TUCKERTON — The Caper Tiger football team put on an offensive and defensive show Thursday night at Pinelands Regional High School, giving new coach Billy Damiana a 35-14 victory in the season opener for both teams.
“I felt like we played physical, I felt like we were flying around. We definitely made mistakes that have to be fixed, but for the most part we played the way that we thought we were going to play — fast, hard, downhill,” Damiana said.
The team got strong production from a number of players on a team that has few seniors. Junior Ryan Mallon handled a lot of the running back duties on handoffs from junior quarterback David Douglass.
Damiana said Mallon wants to play at the next level and the coaches are working to get him there. Senior John Fernandez is at wide receiver and sophomore defender Cooper Milligan nabbed a pick-six, stepping up big on defense.
“We have really good team chemistry right now and we want to keep that rolling,” the coach said.
The Caper Tigers have a tough schedule again this season and Damiana expects the biggest tests will come toward the end of the campaign.
The coach was happy with the win and believes it will bode well.
“These kids put a lot of time in. It’s seven on seven all summer, 6:30 a.m. wake-ups. They deserve tonight. I’m happy for them,” he said. Damiana also credited his other coaches.
“My staff is fantastic. These kids give us everything and our staff gives them everything they’ve got. Without them we wouldn’t have been able to do this.”
The Caper Tigers had a tough first series, getting stopped on a fourth-and-short after receiving the opening kickoff, but that was an exception for the game.
LCMR’s defense let itself be known on Pinelands’ first drive when Jonathan Dupree and Alexander Nelson combined to sack the quarterback. Jadon Henry followed that up by stopping the Wildcat quarterback on fourth-and-short to give the Caper Tigers the ball back.
They quickly picked up two first downs, got close to the end zone on a Mallon run and then quarterback Douglass passed to Max Bracken for the first touchdown of the game. Britton Walls kicked the point after (and after every touchdown in the game.)
On LCMR’s next series, after stopping a Pinelands drive, the Caper Tigers moved the ball on the ground, including a nice scramble by Douglass, then Mallon found daylight and raced about 40 yards for a touchdown.
The teams traded series and then the Caper Tigers pushed the Wildcats deep in their own territory. When Pinelands tried to punt the ball away, LCMR sacked the punter, giving them the ball at the 7-yard line. Douglass handed off to Mallon, who went right up the middle for the score.
The Caper Tigers got the ball back after forcing a fumble, but after a pass play was broken up in the end zone, Walls just missed on a field goal.
The half ended with the Caper Tigers up 21-0.
Pinelands came out strong in the second half and made a big pass play and then moved the ball to the 10-yard line before the Caper Tigers’ defense came up strong again to prevent a touchdown. LCMR couldn’t get anything going on its next series and punted back to the Wildcats.
A face-mask penalty helped Pinelands get good field position. A run by quarterback Jamie Jenkins got the Wildcats to the 14-yard line and running back RJ Clark took it in from there to put Pinelands on the board.
The Wildcats tried an on-side kick but it failed, giving the Caper Tigers good position at the 50-yard line to start their next drive.
A long pass play went awry when Clark got the interception for the Wildcats.
Pinelands moved the ball quickly on a big pass play, but the LCMR defense held again.
The Caper Tigers took over around their own 30, setting up one of he biggest plays of the game. Douglass hit Jonathan Fernandez with a nice pass over the middle and he raced all the way for a touchdown and a 28-7 lead.
With time running down, the Wildcats put in a diminutive quarterback, freshman Rex Kline (5-foot, 108 pounds). Kline hit on a nice pass, but then attempted a screen near midfield. Caper Tiger defender Cooper Milligan read it perfectly, stepped in front of the ball, intercepted and was off to the races, scoring LCMR’s final touchdown with just under 6 minutes left in the game.
Pinelands managed one more touchdown for the final 35-14 score.
The Caper Tigers have their home opener at 6 p.m. Friday against Gloucester City then they’re on the road at 6 p.m. Sept. 12 at rival Middle Township and at noon Saturday, Sept. 20, at Absegami.
They’re back at home at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, against Saint Joseph Academy and again at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, versus Egg Harbor Township. They’re at Cedar Creek for a 6 p.m. Thursday game Oct. 9, home at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17 against Cumberland Regional and at home again at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24 against Oakcrest.
The Caper Tigers play in the Liberty Division of the West Jersey Football League.
By DAVID NAHAN/Cape May Star and Wave
