’s Nick Martin recovered. Two plays later, Foden got past the defense and Wolfinger found him in the end zone for a 31-yard TD pass. The kick made it 20-0.

Gray-New Gloucester again failed to get a first down and Foden brought the punt back to the Gray-New Gloucester 30. Three plays later, Foden took a screen pass 25 yards for the score, making it 26-0 after a quarter.

Foden’s 62-yard punt return for a touchdown made it 32-0 with 5:17 left in the half. On Cape’s next possession, Wolfinger dropped back and uncorked a deep ball for receiver Finn Melanson. It looked as though the tight, arcing spiral was too far, but Melanson ran under it in stride at the goal line and snared it with outstretched fingertips for a 40-yard TD reception. Wolfinger was hit hard just as he released the ball.

“You see that a lot in the NFL, the quarterback throwing a perfect ball then getting absolutely drilled at the end,” Filieo said. “He took one on the chin pretty tough. He laid down there and I think he was being ‘Dorothy Dramatic.’ I ran out because he got whacked, and he was there smiling.”

Despite giving him a little ribbing for his thespian antics, Filieo liked the progress he saw from Wolfinger, a junior in his first year as a starter at QB. “I thought Ezra was definitely taking a few more chances throwing the ball,” Filieo said.

The bomb to Melanson made it 38-0 with 2:22 left in the half. Gray-New Gloucester drove 81 yards on four plays, with Taylor Valente, who moved from quarterback to running back on the drive, scoring on a 42-yard TD scamper that saw him burst through the middle then race in down the left sideline.

The failed conversion made it 38-6 with 26 seconds left. It proved to be plenty of time for Cape. After an incompletion on first down, Wolfinger rifled a pass over the middle to Foden who broke off his original route when he saw there was no safety in the middle of the field. He went to the open space where he made a nice snag and took it in 65 yards for the score, making it 44-6 entering the break.

With the ball to start the second, Cape had a 50-yard reverse called back because of holding downfield. On the next play, Foden ran 33 yards to set up his final TD, a 5-yard pass that, after Matt Donovan’s kick, made it 51-6 with 9:11 to go in the third quarter.

Gray-New Gloucester responded with a quick score as Nick Audet barreled up the middle on two straight plays, the second a 64-yard TD run. Nate Rowe, in at QB, ran in the conversion to make it 51-14.

Donovan, in at QB for Cape, hit Joe Doane on a 15-yard TD pass then added the PAT to make it 58-14 with 6:21 left in the third.

Audet added a 1-yard TD run early in the fourth to make it 58-20. Valente scored on a 7-yard carry with 7:57 remaining to make it 58-26. Valente caught a 38-yard TD pass from Rowe with 3:14 left and McCutcheon ran in the two-point conversion to complete the scoring.

Play of the game

Wolfinger’s 40-yard TD pass to Melanson. High school passing plays don’t get any prettier. Wolfinger put a perfect spiral in the air close to 50 yards just as he was hit. Melanson turned on the afterburners to catch up with it, reeling it in with outstretched arms while at a full sprint. “That was awesome,” Foden said. “That was pretty sweet.”

They said it

“I try to tell these guys that it’s OK to resort to backyard football at times,” Filieo said. “These guys are really smart football players. We’ve been trying to tell them that and I think tonight they finally realized that.”

Up next

The Capers are scheduled to travel to Wells on Friday for a 7 p.m. game against the Warriors (3-2). Wells is coming off a 32-27 loss at Falmouth, but Filieo and his team won’t be taking the Warriors lightly. “They’ve always given us a game and I fully expect them to really give us a game down there,” Filieo said.

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