Loading...
Cape Tech Advances To Vocational Playoff Football Championship
Seventh-seed Cape Cod Tech defeated third-seed Pathfinder Tech 18-16 on Friday to advance to the state vocational small school playoffs championship. EREZ BEN-AKIVA PHOTOS
With the win, Cape Tech reached their first championship game since 2006, when the team played as a co-op with Harwich High School.
PALMER – For the first time in almost two decades, Cape Cod Tech will play a championship football game.
The seventh-seed Crusaders defeated third-seed Pathfinder Tech 18-16 Friday to advance to the final of the state vocational small school playoffs, where they’ll face first-seed South Shore Tech. To get there, Cape Tech once again assembled a come-from-behind effort in the semifinal to pull off yet another upset. Pathfinder led 16-6 at half.
But all the way back in August, as the team practiced in the preseason at Camp Edwards on Joint Base Cape Cod, head coach Calvin Castillias and the rest of the staff instilled a theme — an ultimate goal — that emphasized finishing strong.
That identity is evident in 7-4 Cape Tech, who are a second-half team in every sense. They scored two touchdowns and held Pathfinder scoreless in the third and fourth quarters to take the semifinal. They’ve won six games in a row. When they’re down, they visibly do not waver.
“From day one, it's been — it's not about how we start, it's how we finish, and that's what it was today,” Castillias said.
Castillias was a player himself for the Crusaders’ most recent championship game, a 7-0 loss to Ipswich in the Division 3A Super Bowl back in 2006, when Cape Tech football operated as a co-op with Harwich High School. That season was also the last time Cape Tech had won a playoff game until this year’s team beat Franklin County Tech in the vocational quarterfinals.
The 2025 group’s seven wins are also the most for Cape Tech since splitting from Harwich in 2010. Regardless of what happens in the final game against South Shore Tech, the team has already put together the post-co-op era’s best season. They’re not taking the playoff success for granted.
“We don't have that benefit, that luxury that these big schools have where it's an expectation,” Castillias said he told the team. “I said, ‘We don't know. Next year is never promised. We've got to take everything serious, because we don't have that luxury. We don't know what next year is going to bring us.’”
Cape Tech scored first against Pathfinder in a game setting where, as night fell in Palmer, the vapor from linemen breathing floated across the line of scrimmage, like an ethereal foreshadowing of the battle about to commence upon the snap. First, junior Thomas Allen recovered a Pathfinder fumble on their opening drive. By the time junior Chaz Thomas ran in to put the Crusaders ahead 6-0, it was already the second quarter.
Pathfinder fired back with a score by sophomore Grayson Griswold and got the ball again quickly after a Cape Tech three-and-out. With two minutes left in the half, Pathfinder sophomore Cassian Kowalik leapt for a pass, broke a tackle and took the catch for a 50-yard touchdown. Two plays later, the Pioneers forced a safety with a sack of Cape Tech junior Daniel Handville.
“It was a hard fought battle,” junior Anthony Bartlett said. “They really did punch us in the mouth in the first half. I mean, everybody saw it. They were rolling.”
The visitors were also working with a next-Crusader-up mentality. They had to. Freshman Jahmario Bartlett started at safety in place of an injured senior. The team’s usual center couldn’t make the game, so junior Michael Banks slotted in to start at the position for the first time.
At the half, Castillias reiterated that preseason message about finishing. Players told each other it wasn’t over.
“There was a moment there where we hung our heads, but it was the leaders on this team — the captains and the seniors — that whipped us up into shape and really made us remember that this game is not over, and we will never stop fighting,” Bartlett said. “And when we did that, there's not much that can stop us.”
Cape Tech opened the second half, like they did in the first half, with a long drive that grinded up most of the third quarter and ended again with a Thomas rushing touchdown. The defense answered by forcing a Pathfinder three-and-out. Handville hit Bartlett for a 30-yard gain to end the quarter. Bartlett soon after rushed in for a 19-yard touchdown to go back ahead 18-16.
But all the way back in August, as the team practiced in the preseason at Camp Edwards on Joint Base Cape Cod, head coach Calvin Castillias and the rest of the staff instilled a theme — an ultimate goal — that emphasized finishing strong.
That identity is evident in 7-4 Cape Tech, who are a second-half team in every sense. They scored two touchdowns and held Pathfinder scoreless in the third and fourth quarters to take the semifinal. They’ve won six games in a row. When they’re down, they visibly do not waver.
“From day one, it's been — it's not about how we start, it's how we finish, and that's what it was today,” Castillias said.
Castillias was a player himself for the Crusaders’ most recent championship game, a 7-0 loss to Ipswich in the Division 3A Super Bowl back in 2006, when Cape Tech football operated as a co-op with Harwich High School. That season was also the last time Cape Tech had won a playoff game until this year’s team beat Franklin County Tech in the vocational quarterfinals.
The 2025 group’s seven wins are also the most for Cape Tech since splitting from Harwich in 2010. Regardless of what happens in the final game against South Shore Tech, the team has already put together the post-co-op era’s best season. They’re not taking the playoff success for granted.
“We don't have that benefit, that luxury that these big schools have where it's an expectation,” Castillias said he told the team. “I said, ‘We don't know. Next year is never promised. We've got to take everything serious, because we don't have that luxury. We don't know what next year is going to bring us.’”
Cape Tech scored first against Pathfinder in a game setting where, as night fell in Palmer, the vapor from linemen breathing floated across the line of scrimmage, like an ethereal foreshadowing of the battle about to commence upon the snap. First, junior Thomas Allen recovered a Pathfinder fumble on their opening drive. By the time junior Chaz Thomas ran in to put the Crusaders ahead 6-0, it was already the second quarter.
Pathfinder fired back with a score by sophomore Grayson Griswold and got the ball again quickly after a Cape Tech three-and-out. With two minutes left in the half, Pathfinder sophomore Cassian Kowalik leapt for a pass, broke a tackle and took the catch for a 50-yard touchdown. Two plays later, the Pioneers forced a safety with a sack of Cape Tech junior Daniel Handville.
“It was a hard fought battle,” junior Anthony Bartlett said. “They really did punch us in the mouth in the first half. I mean, everybody saw it. They were rolling.”
The visitors were also working with a next-Crusader-up mentality. They had to. Freshman Jahmario Bartlett started at safety in place of an injured senior. The team’s usual center couldn’t make the game, so junior Michael Banks slotted in to start at the position for the first time.
At the half, Castillias reiterated that preseason message about finishing. Players told each other it wasn’t over.
“There was a moment there where we hung our heads, but it was the leaders on this team — the captains and the seniors — that whipped us up into shape and really made us remember that this game is not over, and we will never stop fighting,” Bartlett said. “And when we did that, there's not much that can stop us.”
Cape Tech opened the second half, like they did in the first half, with a long drive that grinded up most of the third quarter and ended again with a Thomas rushing touchdown. The defense answered by forcing a Pathfinder three-and-out. Handville hit Bartlett for a 30-yard gain to end the quarter. Bartlett soon after rushed in for a 19-yard touchdown to go back ahead 18-16.
The defense had 11 minutes to hold the line. Disaster seemed to strike instantly after Pathfinder took Cape Tech’s kickoff back for a score, but the return was called back due to penalty. Pathfinder advanced to Cape Tech’s 40-yard line but couldn’t get any further.
The defensive unit forced that turnover on downs and another to end the game for good measure to cap a scoreless second half. The comeback Crusaders had done it again.
“I think it was the respect we had for each other, to believe in that and put full faith in our teammates, to have the heart to get it done,” Bartlett said.
After visiting Upper Cape Tech on Thanksgiving, the Crusaders will face South Shore Tech on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 5 p.m. at neutral-site Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School in the vocational playoff championship.
The two teams have already met this season, seven long weeks ago. Cape Tech played at South Shore Tech (6-5) on Oct. 10, losing 27-6. The game put Cape Tech at 1-4. They haven’t lost since.
The defensive unit forced that turnover on downs and another to end the game for good measure to cap a scoreless second half. The comeback Crusaders had done it again.
“I think it was the respect we had for each other, to believe in that and put full faith in our teammates, to have the heart to get it done,” Bartlett said.
After visiting Upper Cape Tech on Thanksgiving, the Crusaders will face South Shore Tech on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 5 p.m. at neutral-site Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School in the vocational playoff championship.
The two teams have already met this season, seven long weeks ago. Cape Tech played at South Shore Tech (6-5) on Oct. 10, losing 27-6. The game put Cape Tech at 1-4. They haven’t lost since.
A healthy Barnstable County requires great community news.
Please support The Cape Cod Chronicle by subscribing today!
Please support The Cape Cod Chronicle by subscribing today!
.jpg)