Cape Central opens district play with rout of Mehlville

It took just 13 seconds for the Cape Central Tigers to find the end zone on the way to a 45-3 blowout of the Mehlville Panthers.

On the game’s opening kickoff Zai’Aire Thomas took the kick 91-yards for a touchdown, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

“That’s a great start and it put us on the right path,” Tigers coach Kent Gibbs said. “But, we also have to understand that not every play we run on offense is going to be a 40 or 50 yard run. We’re going to have to grind things out.”

Due to weather moving into the area on Friday night the start time for the battle between the Panthers and Tigers was moved up to 5 p.m.

“I think we did ok (with the changes),” Gibbs said. “I don’t think it really affected us.”

Just four minutes after Thomas’ kick return for a touchdown, his running back counterpart KeyShawn Boyd scored the first of his three touchdowns with a 2-yard run.

Despite the two-score lead, the Tigers opened the door for the Panthers to strike on multiple occasions, but each time the Tigers defense was up to the task.

On the first occasion, Cape Central quarterback Jathan Spain was intercepted which set the Panthers up at the Tigers 6-yard line.

The Tigers’ defense however was up to the task, stopping four consecutive red zone plays to keep the Panthers off the board.

The next occasion the job got tougher for the Tigers as Spain’s punt was blocked and recovered at the Cape Central 1-yard line setting the Panthers up with prime field position once again.

Cape Central was able to hold the Panthers to a field goal, cutting the lead to 14-3.

“Those are (situations) we hadn’t seen earlier in the year and we’re starting to see it out of our defense,” Gibbs said. “It’s big anytime you can keep points off the board.”

Perhaps the momentum built by the defense carried over to the offensive side for the Tigers because at the halfway point of the second quarter, Boyd would strike again with a 21-yard touchdown to make it 21-3 Cape Central.

Boyd’s third touchdown of the half came five minutes later as the half was winding down to make it 28-3.

“I remember last year playing MICDS he had 12 carries for 16 yards but they were big yards,” Gibbs said. “We tell the kids it’s not a bad thing to get five yards and keep the chains moving.”

Over the last few weeks Gibbs has said he wants the passing game to be more involved so the Tigers aren’t so one-dimensional.

The Tigers did just that as after a stop with under a minute left in the half, Spain connected with Thomas from 41-yards out to make it 35-3 Tigers, a lead they would take into the locker room at halftime.

“Jathan had a really good night,” Gibbs said. “It was the best he’s thrown the ball in several weeks. I feel like he had a good game tonight.”

After a defensive stop to start the second half, Thomas found the end zone again, this time from 25-yards out, to make it 42-3 Tigers.

Joey Charlton added a 40-yard field goal with five minutes remaining in the fourth, pushing the Tigers lead to 45-3.

With the win Cape Central (7-3) will host the winner of No. 3 Fox and No. 7 St. Mary’s South Side at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3, at Cape Central High School.

“I think we need to be laser focused on finishing our technique so we don’t have those kinds of penalties,” Gibbs said.