WELLS — A showdown of Class C unbeatens Friday night ended in a heavy downpour that turned Wells High’s natural-grass field into a sloppy swamp.
Before the rain started, Wells drowned itself in mistakes.
Cape Elizabeth capitalized on a series of miscues in the first seven minutes to score two touchdowns, and its top scoring defense took over from there in a 13-7 victory.
Cape Elizabeth (8-0), which forced five turnovers and blocked a punt, will be the top seed in the regional tournament. Wells (7-1) will be the second seed.
Both defenses were dominant. Wells was able to eke out 199 total yards while Cape had just 135 – only 37 in the second half – against the Warriors defense, which entered as the state’s second best in points allowed.
“What I was excited about and proud about was the heart and fortitude that both defenses played with tonight,” Cape Coach Aaron Filieo said.
Wells fumbled twice and had a punt blocked on its first three possessions – all deep in its own territory.
“We just kind of shot ourselves in the foot right there,” Wells quarterback Owen Berry said.
On the game’s opening kickoff Nick Hansen slipped and fell at his own 5 to put the Warriors in a hole. On first down Evan Whitten fumbled and Cape’s Brett McAlister recovered at the 15.
The Warriors stopped Cape at the goal line after the first fumble but the Capers converted six- and two-yard “drives” to score all their points.
Ryan Weare scored on fourth-and-goal from the 1 after Riley Dempsey’s fumble was recovered by Camden Turner at the 2.
Peyton Weatherbie slashed in from the 2 after Jack Glanville recorded the punt block.
Wells Coach Tim Roche agreed the game boiled down to his team’s early mistakes but quickly added, “that takes a little away from Cape, too. They were physical. They played us tough.”
The rain began to fall steadily in the third quarter and probably played a role when Cape punter Marshall Peterson dropped a snap and was forced to throw a pass that gained no yards. Three plays later Whitten churned in from the 11, as he and a group of Cape defenders were pushed forward by Wells’ linemen. Keegan Reidy’s PAT cut the lead to 13-7 with 40 seconds left in the third quarter.
In last year’s playoffs, Wells trailed 14-6 entering the fourth quarter and won in the final minute, 20-14.
This time the Warriors’ three fourth-quarter possessions each ended in a turnover. Whitten fumbled after a solid drive had gotten the ball inside the Cape 30. Berry was intercepted twice, first by Nat Spicer and then by Ben Ekedahl for the clincher on a ball tipped by Cape linebacker Max Woods with 1:19 to play.
Before Ekedahl’s interception, Berry had completed consecutive passes to Jordan Cluff (who caught the winner in the 2015 playoffs), including a 28-yarder up the sideline after a pump fake.
For both teams it was the first close game of the season.
“It was a lot tougher. We knew we had to come out here and battle and it would be a grind between the tackles,” said Weare, who teamed with fellow inside backer Woods and hard-hitting safety Ekedahl to lead the Cape defense. “We made some mistakes. It wasn’t perfect but we got the job done and it feels great.”
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