The Cape Coral Seahawks struggled defensively, but generated enough offense to come away a 44-42 passing duel victory over the Estero Wildcats Thursday night at Dave Warkentin Field.

Seahawks quarterback Kurt Benkert connected on 17-of-30 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns, but was outgunned by Wildcats QB Ryan Sides who connected on 30-of-38 for 396 yards and five TDs. Neither was intercepted, but the Seahawks had two sure picks slip off their fingertips.

J.D. Irons electrified the Seahawks fans when he hauled in a pass from Benkert and raced 68 yards for the game’s first score. Irons had three receptions for 85 yards on the night.

Rashaan Gaymon, who caught five passes for 84 yards, scored twice on catches of 27 and 22 yards. T.J. Jiles had five catches for 82 yards and one TD.

Both teams were throwing the ball on nearly every play, racking up five touchdowns in the third quarter alone, three by the Seahawks to open a 37-28 lead.

Dustin Thibodeau, who ran for just 42 yards on eight carries in the first half, found plenty of gaps in the Wildcats’ defense in the second half. He scored two TDs in the third quarter, one from eight yards out and the other from 24 yards. He finished with a game-high 143 yards on 21 carries.

The Wildcats turned the ball over on fumbles twice. The first came early in the second half when Eric McFadden muffed a punt and Cape’s Mario Dominguez covered the ball just 10 yards from the end zone.

The Seahawks converted the opportunity two plays later on Thibodeau’s first TD run. The second fumble came with less than six minutes remaining. With the Wildcats driving to the Seahawks’ 15-yard line, Sides was sacked and fumbled the ball with Dylan Humenay recovering for Cape.

The Seahawks (3-2, 2-0 district) travels to Immokalee next Friday night.

Estero 0 14 14 14 – 42

Cape Coral 0 16 21 7 – 44

Second Quarter

CC – J.D. Irons 68 pass from Kurt Benkert (T.J. Jiles run).

E – Eric McFadden 10 run (Christian Phillips kick).

CC – Rashaan Gaymon 27 pass from Benkert (Trey Daniels pass from Jiles).

E – Zach Culvahouse 7 pass from Ryan Sides (Phillips kick).

Third Quarter

CC – Dustin Thibodeau 8 run (Johnathan Ramirez kick).

E – Culvahouse 21 pass from Sides (Phillips kick).

CC – Jiles 4 pass from Benkert (Ramirez kick).

E – Culvahouse 13 pass from Sides (Phillips kick).

CC – Thibodeau 24 run (Ramirez kick).

Fourth Quarter

E – McFadden35 pass from Sides (kick failed).

CC – Gaymon 22 pass from Benkert (Ramirez kick).

E – Justin Milcetich 62 pass from Sides (McFadden pass from Sides).

Island Coast 37, Fort Myers 7: Mario Pender scored on a 63-yard run on the first play from scrimmage and the Island Coast Gators raced to a 30-0 lead and coasted to a District 6A-11 victory over Fort Myers.

Pender, who ran for 193 yards on 10 carries with two touchdowns, wasn’t the only weapon at the Gators’ disposal. Junior T.J. Johnson also scored twice with 109 yards rushing and another 68 receiving. Michael Dumas churned out 59 yards and a rushing touchdown.

The Gators (5-1, 3-0 district) wasted no time in taking the air out of the Green Wave as Pender went up the middle and outraced everyone to the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

Kevin Vigne later booted a 25-yard field goal to boost the lead to 10-0.

Fort Myers (4-2, 1-1) went with a no-huddle offense that kept the Gators defense off balance at the start, with two trips into the red zone. Both drives ended with a fumble that senior lineman Marcos Canino recovered for the Gators plus a missed field goal.

Island Coast visits Bishop Verot next Friday.

Fort Myers 0 0 7 0 7

Island Coast16 14 0 7 37

First Quarter

IC – Pender 63 run (Vigne kick)

IC – FG, Vigne 25

IC – Johnson 48 run (kick blocked)

Second Quarter

IC – Pender 66 run (Vigne kick)

IC – Johnson 25 run (Vigne kick)

Third Quarter

FM – Altenor 2 run (Brosy kick)

Fourth Quarter

IC – Dumas 1 run (Vigne kick)

East Lee County 47, Mariner 21: East Lee County flexed its offensive muscle early, played tough defense, and outscored the Tritons.

Led by Kendal Sawyer’s four touchdowns, and Winfred Ward’s passing, the Jaguars showed a balanced attack. Sawyer gained 162 yards on 12 carries, and Ward was 12-of-18 passing for 138 yards. The Jaguars gained a total of 402 yards offensively.

Sawyer had rushing touchdowns of 28, 45, and 30 yards and also intercepted a Tritons pass and returned 82 yards for his fourth touchdown.

Quarterback Andrew Torres scored two touchdowns, rushing 19 times for 151 yards, and Tyler Pigott scored the third, rushing 11 times for 136 yards. Total offense for Mariner was 376.

East Lee Co. 13 15 7 12 – 47

Mariner 7 7 0 7 – 21

First Quarter

M – Tyler Pigott 7 run (Justin Kuchle kick)

ELC – Kendal Sawyer 28 run (Danny Anderson kick)

ELC – Bryce Crawford 29 pass from Winfred Ward (kick failed)

Second Quarter

ELC – Sawyer 82 interception return (Crawford pass from Ward)

M – Andrew Torres 60 run (Kuchle kick)

ELC – Crawford 26 pass from Ward (Anderson kick)

Third Quarter

ELC – Sawyer 45 run (Anderson kick)

Fourth Quarter

M – Torres 6 run (Kuchle kick)

ELC – Sawyer 30 run (kick failed)

ELC – Omaris Tolbert 17 run (kick failed)

Ida Baker 21, Bishop Verot 20: The Ida Baker Bulldogs scored in OT on Brian Johnson’s second rushing touchdown of the game and although Verot answered with a TD of its own, the extra-point kick sailed wide handing the Bulldogs the win.

The night was filled with pink as the Bulldogs were raising awareness for breast cancer. The Bulldogs wore special pink uniforms sending the crowd into a frenzy. The momentum did not carry over to the first quarter as the teams traded five punts in the scoreless period.

Quarterback Reece Attwood broke the scoring ice in the third quarter. He took the Bulldogs on a 62-yard drive, in which he completed 3-of-4 passes for 22 yards. The drive was capped off on a six-yard touchdown run by sophomore Alex Febles, who plays offense, defense and special teams for the Bulldogs.

Vikings senior quarterback Danny Foye was stumped by the ferocious Bulldogs defense as he threw his second interception of the game late in the third. The game was in Baker’s hands heading to the fourth.

Foye led a seven-play scoring drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown reception by D.J. Oceant to force overtime.

Baker scored first and converted the point-after. The Vikings scored easily as well, but kicker Jesse Mitchell lined a wobbly kick outside the uprights to seal their fate.

The Bulldogs (3-2, 1-1 district) head to North Fort Myers next Friday. Verot (1-5, 0-3) hosts the Island Coast Gators.

Bishop Verot 0 0 0 14 6 – 20

Ida Baker 0 0 7 7 7 – 21

Third Quarter

B – Febles 6 run (Miller kick)

Fourth Quarter

BV – Diamond 2 pass from Foye (Mitchell kick)

B – Johnson 6 run (Miller kick)

BV – Oceant 15 pass from Foye (Mitchell kick)

Overtime

B – Johnson 5 run (Miller kick)

BV – Oceant 8 pass from Foye (kick failed)

Freelance writers Chuck Ballaro, Jonathan Blikstad, and Dominic Carsi contributed to this report.