After the first two weeks of the Campbell Conference campaign, the Spruce Mountain at Cape Elizabeth matchup in Week 4 looked like the pick of the crop. And who knows? It still may turn out that way.

No question, however, that Friday night’s collision at Hannaford Field has lost some of its luster with the season-ending knee injury to Cape star Noah Wolfinger.

“He loves the game of football and he loves his team,” Cape coach Aaron Filieo said. “We stress that, first and foremost, to come out and have fun. We have a lot of young guys stepping in.”

Wolfinger, the Capers’ focal point on both sides of the line of scrimmage at quarterback and defensive back, tore the ACL and meniscus in his left knee on a second-quarter run against Poland in the second week of the season.

Cape (2-1) has been outscored 78-17 since. It staved off Poland’s 29-point comeback with a Ben Ekedahl field goal in the final seconds of regulation before being walloped at Wells, 49-7.

That came one week after Spruce Mountain used Matt Vigue’s three-touchdown explosion to walk away from Wells, 27-6. For an encore, QB Peter Theriault threw two TDs to Deonte Ring, one to Vigue, and ran for another in a 46-12 rout of Mountain Valley that kept the Phoenix (3-0) undefeated.

“You just let the kids play,” Spruce Mountain coach Walter Polky said of his high-powered offense, which also has received major contributions from receivers Dalton Webster and Andrew Darling and backs Dillon Webster and Brad Fournier.

Spruce Mountain, the only undefeated team remaining in the conference, thrives behind an experienced offensive line, led by Dylan Smith and Anthony York.

Junior linebacker James Ouellette anchors the top scoring defense in Class C West (10.7 ppg). That group will look to put pressure on sophomore Jeb Boeschenstein, who has taken over under center for the Capers in Wolfinger’s absence.

Ethan Murphy, a senior, and sophomore Ekedahl are Boeschenstein’s top pass-catching threats.

Cape needs a big night from its backfield of outside threat Jack Drinan and bruising fullback Christian Lavallee.

With a win, Spruce Mountain could get another leg up on possible home field advantage throughout the regional playoffs. Poland (at home next week) and Leavitt (road, final night of the regular season) would be the two remaining obstacles to that distinction.

The Capers, meanwhile, hope to gain confidence going into a manageable stretch of October games that includes Freeport, Yarmouth, Gray-New Gloucester and Mountain Valley.

“It’s going to be a dogfight,” Filieo said.

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