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Season ends for Vikings football with 21-7 loss to the Spartans

November 18, 2012

Cape lost at Saint Mark’s 21-7 in the first round of the Division I DIAA state football tournament Nov. 16, and for those keeping score at home, 1984 is the last time Cape won a game in the postseason.

“We’ve changed the culture at Cape regarding football success with back-to- back 8-2 seasons; now the next step is to get something done in the postseason," coach Bill Collick said; he was the last person walking off the well-lit field, accompanied by his wife Nancy. “They are a very good team, but we left too much out there, and early in the game we just weren’t ready to play.”

Cape won the toss and deferred. Saint Mark’s answered that strategy by scoring on its opening drive. Then on Cape’s first possession, the Vikings moved the ball into Saint Mark’s territory before fumbling, and the Spartans scored again on a 24-yard pass to DeAndre Davis, making the score 14-0 with 2:59 left in the first quarter.

The remainder of the game had Cape chasing points, throwing the football a record 22 times while amassing only 85 yards rushing the football.

The Vikings left points on the field in the second quarter, twice coming up empty in the red zone, once on a fourth and goal from the Spartans' 1-yard line, the other a 37-yard field goal attempt wide left by Miguel Merino on the last play of the first half. Diaz Nardo had been sacked on the previous play.

Nardo hit Dumarius Gooch on a 34-yard touchdown strike with 6:26 left in the game with the junior making a great catch and dive into the end zone. The gap closed to 14-7,  but with two minutes remaining and the Vikings punting from their own end zone, DeAndre Davis returned a Nardo punt 35 yards for a touchdown that clinched the outcome.

Saint Mark’s, 9-3, will move on to face Salesianum in the next round.

 

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