EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — The Lower Cape May Regional High School football team scored on all three of its second-half drives Friday, and the Caper Tigers’ defense shut out Egg Harbor Township.
Like the Caper Tigers, Jonathan Fernandez erupted in the second half.
Fernandez scored rushing TDs in the third and fourth quarters to lead Lower to a 34-6 victory over the Eagles in a West Jersey Football League interdivision game.
He finished with 89 rushing and 50 receiving yards. He only had 11 receiving and seven rushing yards at halftime.
Lower (5-1) has won four straight games. EHT fell to 1-5.
“Personally, me, I came out (in the second half), I talked to my coaches. I didn’t get that many touches in the first half, but I tried my best,” Fernandez said. “At half, I knew it was coming. I was just ready for it.”
The Capers Tigers led 13-6 at halftime.
Britton Walls rushed for a 13-yard TD on the game’s first offensive drive to give Lower a 6-0 lead. EHT’s Josh Colella threw a 23-yard TD pass to Jake Lund on the ensuing drive to tie the game at 6-6. David Douglass rushed for a 2-yard score to give Lower a 13-6 lead.
Lower’s defense then forced a punt, but it turned the ball over on downs at EHT’s 11.
“We just came out a little flat (in the first half), especially defensively, as well,” Lower first-year coach Billy Damiana said. “It’s always difficult getting on the road and trying to get after it.”
Lower also had a difficult first-half in its only loss this season, which was against Gloucester City on Sept. 5. Gloucester scored 21 points in the first half but only seven in the second. Lower also had a slow start in its win over St. Joseph Academy on Sept. 26.
The Caper Tigers were challenged again Friday, but his team responded, Damiana said.
“In years past, we would have thrown in the towel when adversity struck, but we didn’t do it (Friday). We came through,” he said.
Lower forced another punt to start the third quarter.
The Caper Tigers’ offense then faced a third-and-12 on the ensuing drive, and Douglass connected with Fernandez for a 39-yard gain.
“We are going to be aggressive,” Damiana said. “You can’t play football sitting back on your heels. You need to lean forward.”
That led to Fernandez’s 20-yard TD run to extend Lower’s lead to 20-6 with 2 minutes, 52 seconds left in the third quarter.
“This game was great,” Fernandez said. “I mean, we had a slow first half. (It was) 13-6 coming out of the first half, so it was pretty slow. But we came out really strong in the second half.… We just came out hard.”
Colella threw passes of 23 and 16 yards to Jahvid McClellan to set up EHT at Lower’s 25, but Connor Milligan then made an interception, which led to Fernandez’s 12-yard TD run to extend the lead to 27-6.
After Lower’s Alexander Nelson recovered a fumble, Ryan Mallon rushed for a 10-yard TD to cap the scoring.
Douglass finished with 83 rushing and 60 passing yards for Lower. Mallon had 81 rushing yards, Walls 41.
Colella threw for 95 yards for EHT. McClellan had 58 receiving yards.
“We wanted to really push the pace,” Damiana said. “We wanted to establish the run game. We wanted to take over the run game again. We did that, so I am extremely happy with how we responded in the second half.
“The defense showed up, too, after we woke up after that first half. It felt great. Moving forward for the rest of the games, that is something we can hang our hats in. But there still is a lot of mistakes we need to fix.”
Lower will bring its four-game winning streak to Egg Harbor City next Friday to play Cedar Creek. The Pirates (4-1) are No. 5 in The Press Elite 11.
“It’s going to be very, very tough,” Damiana said. “They are very, very well-coached. They are fast downhill. They play defense with ferocity. Their offense is very confident. They are a fantastic program. They are a program we would like to be like, eventually. It’ll be a great game to test ourselves and see where we are.”
Contact Patrick Mulranen: 609-272-7217
PMulranen@pressofac.com
Twitter @ACPressMulranen
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