CAPE ELIZABETH – For the second consecutive game, Cape Elizabeth relied on its air-tight defense Friday night.

The Capers held York in check and recorded their second straight shutout — a 21-0 victory at Hannaford Field.

Additional Photos

Jack Barber of Cape Elizabeth is pursued by York's Alex Jannetti, left, and Thomas Kinton during the Capers’ 21-0 victory Friday night. Photos by Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Derek Roberts of Cape Elizabeth celebrates after intercepting a pass in the first quarter, setting up the game's first touchdown.

Andrew Lavallee reaches over York's line to knock down a pass by Wesley Warner, left. Cape Elizabeth allowed just one first down in the first half on the way to its second straight shutout.

“Going into the season, we knew we’d be OK because we could hang our hat on our defense,” Cape Coach Aaron Filieo said.

Cape Elizabeth, which opened the season with a 25-0 win at Poland, sputtered offensively for much of the game, however, and that’s a cause for concern.

“It’s our second game of the season, and we’re a young team,” Filieo said. “We just have a lot of work to do. We need to clean things up, and I guess that comes with the territory of being so young and inexperienced, and it being so early in the season.”

All three touchdowns came on drives of 33 yards or less, as the Capers took advantage of excellent field position.

Jack Barber opened the scoring less than six minutes into the game on a 2-yard run, six plays after safety Derek Roberts intercepted a pass at the York 33. Two plays after the turnover, Roberts threw a 12-yard pass to Cyrus Wolfinger to set up the score.

The Capers made it 14-0 in the final minute of the first half when Roberts threw an 11-yard pass to Connor McAleney, four plays after a short York punt gave them the ball at the 30. Roberts scrambled 16 yards for a first down before the touchdown pass.

Cape’s defense, meanwhile, kept the Wildcats (0-2) pinned in their own end of the field for all but a few seconds during the first half. York was held to one first down and 24 yards.

“Give Cape credit, they kept us back there,” York Coach Randy Small said. “You know, you don’t have good field position for a reason. I’m not going to make any excuses. We got beat.”

The Wildcats moved the ball a bit more effectively in the second half but had nothing to show for it.

“We had a good pass rush in the first half, but not so much in the second half, so I don’t know what happened there,” Filieo said. “We’ll have to look at the film. But we like what we have up front, and we’ll try to develop some depth and get better.”

The Wildcats drove inside the 10 late in the game, but Cape kept them out of the end zone.

“We just made a million mental errors tonight,” Small said. “I thought physical-wise, we played well. But you make mental errors because the other team makes you do that, so give credit to Cape.”

Barber, who rushed for a game-high 80 yards on 22 carries, scored his third touchdown of the season on a 2-yard run with 2:39 left. An extremely short punt allowed the Capers to take over at the York 18, and they need just five plays to punch it in.

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at: pbetit@pressherald.com