CFNN Reporters Kamari Faison & Ansley Thomas

On Friday September 1st, Cape Fear hosted Terry Sanford for a long awaited Battle Of the Blues. The Bulldogs came into this year’s game with a vendetta after last year’s loss. But despite Terry Sanford’s best efforts, Cape Fear stampeded over the Bulldogs, winning 38-25.

The Colts won the coin toss to start the game and deferred which meant Terry would start the game with the ball. The veteran Colts defense would get a chance to set the tone for the game. They successfully stopped the Bulldogs by getting a 3 and out on their first two drives of the game. 

With 6 minutes left in the first quarter, the Colts put the first points on the board with a touchdown throw from Brice McKenzie to Ricardo McDonald, putting the Colts up 7-0 after a successful extra point kick from new placekicker Francisco Rodriguez. 

On the ensuing kickoff, the Bulldogs got the ball on Cape Fear’s 39 yard line with 5 minutes to go in the first. A huge hit from the Colts defense on third down knocked the ball loose, and senior defensive tackle Desmond “Big Cat” Harris capitalized by recovering the fumble. Shortly after, the Colts broke through with a rushing touchdown from Favor Mutala that then bumped the score to 15-0 after a successful two-point conversion.

The Bulldogs responded with a touchdown drive of their own, but a blocked extra point kick that left the score at 15-6. After a 3 and out from the Colt offense, the Bulldogs were able to put together another successful drive, resulting in another touchdown closing the score gap to 15-13 going into the second quarter.

The Colts refused to keep things close, scoring once again with a rushing touchdown from King Faison. The extra point kick was successful, putting the score at 22-13. The bulldogs refused to back down, though, trying to stay in it with yet another touchdown and a failed extra point kick upping the score to 19 – 22. 

Next, Senior quarterback Brice Mckenzie led the Colts down the field and capped the drive off with his second passing touchdown of the game. 

“At first I was nervous, but I had to remind myself that me and my teammates have been preparing for this day all summer, and also to trust my teammates and coaches knowing that they’ve got my back,” Mckenzie said after being asked how he felt coming into the game knowing the pressure at hand.

The Bulldogs would get one more shot at scoring before halftime, but Senior cornerback Mekhai Coleman crushed those dream with a leaping interception to close the half, leaving the Colts up 

28-19 at the break.

To open the third quarter, the Colts received the ball but couldn’t get anything going for the entire quarter. It was a slow quarter with only one touchdown from Terry Sanford.

Once the fourth quarter started, the Colts only had one thing on their mind and that was beating their longtime rival. They inched closer to that goal with a field goal from Francisco Rodriguez, which put the score at 31-25. After a clutch stop from the Colt defense, the Colts offense rushed in another touchdown for the final score of the night, sealing the deal at 38-25.

“It was all about teamwork this week. We came into this game 1-0 and we planned on staying undefeated. We have a ton of momentum right now, and we’re planning to keep that going on these next couple of weeks,” said the game’s MVP Ricardo Mcdonald.

After the game we caught up with Head Coach Jacob Thomas. While excited by the impressive win he reflects on what they have to improve on this week going into a very important game versus Laney. 

“We need to work more on eliminating penalties and controlling our emotions. It’ll be a hostile environment this friday, we need to be able focus in and just keep it on the field,” said Thomas.

The Colts will head to Wilmington Laney on September 8th to face off with the Buccaneers to close off the Non-Conference phase of the season.