TURNER — Noah Wolfinger threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Ben Ekedahl for the tying touchdown with seven seconds remaining in regulation, threw another touchdown in overtime, then clinched the victory with his third interception of the game as Cape Elizabeth beat Leavitt 35-34 in a dramatic Western Class C opener Friday night.
The Capers were clinging to a 21-20 lead late in regulation when Mitchel Davis of Leavitt blocked a punt, setting up Levi Craig’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Gabe Seeley with 24 seconds remaining.
But Wolfinger stunned the defending state champions with his long pass to Ekedahl, who beat single coverage.
Cape Elizabeth got the ball first in overtime and scored quickly on a 10-yard pass from Wolfinger to Justin Guerette, followed by Ekedahl’s fifth extra point. Leavitt answered with a 10-yard pass from Craig to Julian Kerouac, but a potential winning 2-point conversion pass was called back because of a penalty. Leavitt’s second conversion try was picked off by Wolfinger, who earlier returned an interception 90 yards for a touchdown.
Wolfinger also had a 1-yard touchdown run that gave Cape its 21-20 lead early in the fourth quarter. Christian Lavallee scored the Capers’ first touchdown on a 2-yard run in the first quarter.
Craig finished with three touchdown passes, two to Seeley.
FALMOUTH 49, GORHAM 0: George Gilbert scored on a 91-yard return of the opening kickoff and Falmouth went on to dominate an opener at Gorham.
Gilbert added touchdowns on a 32-yard pass from Noah Nelson and an 81-yard punt return. Connor Aube added scoring runs of 1, 15 and 49 yards, and Aiden Murphy returned a fumble 14 yards for the final touchdown.
MARSHWOOD 47, GREELY 0: Brett Gerry scored on a 73-yard run in the second quarter as the Hawks dominated an opener at South Berwick.
LAWRENCE 46, GARDINER 18: Lawrence scored 10 points in a 40-second span late in the second quarter to take an 11-point lead at the break and went on to win an opener at Gardiner.
After Eli Kropp completed a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jake Trumanto to give Gardiner the lead, Cody Martin answered with a 1-yard touchdown plunge to cap an 11-play, 48-yard drive that put Lawrence up 7-6. The Bulldogs then took control just before the half.
CONY 23, MESSALONSKEE 14: Down by 11 points midway through the second quarter, the Rams scored 20 unanswered points to win an opener at Augusta.
Cony senior Tayler Carrier was ejected in the third quarter for throwing a punch.
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