CAPE ELIZABETH — You have to read between the lines when you look at No. 1 Cape Elizabeth’s 43-7 victory over No. 4 Spruce Mountain in a Class C South football semifinal game at Hannaford Field on a cold Friday night.

Sure, the Capers threw up 43 points on the scoreboard and led 29-7 at halftime, but the Phoenix made Cape work for each touchdown it scored.

And Spruce’s wheels really never came off when the chips were down.

The Capers didn’t hold back on the second play of the game when Brett McAlister scored from the 43-yard line and Marshall Peterson nailed the extra-point kick with ease.

The Phoenix may have been stunned for a moment, but they shrugged it off and marched from their 9-yard line to the 24 thanks to quarterback Caulin Parker’s passing abilities. The senior QB connected on five passes for 46 yards. Austin Darling scored from the 24 and Devan Pomeroy kick the extra point and it was a tie game.

“I thought they played with a lot of spirit to be honest with you,” Cape Elizabeth coach Aaron Filieo said. “I thought they came out and really competed and pushed us and made us play a little bit of different game than we expected, which was good.

“So it kind of tested our resolve. I think it validated their place in the playoff tournament. It was a good football game..”

But on the next set of downs, the Capers scored again when they moved to the 7, from which Peyton Weatherbie scored in the first quarter

The Phoenix had something going again on the next drive, but fumbled on the 43, giving the Capers an opportunity to score again — and they did just that.

The Capers marched from the 18, where Weatherbie scored his second touchdown. The Capers were now up 21-7 going into the second quarter.

No matter how tough the Phoenix played on defense, Cape Elizabeth still found a way around the Spruce.

This time, the Capers went to the air. Senior quarterback Jeb Boeschenstein hurled a 46-yard pass to Ben Ekedahl to give Cape a comfortable 29-7 lead going into halftime.

Like the first quarter, Cape Elizabeth used to two plays to score in the third quarter. Weatherbie rushed from the 39 and waltzed into the end zone for his third touchdown of the game.

Cape’s defense also buckled down, and when Pomeroy went back to punt, he dropped the ball. Defensive back Alex Depke came flying through the Phoenix’s offensive line and into Pomeroy with devastating velocity. The ball got loose in the end zone and Depke jumped on it for a touchdown.

“I mean, the scoring thing doesn’t indicate (how we played). They played tough, I thought,” Spruce Mountain coach David Frey said. “It was kind of one of those games where we came out at first and I thought we played well.

“You just can’t take away that they are a good team. I mean they are very good. They were solid on both sides of the ball tonight.”