Seahawks sophomore running back Kaden McMaree rushes for a 77-yard touchdown during Cape Coral’s 48-0 win over Ida Baker Friday night.
CJ HADDAD
The Cape Coral Seahawks football team continued its dominant season Friday night with a 48-0 win over Ida Baker.
The undefeated Seahawks (8-0) clinched a playoff berth and district title last week and pitched its second shutout of the year while holding the Bulldogs (3-4) to under 200 yards of total offense. Friday’s win also marks 16 consecutive regular season victories for Cape Coral.
“I thought it was a great game for us,” said Cape Coral head coach Jaylen Watkins. “Defensively we were great. Made some plays like we normally do. Returned an interception. Our mark is always trying to get three (interceptions) per game. I think these guys are excited and pumped for what they’re doing right now.”
The Seahawks elected to not play their one-two running back punch in Jermaine Skinner and Caleb Cobb to give them a week of rest. Instead, it was senior James Hall and sophomore Kaden McMaree handing the majority of the touches.
Cape Coral also aired the ball out quite a bit, as junior quarterback Derek Hooker went 10-for-18 through the air for 257 yards and four touchdown passes.
Watkins said he was happy to see his team to come out and not take its opponent lightly, as Ida Baker gave Cape a competitive game last season.
“Last year they played us really tough,” Watkins said. “It was good today to come out and supposed to do.”
The Seahawk’s secondary once again showed why its one of the best groups in the state, intercepting Ida Baker twice, including a 69-yard pick-six from senior Hezekiah Jones to close out the first half.
“We just do what we do,” Watkins said of his defensive unit. “The guys on defense work so hard. They’re very cerebral players — I think that’s what separates those guys is how much they know football. Each and every week, they’re ready to prepare for whoever they’re playing, and they really love football. As a coach at this point, they’re on autopilot. I’m very proud of that group and there’s a lot of seniors on that group, and they’re performing the way seniors are supposed to perform.”
Cape Coral came out firing in the first quarter, scoring on its first drive after a bad snap on a punt attempt from Ida Baker set them up at midfield. Hall opened the scoring with a 3-yard rush shortly thereafter.
On the Seahawks’ next possession, McMaree took a pitch from Hooker and turned on the jets, scampering 77 yards to paydirt on a huge play.
Hooker then found wide out Solider Morse before the end of the first quarter, slinging the ball over the middle for a 30-yard touchdown reception.
Junior wide receiver Nate Ogrodzinski score the next two touchdowns for the Seahawks, reeling in catches of 25 and 27 yards on consecutive drives in the second.
Jones’ interception return closed out the half and with a running clock in the second, the lone score came via a TJ Schley 45-yard reception in the third quarter.
The Seahawks sideline was fired up all night, especially for guys who may not see much playing time in Bloom and McMaree, the later of which rushed for 121 yards on the night.
“These guy work hard in practice, and they’re usually the ones running the plays that we are going against,” Watkins said. “You know they’re good players, but, (it’s not) their time. When we get in these moments, the seniors are absolutely excited because they know how hard they work in practice and they don’t really get the glory on Fridays. So when they do get it, it’s kind of paying off for them.”
While Ida Baker showed signs of fight throughout the game, the high-scoring offense up until this point of the season that hadn’t scored less than 19 points in any game was unable to crack the end zone.
“We expected them to come out with all the talent that they brought in over there,” said Ida Baker head coach Cullen O’Brien. “We wanted our guys to step up to the challenge, and for the most part they did. We got the looks we were expecting, it’s just (Cape Coral) is good.
“We have a lot of growing up to do still. We got young kids out there that have not played much football going against kids that going to be playing on Saturdays. We do have some gritty, gutsy kids that were going to fight all the way down to the wire.”
Senior running back Nikolas Korf, who is No. 25 in the state in terms of rushing yards this year and is averaging 138.6 yards-per-game was held to 85 against Cape. The line of scrimmage battle was decisively won by the Seahawks, leading to quarterback Brody Root not having much time in the pocket and not having many lanes for backs to run through.
“We weren’t getting off the line of scrimmage — it’s something we’ve struggled with all year,” O’Brien said. “We knew we were going to be facing probably the best front we saw all year.
“It was just a physicality thing. It was less about techniques, and more about getting bigger and stronger.”
O’Brien has really turned around an Ida Baker program that hadn’t won a game in the last two seasons in his first year at the helm. He hopes a game like this will be something to draw on in the future for his returning players.
“This was defiantly a motivating thing,” he said. “I could see it. I could sense it. I could feel it with the younger guys.
“This team fought all the way through the game, and that’s what I’m liking with this group of guys.”
Next week, Ida Baker takes on Oasis (1-6) on the road at 7 p.m., while Cape Coral has a big matchup with Riverdale (6-1) also on the road at 7:30 p.m.
1 2 3 4 F
IDA BAKER 0 0 0 0 — 0
CAPE CORAL 21 20 7 0 — 48
1st Quarter
CC: James Hall, 3-yard rush (Briggs Conway kick); 8:02
CC: Kaden McMaree, 77-yard rush (Conway kick); 3:17
CC: Solider Morse, 30-yard reception from Derek Hooker (Conway kick); 1:01
2nd Quarter
CC: Nate Ogrodzinski, 25-yard reception from Hooker (Conway kick); 10:58
CC: Ogrodzinski, 27-yard reception from Hooker (kick fail); 1:42
CC: Hezekiah Jones, 69-yard interception return (Conway kick); 0:00
3rd Quarter
CC:
Seahawks sophomore running back Kaden McMaree rushes for a 77-yard touchdown during Cape Coral’s 48-0 win over Ida Baker Friday night.
CJ HADDAD
Cape Coral junior wideout Nate Ogrodzinski brings down a 27-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Derek Hooker during the Seahawk’s 48-0 win over Ida Baker Friday night.
CJ HADDAD
TJ Schley, 45-yard reception from Hooker (Conway kick); 4:50
To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com