Cape football finds time for 70 players in scrimmage

Cape held its first football scrimmage of the preseason Aug. 19 on the screaming green turf of Legends Stadium. It was played under unrelentingly hot and humid conditions with barely a sea breeze to ease the pain.

“We weren’t trying to hit any home runs against Seaford or McKean,” said Cape coach Bill Collick. “We just wanted to get every player some work and see kids in different positions. We played the No. 1s for a series each on offense and defense, then gave the freshmen a series, then came back with mixed and matched, an assortment of players.”

Seaford, coached by Dwayne Henry, is coming off a 1-7 season where they gave up over 50 points in all seven losses, while McKean, coached by Matt Carre, is coming off a season of 2-8. Neither team could match Cape’s depth of numbers, but both the Blue Jays and Highlanders looked much improved over last year.

“Seaford is working hard trying to pull that together, and they will win some football games this year,” Collick said.

The Vikings introduced new coordinators, as Curtis Thomas called the offensive plays, while veteran coach Mike Tkach (Milford and Caesar Rodney) will take care of the defense.

Zach Dale moved from end to quarterback, with junior Jah’Kai Duffy backing him up. Both players looked good, with Dale running only one 10-play series.

“Zach completed a nice pass to Patrick [Tkach] on a waggle, and later on play 10, he put an option pitch on the ground, but have no doubt he will be a threat to run the football,” Collick said.

Cape’s option is close to predetermined; the pitch will come quick, if it comes at all.

Duffy later connected with Ben Ashby on an option pitch, and after a season of track, Ashby is better at acceleration; he just took off down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown.

“Kolbi Wright is out of the boot with no stress fracture and will be cleared on Monday to start practice,” Collick said. “Kolbi at fullback and Ashby at running back gives us a nice 1-2 punch.”

Cape will host Lake Forest and Middletown in a three-way scrimmage Friday, Aug. 25, at 5 p.m. Lake is coached by Fred Johnson. The Spartans are coming off a 2-8 season where they dropped their first seven games to open the schedule. Middletown, under new head coach Zach Blum, is coming off a perfect season of 10-0. They beat Salesianum in the playoffs 25-7 before falling to Smyrna in the championship game 36-14.

Middletown opens the season Friday, Sept. 8, hosting Smyrna, so the scrimmage versus Cape - down and distance format, no live special teams - will be a what’s-up moment for both squads.

Note: Until rosters become accurate and available, the most common question from the sidelines during the scrimmage was, “Who dat?”