Cape Coral ends Ranch’s season

CAPE CORAL — The season was down to its final seconds when Lakewood Ranch senior Austin Reiter walked up the sideline, finding the silver lining in what was soon to become a 27-0 loss to host Cape Coral in the Class 4A-Region 3 quarterfinals.

“From 1-9 to the playoffs,” the Mustangs offensive lineman told teammates and coaches. “Not bad.”

No, it really wasn’t.

The Mustangs, who lost nine straight to start the 2008 season, found their footing this year with six wins in 10 games and reached the postseason as a district runner-up.

But any thoughts of advancing deeper into the playoffs were dashed by an undefeated Cape Coral (11-0) team that was too fast, too big and, in the end, too good for Lakewood Ranch.

The Mustangs finished 6-5 and have enough players returning next year to think of a happier ending in 2010.

Youth, though, wasn’t the main culprit Friday night in Cape Coral. It was the inability of the Mustangs’ offense to generate much of an attack or find a way into the end zone during two trips inside the Cape Coral 10-yard line.

And it was also Cape Coral’s speed, which produced enough big plays to score one touchdown in every quarter.

“A couple of big plays kill you,” Mustangs coach Shawn Trent said. “They have so much speed. When you have three, four kids that fast on the field at the same time, things like that happen.”

Trent was speaking of a 40-yard punt return by Prince Halloway for the first points of the night, and a 70-yard touchdown run by Jeremy Davis in the third quarter that put the Seahawks up 21-0.

That run by Davis — the second of his three touchdown runs — came four plays after the Mustangs were stopped inside the Cape Coral 5-yard line when Chris Johnson picked off a Reggie Lindsey pass at the 2-yard line.

Lindsey completed 3 of 19 passes and was intercepted twice. Mustangs running back Taryn Laws gained 72 yards on 20 carries. Lindsey managed to scramble for 52 yards on nine carries. Yet, the Mustangs offense had trouble staying on the field. Of their 13 possessions, nine lasted four or fewer plays, and that includes punts.

“I don’t know if it was any one thing,” Trent said.

The Mustangs trailed 14-0 at the half and had a chance to cut the lead in half on their first possession of the third quarter when Lindsey was picked off at the 2.

Their next real scoring chance came when they blocked a punt and took over at the Seahawks 12. Cape Coral was punting from its own 3-yard line after being forced into a 4th-and-55 thanks to a trio of personal foul penalties and a false start.

The Mustangs’ drive extended into the fourth quarter but ended with a pair of incomplete passes in the end zone on third and fourth down.

“Defensively, we played OK,” Trent said. “With athletes like (Cape Coral has) on the field, you miss a tackle or take a bad angle and they’re gone, and we don’t have anybody who can catch them.”