Apparently a hot start, big offensive plays and countless forced turnovers is a recipe for success, because that’s what the Cape Central Tigers used to blow out Mehlville 62-7 in the District Quarterfinals on Friday. A 55-0 first half staked the home team to an insurmountable lead and the Tigers won the turnover battle by a staggering 4-0 margin, propelling them to the Class 5 District 1 Semis to take on second-seeded Oakville.
This one started out hot, which was a welcome result for Head Coach John Gibbs, who stated that “we discussed all week about how we couldn’t give the 1st quarter away, the importance of starting well, and we did.” That’s putting it lightly.
The Tigers scored on their first offensive play of the game, which was a 59-yard bomb from QB Morgan Diamond to wideout Marshon Edwards. Then on the ensuing possession for Mehlville, Cape forced them to punt and, naturally, blocked that punt. They found themselves on the Panthers’ seven yard line and promptly scored on a Zai’Aire Thomas dash into the endzone. On their next offensive possession it was Diamond and Edwards hooking up again from three yards out, and that closed out the quarter at 21-0.
The second quarter would be even more thrilling for the Tiger faithful. On the Panthers’ opening drive Cayden Butler-Beuchaw intercepted a pass and took it to the house from 35 yards out. The pick-six made it 28-0, but the interception trend was far from out of style. Raymond Jackson snagged another errant pass on Mehlville’s next drive and that set up a massive 76-yard touchdown run by Thomas, his second of the day.
The Panthers got the ball back again and, wait for it, the Tigers picked off another one. This time it was Edwards who was doubling on defense and ran it in from 15-yards out. That made it 42-0 and put an already out of reach game into outer space. Then on the ensuing possession the Tigers forced a fumble, recovered by Beuchaw, and that set up a 6-yard TD run by Keyshawn Boyd. Thomas then found the endzone again from 21 yards out to cap the scoring for the half, and the Tigers went into the locker room up a staggering 55-0.
The second half, as you can imagine, was handled by the reserves. Everyone got a chance to play and gain some valuable minutes. The third quarter was all defense on both sides, as neither team found the endzone, but the fourth had a little action. Mehlville got their only TD of the game on a 41-yard rushing play, but Cape took those points right back with 20-yard TD of their own on a run by backup RB Deklin Pittman. That sealed the deal and the Tigers found themselves with a 62-7 victory and a trip to the District Semis.
Diamond attempted just three passes in this one, but he connected on all of them and they went for 76 yards and two scores. Thomas owned the ground game with his three TDs and 159 yards on eight carries, and Edwards caught both of his passes for 62 yards and a pair of touchdowns. That pretty much sums up the offense.
The defense however, was incredible in their own right. Gavin Pittman led the team with seven total tackles and TJ Mackins had six, with four going for a loss. The Tigers had three interceptions, with two of them finding the endzone, a blocked punt, a fumble recovery and an incredible 13 tackles for loss. Beuchaw was a beast with four tackles, an INT, a TD and a fumble recovery.
The stage is now set for the Class 5 District Semifinals, where the Tigers will travel to Oakville to take on a different set of Tigers on November 4th. This two-seeded Oakville club could be a tough matchup, so be prepared for some Tiger on Tiger violence.
