In a hard-fought battle, the Charlotte Tarpons defeated the Cape Coral Seahawks 7-0 Friday night in the Region 4A-3 semifinals.

The Seahawks defense bottled up the Tarpons for the most part in the first half. Of the Tarpons’ five possessions, they punted four times and fumbled the ball away on the fifth.

Conversely, the Seahawks moved the ball well in the middle of the field.v On their second possession, starting at their own 1, quarterback Bryan Greenwell fearlessly threw it deep from his own end zone to Prince Holloway for a 57-yard gain. However, as they started to get close to the red zone, the Tarpons stiffened. Twice Greenwell was intercepted on throws into the end zone. On another series, Cape got down to Charlotte’s 12, but on fourth-and-four, the Seahawks couldn’t come up with another first down.

“We made a lot of mental errors tonight,” Seahawks coach Brad Metheny said. “On that play we weren’t supposed to snap the ball. We were trying to draw them offside with a hard count.”

As it was, the center snapped it to Greenwell, who was stopped three yards short of a first down. That mistake cost Cape an opportunity to kick a field goal.

Despite leading in total yardage 126-56, the Seahawks could not score.

Charlotte began to show some strength in the second half. Twice they drove deep into Seahawk territory, but did not score. With the ball on the 9, Mike Bellamy fumbled and Cape recovered. The Tarpons then drove to the Cape 27, but a 44-yard field goal by Austin Taylor was wide right.

On the very next play, Greenwell threw his third of five interceptions. The Tarpons took over on Cape’s 34, and used only five plays to score the game’s only touchdown. Bellamy ran in from five yards out with seven minutes left in the game.

Cape came back, relying on their passing game, and drove down to the Tarpons’ 27. They looked poised to answer the touchdown, but Greenwell was intercepted again.

Cape had used all of its timeouts, so Charlotte could run the clock out. Bellamy ran eight yards on first down, and then broke free for a clinching touchdown, but referees ruled Cape’s defender knocked the ball out of his hands just before the end zone and the Seahawks recovered in the end zone for a touchback.

Cape had one more chance to score, but turned the ball over on four downs.

“We had a great year,” Metheny said. “That’s what got us here. We played hard tonight and I felt like we dominated most of the football game. It’s just we beat ourselves.”

Cape Coral finished as district champions and 10-2 overall.

The Tarpons (12-0) advance to the state Class 4A Regional Finals next Friday night to face Armwood, a 39-6 winner over Hillsborough.

Cape Coral 0 0 0 0 – 0

Charlotte 0 0 0 7 – 7

Fourth Quarter

Char – Mike Bellamy 5 run (Austin Taylor kick).