VIDEO: LCM again returns opening kickoff for TD but EHT dominates second half to send Tigers to loss

Posted: September 4th 2026

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

ERMA – For the second straight game, the Lower Cape May Regional High School football team returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown.

Unlike in their season opener, however, the early big play didn’t set the stage for a victory.

Ryan Mallon’s 87-yard kickoff return to the end zone gave Lower a 7-0 lead and created a frenzy among a rather large home crowd. But Egg Harbor Township rallied to take a halftime lead before pulling away behind a dominating second half to post a comprehensive 28-13 victory.

EHT (2-0) tied the contest midway through the second quarter on Jake Lund’s 79-yard catch and run for a touchdown on a third-and-three play.

Following Phillip’s Smith recovery of a fumble, Lower (1-1) was in the end zone again with three seconds to go in the quarter on a six-yard scoring run by quarterback Dave Douglass to take a 13-7 advantage.

EHT, however, took the lead for good on its next drive. The Eagles went 56 yards in 11 plays, capped by a 14-yard touchdown reception by Lund from Josh Colella on a fourth-and-six play.

Lower twice moved inside the EHT 35-yard line but the drives ended on an interception and a turnover on downs.

EHT took control of the game in the third quarter when Jahiyd McClellan ran into the end zone from 26 yards out followed by Colella’s two-point conversion run that put the Eagles ahead by two scores at 22-13.

Ta’lik Jackson’s 17-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter accounted for the game’s final points.

Lower Cape May is next in action at Cumberland on Friday, Sept. 11.