CAPE ELIZABETH — While a couple of officials were digging through a pile of bodies at the Cape Elizabeth 18-yard line, Mountain Valley’s Taylor Carey was 10 yards behind the scrum, holding up the ball they were digging furiously to find.

That the ball had been fumbled was not in dispute. Who had recovered it was. The pigskin had squirted free after a whistle blew the play dead, so Carey, who alertly chased the ball down, could not have taken possession of it. The question was, who did before the whistle blew?

After about a three-minute conference, the officials ruled Cape Elizabeth had recovered, taking away the Falcons’ hopes for a game-clinching drive and giving the Capers new life with 59.9 seconds remaining.

The Falcons, and their fans, flew into a rage on the visitor’s sideline. But Mountain Valley regrouped quickly enough to squash Cape’s comeback attempt and hold on for a 20-14 victory Friday night at Hannaford Field.

The intrigue didn’t end with the turnover. Cape ran one play, a screen pass for an 11-yard gain and a first down, where the clock never started. The officials eventually decided to run an extra three seconds off the clock, but that was little consolation for the Falcons.

Cape quarterback Derek Roberts, replacing injured starter Connor Maguire, also got away with a two-handed spike to stop the clock. Two-handed spikes are, by rule, considered fumbles.

Yet Mountain Valley (7-1) was able to thwart a menacing drive by Cape (6-2), thanks in part to Devon Hamel’s sack that put the Capers in a 3rd-and-21 hole at their own 36 with 15 seconds left. After an incomplete pass on third down, Jacob Theriault batted down a pass intended for Ethan Murphy at the Falcon 5 to clinch it

“I think (the fumble call) takes a lot of guts, to blow a whistle, not know where the ball is, have a five-minute conference and then give it to the home team,” Mountain Valley coach Jim Aylward said. “It didn’t surprise me. It gave me something to get worked up about. I haven’t gotten worked up in a while.”

“It was kind of inconclusive who had possession of the ball,” Carey said. “Devon swatted it out and I had possession of it, but I think it was after the play was over. But we didn’t keep our heads down.”

 The wild, confusing finish followed a sloppy start. Cape fumbled on the second play of the game, with Ryan Glover recovering for the Falcons at Cape’s 41. Eight plays later, Kyle Duguay (25 carries, 198 yards) ran it in from the 4 for a 6-0  lead.

Mountain Valley returned the favor when QB Zach Radcliffe fumbled on an Austin Petsinger sack. The ball rolled into the end zone, where Nick Moulton recovered for Cape. The PAT put the Capers up 7-6.

Mountain Valley regained the lead with a 12-play, 68-yard drive, capped by Radcliffe’s QB sneak on 4th and inches.

After forcing the Capers to punt, the Falcons drove from their own 5 in just six plays, going to their bag of tricks to take a 20-7 lead. Izaak Mills took a pitch from Radcliffe and found a wide open Carey along the right sideline. Carey slipped a tackle at the 15 and finished off the 49-yard TD from there.

“Before that play, I looked at (Mills) and I knew. I just had a feeling the play was going to be open,” Carey said. “I ran 10 yards and I knew it was going to be a touchdown.”

“I felt real good at the end of the half until we gave up that toss pass. That’s just unacceptable,” Cape Elizabeth coach Aaron Filieo said. “But they’re kids and they get into those situations and just had a mental lapse there.”

Despite losing three starters to injury, Cape pulled to within 20-14 on its first drive of the second half. Running behind 300-pound guard (and part-time fullback) Andrew Lavallee, Donald Clark (25 carries, 110 yards) carried the ball on six of the eight plays on the drive, which Roberts capped with a 1-yard QB plunge of his own.

“We watched film and we were expecting (Lavallee) to be in the backfield in this game, but he showed up on the line. So we just came at him,” Mills said. “You’ve got to hit him low and try to drive him back into the play.”