CAPE ELIZABETH – The Cape Elizabeth football team (5-1) was functioning on all cylinders Saturday night at Hannaford Field as the Marshwood Hawks (1-5) could only hang in the game for the first quarter as the Capers rolled to a 40-15 win.
Cape Elizabeth recovered three Marshwood fumbles in the second quarter, which provided excellent field position to set up a variety of scoring plays en route to a comfortable 33-7 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Cape Elizabeth coach Aaron Filieo was able to pull many of his starters and let the reserves get playing time.
Four Capers had at least one touchdown in the game. Fullback Andrew Lavallee, wide receiver Derek Roberts, running back Donald Clark and tight end Bill Brooks all scored in the contest. Quarterback Connor Maguire had three touchdown passes as the Capers once again showed why they are a leading contender in Western Class B.
Clark racked up 80 yards on the ground in the first half and praised his team’s overall chemistry and ability to spread the ball. “Who are you supposed to cover?” Clark asked after the game. Maguire was three for six passing for 108 yards.
After forcing a Marshwood punt on the game’s opening drive, Cape Elizabeth started at the Marshwood 40 and marched down towards the goal line on the effective running of Clark and Lavallee. Lavallee then powered it in for a three-yard touchdown run, but he missed the extra point attempt and it was 6-0 with 7:03 left in the first quarter.
Marshwood answered right back with a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by running back Reggie Muchemore.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Hawks caught the Capers off guard with an onside kick that they recovered. However, the Capers buckled down on defense and Brooks had a big sack on third down to set up a fourth-and-11 situation for Marshwood at the Cape Elizabeth 40.
Cape’s Paul Hamerski, Justin Hallowell and Kyle Snowden chased Marshwood quarterback Troy Pappas out of the pocket and forced an incompletion to swing the momentum and give the ball back to the Capers. Two plays later, Maguire hit Roberts on a short in route and the speedy receiver raced the rest of the way for a 57-yard touchdown. Roberts then ran it in for the two-point conversion to give Cape a 14-7 lead with 3:21 remaining in the first.
Early in the second quarter, Cape’s Austin Petsinger recovered a Marshwood fumble which put the ball on the Marshwood 22. A false start penalty and an incompletion put the Capers in a third-and-15 situation from the 27. It was no problem, though, as the shifty Clark darted through the middle for a 27-yard touchdown run making the score 20-7 as the extra point try was no good.
“Turnovers are a big part of winning and losing and success in football,” said Filieo. “I definitely think that getting those turnovers helped and certainly helps with field position as well because field position is a huge, huge factor in the game of football.”
The momentum was certainly with the Capers at this point of the game. The Hawks were struggling and would only face more adversity. With 7:07 remaining in the second quarter, Muchemore was slammed hard by Clark and Snowden on a tackle and was knocked out of the game. He never returned, which limited Marshwood’s offense.
After forcing a Marshwood punt, the Capers had the ball at the Marshwood 45 and lined up in a two-back formation. Brooks was on the right side of the line and broke off immediately after the snap into an empty backfield and Maguire quickly hit him for a 45-yard touchdown to make it 26-7 with 5:14 to play in the half.
“Our defense certainly gave our offense a boost,” said Filieo.
Marshwood promptly fumbled the kickoff and several Capers fell on the ball to set up another drive in phenomenal field position, as Cape took over at the Marshwood 23. After a few runs by Clark, who followed the vicious lead blocking of Lavallee, the Capers had the ball at the 6. Maguire then completed his third touchdown pass of the game, the second to Roberts, to make it 33-7 with 3:16 remaining after Cam Wilson kicked the extra point.
For the Hawks, sophomore running back Cameron Roll was called upon on to run more plays than usual because of the injury to workhorse Muchemore. Roll and quarterback Troy Pappas had some shaky handoffs which resulted in fumbles that the Capers were all over, with another one coming in the final minutes of the half that Nick Moulton recovered.
To start the second half, the Hawks once again tried an onside kick, but this time the Capers noticed in time and stacked the right side to prepare. However, the Hawks had one player fake a kick and then another come from behind and kick it to the other side where Brooks was more or less by himself. Brooks recovered the kick cleanly and decided to try to get some yards instead of just falling to the ground.
Needless to say, Brooks got some yards, 52 yards and a touchdown to be exact. The senior tight end had a very impressive overall game. He showed great speed and the ability to find the seam and bust through tacklers. Wilson kicked the extra point and it was 40-7 just nine seconds into the third quarter.
“He (Brooks) works real hard and does a lot for us: receiver, tight end and he is a back as well,” said Filieo. “He’s in a good place right now as far as his playing ability and everybody’s coming along.”
Marshwood had a very steep mountain to climb in the second half. The Hawks again fumbled less than two minutes after the touchdown. Clark recovered the ball after it was knocked loose on a botched option play. Filieo then proceeded to put in backup quarterback freshman Noah Wolfinger and began to sit other starters like Roberts, Brooks, Clark, and Lavallee.
Cape’s overall team chemistry was evident throughout the game and the Capers took advantage of virtually every opportunity they had. Their numerous weapons pushed the ball at will. Lavallee steamrolled over the Hawks and Clark proved to be extremely elusive. Brooks and Roberts also kept the opponent honest with their ability to strike deep.
“It was a team effort. Our receivers were doing really well getting open tonight and I was just happy I could put the ball in their hands and let them run,” said Maguire. “We know that last year we kind of slipped and this year we’re picking it back up again and we’re ready to go. We want to make it to the Gold Ball game and we want to win.”
Playing the way they are now, the Capers have as good of a shot as anybody to get to the Class B title game. They travel to Fryeburg Academy this Saturday afternoon and then host Mountain Valley on Oct. 21 in the regular season finale.
Cape Elizabeth quarterback Connor Maguire drops back to pass
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