CAPE CORAL — Charlotte went into Cape Coral for the District 5A-10 opener as a prohibitive favorite and promptly laid an egg.
Jermaine Skinner scored two long touchdowns in the fourth quarter and Michael Rodriguez-Garcia had a pick-six as Cape Coral pulled off the 28-11 upset win over Charlotte, dealing a crippling blow to the Tarpons’ postseason chances in a game between the district’s top two teams.
Skinner, who had just 31 yards rushing at halftime, ended up with 193 yards on 19 carries. His first long run early in the fourth quarter went for 58 yards and broke open a game that had been stuck at 14-3 for more than two quarters.
Charlotte (3-2) tried to get back in the game, responding with a touchdown from Jazzy McDaniel with 7:41 left to make it 21-11 after a two-point conversion.
Charlotte quickly got the ball back on Derek Hooker’s fumble deep in Seahawks territory and drove inside the five. On fourth down, eschewing the short field goal to make it a seven-point game, Charlotte went for it and failed.
A few plays later, Skinner found daylight again and raced 82 yards for the clinching score with 3:27 remaining.
From the beginning, the Tarpons appeared a little flat and the Seahawks took advantage.
On its first possession of the game, Cape Coral (4-1) went 45 yards on 10 plays, with Hooker going the final five yards for a 7-0 lead.
Charlotte got on the board with a 32-yard field goal from Noah Wooten to make it 7-3 and quickly got the ball back. However, Tarpon quarterback Teagen Lipke was picked off by Rodrigues-Garcia, who raced 53 yards for the score and a 14-3 lead.
Both defenses took over from there. A third quarter fumble gave Charlotte the ball at the Cape 26. Two plays later, Jermaine Green got an interception along the sideline to end the threat and bring the momentum back to the Seahawks.
KEY STATS: McDaniel had 16 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown. He also had seven receptions for 15 yards as Lipke kept checking down to him in the backfield where Seahawk defenders waited for him. Lipke had a tough night, going 12 of 33 for 110 yards and two interceptions. For The Seahawks, Skinner had 193 yards rushing, most of it on those two long runs. Hooker was 7 of 11 for 53 yards and a rushing touchdown.
KEY PLAYS: Lipke’s pick-six late in the first quarter made it 14-3 and showed everybody the Tarpons were not at their best. Later, when the Tarpons had a chance to get back in the game in the fourth, coach Cory Mentzer decided against the short field goal that would have cut the lead to seven and went for it on fourth down. It failed and it led to Skinner’s second long touchdown, which was the dagger.
QUICK HITS: This is a devastating loss for Charlotte, as it puts Cape Coral in the catbird seat for the district title with games against lightweights Ida Baker and Mariner coming up. It may come down to style points for Charlotte to earn a postseason bid since a district title is pretty much gone. That likely means finding a way to beat Port Charlotte. Credit Cape Coral for the way it kept the Tarpons offense in check, especially in the second half as they clung onto that 14-3 lead. The Seahawks deserved to win the game. They wanted it more as they got three takeaways.
QUOTES: “We definitely didn’t come ready to play. Absolutely terrible football on both sides of the ball. We shot ourselves in the foot time and time again. We had our chance in the fourth quarter and we couldn’t execute. I know we’re resilient and we’ll get back in the fight. We have to keep working and get better.” — Mentzer
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