Cape football discovering and developing talent in scrimmages
Coach Bill Collick gathered his 90 football players in the end zone after a two-hour home scrimmage Aug. 23 against Middletown in which everyone saw contact including the freshmen and told them, “You just went toe to toe with one of the best programs in the state. They’ve been in the state final the last four years and won it twice. When you start to battle on an equal footing with a program like that, you are ready for a good season. Give yourselves a hand;everyone did a good job out there today."
The Cape offense looked sharp on its first two possessions as quarterback Tavon Scott hit J.J. Currie on a long touchdown pass and on Cape’s second possession found Jason Wiberg alone in the end zone for another score.
“It’s just a scrimmage,” said coach Herky Billings, a former Middletown star running back and Cape’s offensive coordinator. “I’d really like to face them in an actual game this year and see what we could do. But here’s the deal. In a scrimmage you want to see who can compete and what things are working and then I like to try some different things as well. If they don’t work today, that’s fine, but maybe in game four they work - it’s a process.”
Cape’s preseason sophomore sensation Terrique Riddick continued his electrifying play by breaking an arm tackle on a speed sweep to the right and scampering 82 yards down the sidelines for a touchdown. Riddick followed that up by unloading on a Middletown ball carrier from his defensive back position. Riddick wears No. 25, like his late great uncle, Anthony Burton.
“He’s a special player," Collick said and when asked "Special enough to play on Friday nights?" the veteran coach answered, “Shoot, I don’t see why not."
Defensively, David Kennedy, the home run-hitting, Hawaiian cliff-diving first baseman back out for football after a year off, moved to inside linebacker and made more pancakes than IHOP, tackling ball carriers all over the field.
“I love David Kennedy, but did I think he could play inside and be that guy?” Collick commented with a smile. "And Rasheed Woods is another one. Everyone knows he can run the football, but he had an interception on defense today and made a lot of tackles as well.”
Cape's big guy Beef Brigade has played well all preseason, and Collick specifically pointed to the play of Devin Miller, 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds, at center and junior Brandon Nixon, a lineman and linebacker who has turned himself into an on-the-field leader.
Cape will close out the preseason at home at 5 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 28, with a scrimmage against the Highlanders of McKean High School.
McKean was 5-5 last season playing in Blue Hen Flight B, which included a 60-0 loss to state champion Hodgson Vo Tech.
