It was a win that was four years and 45 minutes in the making, but Cape Elizabeth finally made it past Mountain Valley in Saturday’s Western Class B final. The Capers, trailing for the first time all season, put together a comeback victory with two touchdowns in the final three minutes and advanced past the Falcons 23-13.
Cape will play Leavitt for the Class B State title on Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland at 6 p.m.
After jumping out to an early 9-0 lead, it looked as if Cape might be on their way to duplicating their cakewalk of a win over Mountain Valley from the final regular season game Oct. 30. However, the rain would quickly put a damper on any delusions of an easy game, as both teams struggled to just hang onto the ball.
Mountain Valley finally got their offense going late in the first half, with a 12-yard run for a touchdown by Josh Allen. In the second half, the Falcons’ Matt Duka hit Cape hard, carrying for 63 yards on Mountain Valley’s 80-yard scoring drive to open the third quarter. Duka ran it in from 13 yards out to put Mountain Valley up 13-9.
” It was just classic Mountain Valley football, just slugging it out,” said Cape quarterback Ezra Wolfinger.
While their opponent seemed to be clicking, Cape was unable to muster much offense for the majority of the second half. The horrible conditions made it difficult for Cape to hang onto the ball, let alone call anything more than a running play. The Capers also stumbled with delay of game and false start penalties at the line, seemingly lacking any rhythm.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Cape’s defense, who had been consistent all game, rose to new heights. After stopping Mountain Valley at the Cape 4 on fourth and one, Cape recovered a fumble on the next Falcons’ possession and took control at the 44.
On third and 14, Wolfinger hit Kyle Danielson down the middle for 39 yards to keep the drive, and the season, alive. The play was nearly a mirror of one run just one play before, but this time Danielson lined up on the right and beat his defender downfield.
After running the ball five straight times, Wolfinger faked a handoff and rolled out to the right. He found a wide-open Kyle Piscopo in the corner of the end zone for the go-ahead score. After the game though, Piscopo gave all the credit for that drive to the catch by Danielson.
“Danielson was probably the reason for that touchdown, because we couldn’t really get anything going before that,” said Piscopo.
Cape’s defense stepped up yet again as Mountain Valley took over possession. After four plays, Tom Foden, who was playing hurt after an ankle injury earlier in the game, intercepted a pass and took it back 24 yards for the touchdown. Foden also added a sack in the final minutes to finish off the Falcons.
“After struggling all game, to be able to step up and make the play. It felt so good, just elation,” said Foden.
The hard fought win, coming after three years of losses to Mountain Valley in the championship game, was all that more sweet.
“That was a war. But in the end we wanted it more,” said Wolfinger in the team’s locker room after the game.
“Everything’s kind of numb right now,” said Cape coach Aaron Filieo. “I don’t know if it’s because of the weather, or what just happened, or both.”
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