Cape football’s big second half turns out the lights on Lake
The Cape football team moved to 3-0 with a 34-32 come-from-behind victory over Lake Forest Sept. 20 at Legends Stadium in Lewes.
The Vikings started the game with a lackluster performance in the first half, where penalties and an interception gave the Spartans momentum.
Spartans fullback Ayden Young scored a touchdown in each of the first two quarters before the Vikings got on track.
“We struggled on defense,” said Cape head coach Mike Frederick. “We missed assignments and had poor tackling. We were misaligned a number of times against their unbalanced. We need to set a better edge in the outside run game.”
With time running out in the first half, Cape quarterback Jameson Tingle hit Amari Jackson at the horn in the dark end of Legends Stadium for a 17-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt failed, and Cape went into the locker room down 16-6.
The second half was all Cape, as the the home squad scored three touchdowns in four minutes to grab a 27-16 lead.
Jayden Messick scored on a three-yard plunge at 6:42. Trent Kaufman booted the point-after attempt.
“We came out after the half and knew we had to make a play,” said Messick. “Coach Fred put his trust in our playmakers, and that’s what we did; we came out and made the plays.”
Tingle, who went 18-for-26 for 251 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, hit junior Quardell Richards on a pass, then Richards broke three tackles to gallop 52 yards for a score. Kauffman added the extra point.
Getting in on the defensive side, Tingle picked off Lake quarterback Jackson Parson to set up a Messick two-yard plunge for his second touchdown just two minutes later. Kauffman’s kick was good.
“When the play was there, I wasn’t executing in the first half,” said Tingle. “I want to give all the credit to my teammates. They lifted me up. They didn’t get mad at me and they gave me encouragement. I knew everything was wide open and I just had to do my job. You got to win these ugly games. If you can’t win the ugly games, you’re not much of a team. You saw what we can do when we don’t play our best. When we play our best game, it will be scary.”
Lake responded with a touchdown from Demarion Russ, who broke free and ran 86 yards for the score. The third quarter ended with Cape holding a 27-24 lead.
Tingle finished up the Vikings’ scoring on a 17-yard scamper to make it 34-24. Lake scored the final touchdown on a Young two-yard run.
The Vikings held on to garner their third win of the season.
“The crowd was terrific,” Frederick said. “It’s an awesome environment. Legends has really become a must-see destination to catch a game.
“We gave up 250 on the ground, and coach [Fred] Johnson had a terrific plan to attack us. I actually felt badly that either team had to lose that game. Don’t get me wrong; I was very thankful that our guys found a way to get it done, but I respect him as a coach and a person. They can really make a run in that division.”
