Article PhotosMICHAEL PISTELLA Cape Coral senior defensive back Andrew Iverson (3) grabs Island Coast runningback Mario Pender (7) forcing him out of bounds on the first-half play Friday night at Dave Warkentin Field. More photos are available online at: cu.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com.

In a hard-fought defensive battle, the Island Coast Gators handed the Cape Coral Seahawks their first defeat of the season 21-11 Friday night at Dave Warkentin Field.

These two teams had been scoring lots of points in their previous games. In the first offensive series, the Gators looked like that trend might continue. They marched down the field exclusively running the ball, picking up six first downs. They used the wildcat formation with the ball snapped directly to running back Mario Pender.

“We were trying to catch them off guard.” said Gators coach Joe Bowen. “We hadn’t run the wildcat in three weeks, so it was a new wrinkle.”

Cape’s defense stiffened enough to hold them inside the 10-yard line. The Gators kicked a field goal, but Cape was guilty of roughing the kicker, so the Gators got an automatic first down at the Seahawks’ 4. Three plays later quarterback Nelson Candelario ran a sneak from the 1 for the touchdown.

On the ensuing kickoff, T.J. Johnson returned the kick 69 yards to the Gators’ 17. It looked like Cape would answer Island Coast’s score quickly, but on the first play Bryan Greenwell’s pass was batted into the air and intercepted. Island Coast gave the ball back two plays later on a fumble.

Island Coast scored at the start of the second quarter on a nine-play drive. Willie Fleming ran it in from five yards out.

Cape really didn’t get on track offensively until their fourth drive. They reached the Gator 15, but could not score. One pass from Greenwell hit Prince Holloway in the end zone, but he was ruled out of bounds. On fourth down, Greenwell threw his second of three interceptions.

The Gators obliged by fumbling the ball back on the next play when Pender caught a pass only to have the ball jarred loose.

On the first play at the 49, Greenwell lofted a deep pass to Jovan Ojeda, who was behind his defender, and carried it into the end zone. T.J. Jiles ran for the two-point conversion.

With less than two minutes left in half the Gators ran the ball and chewed up yardage. Lewis King ran six yards for their third and final score.

The second half turned into a defensive struggle. The Gators, who had gained 239 yards on the ground in the first half, only gained 40 in the second.

Greenwell and his offensive line had difficulty with the Gators defensive line.

“Their defensive line whipped us tonight,” said Cape coach Brad Metheny. “My quarterback was running for his life all night long.”

The only scoring in the second half came on Cape’s first possession. Johnson found a hole in the Gators line and broke it for 50 yards. Island Coast would not let them into the end zone, and so Cape settled for a field goal.

“We changed our blocking scheme to open a hole for him.” Metheny said.

One other play could have turned the momentum of the game for Cape. Holloway slipped through the Island Coast defense and ran a punt back 86 yards for a touchdown, but the score was nullified by a holding penalty.

Both teams return to district play next week with Cape hosting Gulf Coast, and Island Coast hosting Dunbar.

Island Coast 7 14 0 0 – 21

Cape Coral 0 8 3 0 – 11

First Quarter

IC – Nelson Candelario 1 run (Kyle Fitzgerald kick)

Second Quarter

IC – Willie Fleming 5 run (Fitzgerald kick)

CC – Jovan Ojeda 49 pass from Bryan Greenwell (T.J. Jiles run)

IC – Lewis King 6 run (Fitzgerald kick)

Third Quarter

CC – FG, Jonathan Ramirez 25