Daija Lampkin worked hard – on the track and in the classroom – to make sure she had choices when it came to college.

Middletown’s record-setting sprinter was rewarded with recruiting interest from more than 30 schools. She narrowed the list down to four, then pared it down to one on Thursday when she signed a National Letter of Intent to run track at the University of Alabama.

“I had determination, and I had hard work,” Lampkin said. “Freshman year is when it started. I told myself that I’m going to be great, and I want to do the best of my ability in this sport.

“I did training after training after training. Two trainings a day, seven days a week, until I got to this point. I’m just proud that I got here.”

She celebrating reaching her goal with family and friends in the Middletown High library. Lampkin also strongly considered Tennessee, Ohio State and South Carolina, but her visit to Alabama sealed the deal.

“The moment I stepped on that campus, I fell in love with the whole thing,” Lampkin said. “I fell in love with the team, fell in love with the coaches, the atmosphere. Roll Tide.”

Middletown’s Daija Lampkin, shown here anchoring her team to a win in the 4×100-meter relay at the New Castle County Championships last spring, has signed to run track at Alabama.

Middletown coach Mary Kay Waltemire was happy to see Lampkin’s big day come.

“I’m very proud of her,” Waltemire said. “She’s had a lot of choices to make over the last couple of months, big decisions. I know she thought about it carefully.”

Last winter, Lampkin won the 55 meters at New York’s prestigious Millrose Games in a state-record 6.91 seconds. She ran the 200 in 24.2, second all-time in Delaware, at the New Balance Indoor Nationals.

She kept up that torrid pace in the spring, lowering the state 200 record to 23.68 at the DIAA Division I meet. She missed the DIAA Meet of Champions to be part of a 16-member U.S. national girls team at the Caribbean Scholastic Invitational in Havana, Cuba, where she finished second in both the 100 and 200 against international competition. Her 11.52 in the 100 was the fastest ever by a Delaware high school girl, but isn’t a state record because it came after the official season.

So she wants to break that record officially this spring, during her senior season.

“I set goals for each season, because they help me strive for it,” Lampkin said. “This season, indoor and outdoor, I want to set more records, school and state records, and I want to [set personal records] in all my events.”

Lampkin plans a pre-medical major at Alabama, with a postgraduate eye on the medical field. One of the things that attracted her to the Crimson Tide was assistant coach Dion Miller, a 15-year college coaching veteran who has guided the careers of several national and world champions and Olympic sprinters.

“His plan is to rebuild the sprint program,” Lampkin said. “I’ve seen what he’s done at other universities, and I think I’ll be a good fit for Alabama and he’ll be a good fit for me.”

Lampkin was one of three Middletown athletes to sign college scholarship agreements on Thursday. The others were baseball players, as power-hitting infielder-outfielder Spencer Harbert signed with Kentucky and infielder Brandon Rohrer signed with Liberty.

They were among dozens of Delaware high school athletes who have made their college choices officials in the last 48 hours, including:

Baseball – Dmitri Floyd (Dover), UMBC; Tyler Juhl (Caravel), Virginia Commonwealth; Michael Serafin (Delaware Military Academy), Coker; Billy Sullivan (St. Mark’s), Delaware; Avery Tunnell (Dover), Maryland-Eastern Shore; Joey Wunsch (Dover), Penn State-Mont Alto

Softball – Haley Jones (Appoquinimink), Georgian Court; Abbey Mayse (St. Mark’s), Wesley; Jude McGough (Newark Charter), UNC Charlotte; Hannah Jones (Cape Henlopen), Campbell

Women’s basketball – Kryshell Gordy (Ursuline), Shippensburg

Men’s basketball – Myles Cale (Appoquinimink), Seton Hall

Women’s lacrosse – Olivia Duarte (Caravel), Colgate; Lauren Phillips (Caravel), Jacksonville; Katie Klabe (Cape Henlopen), Winthrop; Cailey Thornburg (Cape Henlopen), Mercer; Isea Cryne (Cape Henlopen), Mercer; Eddy Shoop (Cape Henlopen), Florida; Korinne LeMaire (Cape Henlopen), Lynchburg

Women’s rowing – Rose Carr (Conrad), Ohio State; Mariel Hoeschel (Charter of Wilmington), Lehigh

Women’s swimming – Kelly Blake (Delaware Military Academy), Rhode Island; Marie Dickson (Ursuline), Michigan State

Bowling – Malia Stout (Cape Henlopen), Wilmington University

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Glasgow quarterback Isaiah Wilson V throws during a 26-14 victory over Hodgson on Sept. 23. The Dragons (9-0) take on 8-1 St. Georges at home at 7 p.m. Friday.

Has Glasgow turned into a Division II football powerhouse, or benefited from a soft schedule?

That question won’t be answered definitively until the D-II playoffs begin next week. But the Dragons can make a huge statement — and win the Blue Hen Flight B title — with a home victory over St. Georges at 7 p.m. Friday.

“Everybody says we’re 9-0 by default, basically because of our schedule,” Glasgow coach Shannon Riley said. “When I look at our guys, we’re experienced, we have size, we have athleticism all over the place, we’re playing good football. … We know what we’re capable of, and we have a little chip on our shoulder.”

So the Dragons feel like underdogs, even though they are undefeated and ranked second statewide in Division II. Because the third-ranked Hawks (8-1) have built a longer resume, including a 44-0 win over Glasgow in last year’s season finale.

“We know it’s going to be a battle,” Riley said. “Our guys have to play their ‘A’ game to give us a shot to win. … Last year was last year. This is a brand new team with us, and our guys have experience and they’re ready to avenge that loss.”

The Dragons have played only one team with a winning record — an 18-14 win over Howard (5-4). But they are undoubtedly miles ahead of last year, when they played the same 10 teams in the same order. Glasgow went 5-5 in 2015, but has already reversed losses to McKean, Newark, Lake Forest and Howard on the way to 9-0.

Both St. Georges and Glasgow are 6-0 in Flight B, buzzing through a set of common opponents with a combined 15-39 record. The difference has been in nonconference play.

The Hawks lost their season opener 27-24 to William Penn, which is 8-1 and ranked third statewide in Division I. They also have an easy win over a struggling D-I team (47-12 over 1-8 Caesar Rodney) and a win over a D-II playoff contender (33-20 over 6-3 St. Mark’s).

The Dragons opened the season with a 66-12 win over Seaford, which is now 2-7. They shut out traditional D-I contender Newark 28-0, but the Yellowjackets are struggling at 3-6. And Glasgow owns a 28-6 win over Lake Forest, which won the Henlopen South the previous two years but is only 2-7 this season.

“Year to year, you never know how teams will be,” Riley said. “But coming into the season, the schedule looked like a very strong schedule. It was just how things played out. Our kids can’t control that. All they can control is stepping up each week and playing their best football, and we’ve been doing that so far.”

There is no doubt about that. The Dragons are averaging 41.8 points per game, with three-year starting quarterback Isaiah Wilson V throwing to explosive receivers Michael Credle, Ja’saan Cunningham, Keishawn Jones and Martise Younger and handing off to Tyrique Woodland and Tavion Jones-Hill.

“I don’t know if they’ve seen a team with the all-out speed that we have,” Riley said. “We run a four-wide set, and all four of our guys can fly down the field. They’re all track guys, but they’re football first.”

But St. Georges is ringing up 36.1 points per game, as the Hawks’ traditional running game churns on behind Brian Benson (688 yards, 15 TDs), Jalen Smith and Craig Congo and an improved passing attack features Robert Shorts (1,087 yards, 12 TDs passing) throwing to tight end Doug Phillips (15 catches, 374 yards, 5 TDs).

“We know they love to run the football in their power sets,” Riley said. “But now they’ve added a quarterback who can throw the ball around a little bit. So you have to worry about everything with them.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.

MILLTOWN – Delaware Military Academy found itself in a hole during the semifinals of the DIAA Volleyball Tournament on Thursday night.

But the Seahawks had been in a deeper hole than this. They knew how to climb out.

Fourth-seeded DMA rallied to win the final two sets and overcome top-seeded Tower Hill 3-2, in an epic match that had both student sections roaring throughout at St. Mark’s.

The defending DIAA champion Seahawks (15-4) advanced to face sixth-seeded Ursuline in the finals at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Bob Carpenter Center. Tower Hill (16-2) will square off against No. 2 Archmere in the third-place match at 5:30.

“They have been to the tournament before,” DMA coach Sydney Cook said of her battle-tested team. “They know what it takes to win this whole championship. They did it last year.”

That good experience – and a bad experience at the start of this year – made the difference. Cook took over a team that had gone a perfect 20-0 last season. But on Oct. 11, after a loss at St. Mark’s, the Seahawks found themselves bumping along at 4-4.

They haven’t lost since, winning their 11th straight on Thursday.

“We have just really picked ourselves up from the beginning of the season, knowing that we weren’t really focused on playing as a team,” said senior Victoria Taylor, who led the DMA offense with 30 kills. “We were just trying to beat each other, and we really just came together and formed together to play the sport that we fell in love with.”

The Seahawks were flying high in the first set, dominating all the way to win 25-14. But the Hillers were just as impressive in the next two sets, winning both 25-17.

The turning point came in the fourth set. Tower Hill ran out to an 8-3 lead, and still maintained margins of 13-9 and 14-11. But the Seahawks roared back, winning 10 of the next 14 points to take a 21-18 lead.

The Hillers squared the set at 21, only to see Taylor crank four straight kills to give DMA a 25-21 victory.

“They’re such a tough team,” Tower Hill coach Michael Sachs said. “We had our chances in the fourth game, and we didn’t put them away when we had a little bit of a lead. That came back to bite us.”

The Seahawks knew what was at stake.

“That was our do or die point, where we knew this was the end,” said senior Sydney Fulton, who kept the attack humming with 47 assists. “This was a lot of our senior years, and we didn’t want to end that way.”

It didn’t. The fifth set seesawed back and forth, with four lead changes and neither team leading by more than three. Taylor set up on the left side and finished it off with two crosscourt kills for the Seahawks.

“We couldn’t stop Vic on the outside at the end,” Sachs said. “That seemed to be the difference.”

The Hillers, against chasing their first state volleyball championship after reaching the final four years ago, got 24 kills and 14 digs from Maddie Sachs, 20 kills and 23 digs from Alex Thompson and 48 assists and 19 digs from Ashleigh Brady.

But Tower Hill’s 11-game winning streak ended because DMA had gone through tough times earlier.

“It actually taught us a lot of lessons that you can’t just expect people to give you your game,” Fulton said. “I think it taught us a lot about ourselves, that we have to be bigger players than everyone else out there.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.

Delaware Military’s Lindsay Wolfe (23) and Kirsten Longueira celebrate as they force a fifth set in their 3-2 win against Tower in a DIAA tournament semifinal at St. Mark’s Thursday.

Tower Hill’s Alexandra Thomson (27) watches her hit get past Delaware Military’s Nina Tindall in the second game of a DIAA tournament semifinal at St. Mark’s Thursday.

Delaware Military’s Nina Tindall (18) battles at the net against Tower Hill’s Kyra Caffrey in the first game of a DIAA tournament semifinal at St. Mark’s Thursday.

Delaware Military reacts after capping a 3-2 win over Tower Hill after falling behind 2-1 in a DIAA tournament semifinal at St. Mark’s Thursday.

The Woodbridge Blue Raiders hoist the trophy after winning the school’s first DIAA Division II football title Saturday night at Delaware Stadium.

The Woodbridge players and coaches lingered on the field at Delaware Stadium on Saturday night, enjoying the 14-9 victory over Wilmington Friends for the school’s first DIAA Division II football championship.

Then, when the team buses got back home around 10:30 p.m., the fun was just beginning.

“We took a detour,” Blue Raiders coach Ed Manlove said Monday. “The school is in Greenwood, but they took us through Bridgeville. People were lined up on the street. That was nice, maybe 200 people out there. They had the fire trucks and police cars escorting us through.”

When team arrived at the high school, an even larger crowd was waiting.

“There were probably close to a thousand people out there,” Manlove said. “It was a neat scene. Everybody was cheering and beeping their horns. It was pretty cool.”

The Blue Raiders plan to ride on a float in the Bridgeville Christmas parade on Dec. 17. Local restaurants have also offered to host celebrations, and the Sussex County Council plans to honor the team in January.

“I need to get an agent, so I can keep all of this stuff organized,” Manlove said with a laugh.

Woodbridge took a 14-6 lead on Troy Haynes’ 21-yard touchdown run with 1:39 left in the third quarter. Then the Blue Raiders held Friends to a field goal with 6:19 remaining, after the Quakers reached a first-and-goal at the 4.

“When the pressure is truly on, our kids seem to crank it up,” Manlove said. “Once they just kicked the field goal, I said to myself, ‘We’ve got this. No doubt in my mind.’”

The Blue Raiders fumbled two plays later, with Friends’ Owen Sheppard recovering at the Woodbridge 13. But Manlove was still confident.

“I really even wasn’t that worried when we fumbled, because our kids, when it is crunch time, they just go harder,” the coach said. “Especially if you try to throw the football in those situations. That’s what they tried, and it didn’t work out for them.”

Back-to-back sacks and a 5-yard pass on third-and-21 left the Quakers with fourth-and-16 from the Woodbridge 19. James Kane defensed Friends’ final pass, and the Blue Raiders ran the last 3:22 off the clock to kick the celebration into gear.

Another record crowd

Saturday marked the fourth consecutive year the DIAA football championship games have been at Delaware Stadium, with the crowd growing every season.

A record 11,311 fans turned out to watch Smyrna defeat Middletown 36-14 for the Division I championship and Newark Charter edge McKean 35-28 for the first Special Olympics Unified Flag Football title before Woodbridge got past Friends. The attendance surpassed the previous record of 10,094, set last season.

“Great crowds, great support. It was just a fun, fun day,” DIAA executive director Tommie Neubauer said Monday. “It was a great way to top off the fall season.”

On to winter

The News Journal’s first winter sports rankings are out, dotted with familiar names at the top.

Mount Pleasant, which lost in the DIAA semifinals last season, will start the year first in boys basketball. The Green Knights return size in 6-foot-5 sophomore KVonn Cramer and 6-5 senior DeJon Backus, plus skilled ballhandlers in seniors Keon Taylor and Nyair Small and Salesianum transfer Fah’Mir Ali.

Smyrna is ranked second, as the Eagles benefit from the return of scorers Caleb Matthews and Jaymeir Garnett and the giant additions of 7-2 Azubuike Nwankwo and 6-10 Abba Lawal. Defending state finalist St. Georges is third, followed by defending DIAA champion Sanford and Salesianum.

A wealth of talent returns across the state in girls basketball, led by defending DIAA champion Ursuline. The top-ranked Raiders have the state’s top backcourt in sophomore Alisha Lewis and junior Maggie Connolly, plus senior Kryshell Gordy on the inside.

Ursuline is followed by three traditional powers – St. Elizabeth (second), Sanford (third) and Caravel (fifth). Conrad, led by the Kulesza sisters (freshman Julie and eighth-grader Stefanie), burst into the preseason rankings at fourth.

Division I wrestling appears to be dominated by downstate teams again, as four-time defending state champion Smyrna leads Sussex Central, Caesar Rodney, Cape Henlopen and Salesianum in the early rankings.

Three-time defending champion Milford leads Division II wrestling, followed by St. Georges, Sanford, Caravel and Laurel. Defending champions Charter of Wilmington (boys) and Ursuline (girls) lead in swimming.

Wrestling recap

Dover’s Anthony Fisher edged Middletown’s Dante Immediato 3-2 in the championship match at 138 pounds and was named the outstanding wrestler at the season-opening Polytech Invitational on Saturday.

Nicholas Lee also won at 145 as the Senators edged Milford 206-205 for the team title. Polytech was third, followed by Laurel and St. Georges.

Other individual winners were Milford’s Robbie Rosser (113), Bevensky Augustin (182) and Dominyc Hovington (220), St. Georges’ Dan Rankin (120) and Nick Novarnik (126), Polytech’s Avery Mayan (160) and Jaden McCove (170), William Penn’s Brandon Pike (106), Delcastle’s Liam O’Connor (132), Middletown’s Brian Schneider (152), Delaware Military Academy’s Joe Scalia (195) and Lake Forest’s Jordan Springer (285).

Delaware was well represented at the 44th Ray Oliver Tournament at McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Maryland. Smyrna’s Greg Baum (132) and Tony Wuest (195) won their weight classes, while the Eagles’ Gavin Sembly (113) and Chase Archangelo (145) lost in the finals. Salesianum’s Owen Klinger (106) and Logan Montgomery (170) and Sanford’s Timmy Griffith (152) and Andrew Brooks (160) also lost to out-of-state opponents in their championship matches.

Sussex Tech scored 200 points to edge Indian River (194) atop a 14-team field at the Brandywine Invitational. Individual results were not available.

Rounding it up

— Sanford graduate Mikey Dixon, last season’s Delaware Boys Basketball Player of the Year, is off to a solid start at Quinnipiac. Dixon was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week after scoring 18 points in a 91-72 loss to Monmouth and 14 points in 19 minutes in a 77-63 win over Marist. Dixon is averaging 11.7 points per game for the Bobcats (2-5).

— A.I. du Pont swept its own Tiger Tip-Off Basketball Tournament on Saturday, downing Wilmington Christian 46-19 in the girls championship game and St. Elizabeth 67-61 in the boys championship game. The Tigers’ Bernyah Mayo was named girls MVP, while A.I.’s Julius Inge was the boys MVP.

— The Delaware Sharks field hockey club is offering a free field hockey college recruiting presentation at 7 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Kirkwood Soccer Club cafeteria, 1220 River Road in New Castle. Recruiting expert Jim Plappert will detail all facets of the college recruiting process. For more information, email Laura Lee at laura@delawaresharks.com or call (302) 750-5042.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Salesianum’s Jason Blackwell (left) celebrates after scoring on a penalty kick in overtime period to give the Sals a 3-2 win over Indian River on Nov. 1.

Salesianum senior Jason Blackwell has been named Delaware’s Player of the Year and leads the All-State boys soccer team, determined by the Delaware High School Soccer Coaches Association.

Blackwell, a midfielder, led the Sals (16-1-1) to their fourth consecutive DIAA Division I state championship, and seventh straight state title overall. He had a goal and an assist in the championship game, a 2-0 victory over Appoquinimink.

Blackwell also was named a NSCAA National All-American as Sallies finished sixth nationally in the final USA Today/National Soccer Coaches Association of America Super 25 fall rankings. The Sals’ only loss came at Boulder (Colorado), which finished 20-0 and second nationally.

MORE: All-State volleyball

MORE: All-State cross country, field hockey

Four other players on Delaware’s Top XI team – recognized as the state’s best – were named NSCAA Regional All-Americans. They were Appoquinimink senior Joseph Scarpinato, Charter of Wilmington senior Eamon O’Connor, Sussex Central senior Dalendy Dupervil and Indian River senior Johan de Jesus Cordoba.

In addition to Blackwell, Salesianum placed three other players among the Top XI – juniors Gavin Ford and Bryce Wallace and senior goalkeeper Gavin Campbell.

Other Top XI players were William Penn senior Alexis Ayala, Tower Hill senior Andrew Cercena and Archmere senior Sean Murray.

Kevin Cash of Sussex Central was named the state’s Coach of the Year after guiding the Golden Knights to a 14-4 season and spot in the DIAA Division I semifinals. Cash was also named Division I Coach of the Year, while St. Georges’ Justin Null was named Division II Coach of the Year and Newark Charter’s Mike Scruggs was named Private/Parochial Coach of the Year. Archmere’s Jon Jezyk was named the state’s Assistant Coach of the Year.

MORE: Smyrna’s Nolan Henderson heads All-State football team

DHSSCA ALL-STATE BOYS SOCCER TEAM

TOP XI

Jason Blackwell, sr., Salesianum

Joseph Scarpinato, sr., Appoquinimink

Eamon O’Connor, sr., Charter of Wilmington

Dalendy Dupervil , sr., Sussex Central

Johan de Jesus Cordoba, sr., Indian River

Gavin Ford, jr., Salesianum

Bryce Wallace, jr., Salesianum

Alexis Ayala, sr., William Penn

Andrew Cercena, sr., Tower Hill

Sean Murray, sr., Archmere

Gavin Campbell, sr., Salesianum

FIRST TEAM

Hadi Basma, jr., Appoquinimink; Matt Mitchell, jr., St. Georges; David Angulo, jr., St. Georges; Edwin Garcia, sr., Hodgson; Itunu Ogundipe, sr., Brandywine; Zach Dainton, jr., Archmere; Alvin Halley, so., Delaware Military Academy; Marco Maddalena, sr., Polytech; Ricky Hernandez, sr., Caesar Rodney; Patrick Mochiam, sr., Indian River; Nate Riddle, sr., Sussex Academy; Will Davis, jr., Sussex Academy; Malcolm Johnson, jr., Tower Hill; Brennan Ayres, sr., St. Andrew’s; Tommy McGrail, so., Salesianum; Brendan Hanrahan, jr., Salesianum; Daniel Addison, sr., Newark; Zachary Gelof, jr., Cape Henlopen; Chris Ludman, sr., St. Mark’s; Kevin Calles, sr., Indian River

SECOND TEAM

Benjamin Cahill, jr., Mount Pleasant; Kevin Eriksen, sr., Charter of Wilmington; Saul Robles, so., Delcastle; Owen Johansson, sr., Charter of Wilmington; Yoel Munoz, jr., McKean; Elie-Martin Zalambo, sr., Glasgow; Xavier Jamieson, jr., St. Georges; Angel Enriquez, jr., Hodgson; Ronald Krischbaum, sr., Delaware Military Academy; Justin Broccoli, sr., Delaware Military Academy; Michael Chen, jr., Newark Charter; Maycol Escalante Roblero, jr., Sussex Central; Patrick Short, fr., Sussex Tech; Steven Ferrandino, jr., Caesar Rodney; Mikie Mochiam, sr., Indian River; Oscar Cruz Osorio, jr., Indian River; Craig Rice, jr., Laurel; Alexis Torres, sr., Milford; Colin Campbell, sr., St. Andrew’s; Evan Murray, jr., St. Andrew’s; Vincent Leo, Sanford; Brandon Sengphachanh, so., Caravel; Robert Miller, sr., St. Elizabeth; James Baxter, sr., Caravel; Mike Ziomek, sr., St. Mark’s; Cole Bouchard, sr., Salesianum; Mario Dellamonica, jr., Appoquinimink; Robbie Turnbull, jr., St. Andrew’s; Anthony Hitchcock, sr., Sussex Tech; Jason Sommer, jr., Appoquinimink

THIRD TEAM

Matt Meadows, so., Appoquinimink; Juris Stutts, sr., Middletown; Gimel Djan, sr., Newark Charter; Rhys Newcombe, jr., Charter of Wilmington; James Churu, sr., Christiana; Ronal Galleano, jr., Dickinson; Juan Carlos Cruz, jr., McKean; Joshua Moody, jr., St. Georges; Nicholas Krusko, sr., Newark Charter; Andrew Rosenbaum, fr., Archmere; Liam Delaney, sr., Archmere; Grant Henry, sr., Dover; Osvaldo Cruz, sr., Sussex Tech; Tommy McPoyle, jr., Caesar Rodney; Pierre Medues, sr., Seaford; Ben Davis, jr., Sussex Academy; Antonio Ambrosino, sr., Seaford; Parker Sard, sr., Lake Forest; Dan Manley, fr., Wilmington Friends; Adam Fisher, jr., Tower Hill; Simon Sperl, jr., St. Andrew’s; Bryan Hartman, sr., Salesianum; Bryce Magee, jr., Red Lion Christian; Mason Mostrom, sr., St. Mark’s; Benji Schwartz, so., Caravel; Nolan Constantine, sr., Charter of Wilmington; Dave Haynes, jr., Caesar Rodney; Juan Perez Perez, fr., Sussex Central; Ben McQuillen, sr., Charter of Wilmington; Tom Gibb, sr., St. Mark’s Delaware Coach of the Year – Kevin Cash, Sussex Central

Division I Coach of the Year – Kevin Cash, Sussex Central

Division II Coach of the Year – Justin Null, St. Georges

Private/Parochial Coach of the Year – Mike Scruggs, Newark Charter

Delaware Assistant Coach of the Year – Jon Jezyk, Archmere

Delaware Soccer Officials Association (upstate) Joseph Miller Sportsmanship Award – Wilmington Christian

Diamond State Soccer Officials Association (downstate) Sportsmanship Award – Sussex Central

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Smyrna quarterback Nolan Henderson scrambles past Salesianum defenders Josh Patrick (left) and William Vanneman on Sept. 23. Henderson has been named the state’s Offensive Player of the Year.

Smyrna quarterback Nolan Henderson, who guided the Eagles to their second consecutive DIAA Division I championship last Saturday, was named Delaware’s Offensive Player of the Year and heads the All-State football team released Tuesday night.

The All-State team was determined through voting by the Delaware Interscholastic Football Coaches Association. The players of the year were determined by voting of the DIFCA board of directors and the state’s high school football media, and one of the votes was deadlocked. So Concord linebacker Avery Roberts and Woodbridge defensive end Leah Styles were named Co-Defensive Players of the Year.

Middletown senior Caleb Weatherford, a first-team All-State pick at both center and defensive tackle, was named the Lineman of the Year.

Henderson, a repeat first-team selection, had a brilliant senior season for Smyrna (12-0). The 6-foot-1, 170-pounder completed 121 of 196 passes (61.7 percent) for 2,317 yards, 32 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Henderson has verbally committed to the University of Delaware but is awaiting the Blue Hens’ decision on a new head coach before making it official.

Roberts was a dominant linebacker, racking up 135 tackles, eight sacks, 18 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and two defensive touchdowns on a Concord team that went 7-4 and lost in the first round of the Division I playoffs. The 6-2, 215-pound senior has committed to play college football at Nebraska.

Styles (6-0, 170) wasn’t the biggest of defensive ends, but the senior played a giant role for a Woodbridge team that finished 13-0 and won its first DIAA Division II championship. The senior led the Blue Raiders with 84 tackles, including an overwhelming 17½ sacks and 31 tackles for loss. Woodbridge’s other defensive end, senior Shymere Vessels, also made the first team, along with senior running back Terrique Riddick.

STORY: Salesianum’s Blackwell leads All-State soccer team

Smyrna placed six players on the first team, more than any other squad. In addition to Henderson, junior running back Will Knight and senior offensive tackle Jerren Carter repeated as first-team selections. Sophomore wide receiver Emon Roberts, senior linebacker Josh Hutchinson and junior kick returner Leddie Brown also made the first team.

Salesianum had four first-team selections – senior guard Zebulon Wright, senior offensive tackle Randy Sinnott, senior linebacker Josh Patrick and junior kicker Cooper Urban.

William Penn’s four first-teamers all came on defense – senior tackle D’Mir Copeland, senior linebacker Charlie Hope, senior defensive back Zach Burton and junior defensive back Isaiah Gaynor.

In addition to Weatherford, Middletown had two other first-team selections in senior wide receiver Anthony DelPercio and senior defensive back Shane Wilkins.

The other first-team selections were Archmere senior fullback Patrick Udovich, St. Mark’s senior tight end David Balint, Appoquinimink senior guard Jackson Truitt, Glasgow junior defensive back Reggie Grinnell and Sussex Central punter Jordan Dorman.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

DIFCA ALL-STATE FOOTBALL TEAM

FIRST TEAM

OFFENSE

QB – Nolan Henderson, sr., Smyrna

FB – Patrick Udovich, sr., Archmere

RB – Terrique Riddick, sr., Woodbridge

RB – Will Knight, jr., Smyrna

WR – Anthony DelPercio, sr., Middletown

WR – Emon Roberts, so., Smyrna

TE – David Balint, sr., St. Mark’s

C – Caleb Weatherford, sr., Middletown

G – Zebulon Wright, sr., Salesianum

G – Jackson Truitt, sr., Appoquinimink

OT – Randy Sinnott, sr., Salesianum

OT – Jerren Carter, sr., Smyrna

DEFENSE

DE – Leah Styles, sr., Woodbridge

DE – Shymere Vessels, sr., Woodbridge

DT – Caleb Weatherford, sr., Middletown

DT – D’Mir Copeland, sr., William Penn

LB – Avery Roberts, sr., Concord

LB – Josh Patrick, sr., Salesianum

LB – Charlie Hope, sr., William Penn

LB – Josh Hutchinson, sr., Smyrna

DB – Zach Burton, sr., William Penn

DB – Shane Wilkins, sr., Middletown

DB – Reggie Grinnell, jr., Glasgow

DB – Isaiah Gaynor, jr., William Penn

SPECIAL TEAMS

K – Cooper Urban, jr., Salesianum

P – Jordan Dorman, sr., Sussex Central

RET – Leddie Brown, jr., Smyrna

Offensive Player of the Year – QB Nolan Henderson, sr., Smyrna

Co-Defensive Players of the Year – DE Leah Styles, sr., Woodbridge and LB Avery Roberts, sr., Concord

Lineman of the Year – C-DT Caleb Weatherford, Middletown

SECOND TEAM

OFFENSE

QB – Drew Fry, so., Middletown. FB – Jalen Smith, jr., St. Georges. RB – Kedrick Whitehead, jr., Middletown; Grahm Roberts, jr., Concord. WR – Michael Credle, sr., Glasgow; Brion Murray, sr., Milford. TE – Shawn Bowman, jr., Howard. C – Jacob Reed, sr., Caravel. G – Zachery Kuhns, sr., Sussex Central; Tyler Narvell, sr., Concord. OT – Myles Vernet, sr., Sussex Central; Mickey Henry, sr., St. Elizabeth

DEFENSE

DE – Earl Jeter, sr., Concord; Jon Smith, jr., Middletown. DT – William Vanneman, sr., Salesianum; Jhemir Stanley, jr., St. Georges. LB – Bill Stradley, sr., Salesianum; Spencer Harbert, sr., Middletown; Matthew Bowe, sr., Caravel; Patrick Udovich, sr., Archmere. DB – Michael Drake, sr., Salesianum; Antwain Holden, sr., Woodbridge; Malik Banks, sr., Howard; Benjamin Ashby, jr., Cape Henlopen

SPECIAL TEAMS

K – Ahmed Ibrahim, sr., Concord. P – Chris Ludman, sr., St. Mark’s. RET – Antwain Holden, sr., Woodbridge

THIRD TEAM

OFFENSE

QB – Justin Beneck, sr., Wilmington Friends. FB – Andrew Jaworski, sr., Wilmington Friends. RB – Samuel Ragland, sr., Tatnall; Timothy Jones, sr., Sussex Central. WR – Cameron Easton, sr., Tatnall; Korey Kent, sr., Howard. TE – Doug Phillips, sr., St. Georges. C – Darin Matthews, sr., Howard. G – Collins Adu-Gyamfi, sr., William Penn; Isaiah Gatling, jr., St. Georges. OT – Charlie Hope, sr., William Penn; Curtis Linton, sr., Caravel

DEFENSE

DE – Hunter Moyer, jr., Smyrna; David Balint, sr., St. Mark’s. DT – Da’Vontae Copes, sr., Sussex Central; Keith Medley, sr., Caravel. LB – Kedrick Whitehead, jr., Middletown; David Hazelton, sr., St. Elizabeth; Jason Stewart, sr., St. Georges; Dominyc Hovington, sr., Milford. DB – John Rodel Castro, sr., Dover; Oladayo Adeleke, sr., Hodgson; Jared Duncan, jr., Tatnall; Derek Thompson, jr., Appoquinimink

SPECIAL TEAMS

K – Maverick Jackson, sr., Caravel. P – Spencer Read, sr., Mount Pleasant. RET – Terin Cochran, jr., William Penn

WILMINGTON – Early season basketball is about learning and advancing, and both Salesianum and William Penn found some things that will help them down the road on Tuesday night.

The fifth-ranked Sals did so while winning, building a 16-point halftime lead and surviving some shaky moments to post a 58-48 home victory over the Colonials.

William Penn returns only one starter from an 18-4 team that lost a triple-overtime heartbreaker to Delcastle in the DIAA quarterfinals last season. So Sallies (2-0) was happy to catch the 10th-ranked Colonials working out the kinks in their season opener.

“It’s good to get a win over a team like that,” Sals coach Brendan Haley said. “They’re going to be there at the end; you can just see. They lost some guys, but they’ve got some guys that are tough. They just need some time.”

William Penn trailed 30-14 at the half, but cranked it up a notch with 17 points in both the third and fourth quarters to turn it into a competitive game.

“We don’t have much experience, so we kind of knew that some guys were going to be in the fire tonight, especially against a really good basketball team,” Colonials coach Steve Christensen said. “We’ve got to pull some positives out of the game. The second half was a little bit better than the first half.”

STORY: Smyrna’s Nolan Henderson heads All-State football team

Tariq Ingraham, the Sals’ 6-foot-8 sophomore center, didn’t get many touches but hit 9 of 10 free throws and finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Paul Brown added 11 points, and Salesianum hit five 3-pointers in the first half to build a comfortable cushion.

“We’ve got some guys that can shoot the ball,” Haley said. “Teams are going to double down on Tariq and make life tough for him, and those guys have to open it up for him by making shots.”

William Penn jumped to a 6-2 lead, only to see the Sals score the final 10 points of the first quarter. Sallies kept the hot streak going, as senior point guard Michael Kempski scored seven of his eight points in an 80-second span.

Kempski turned Brown’s assist into a 3-pointer from the right wing, then made a steal and layup and another driving layup for a 24-13 lead with 2:12 left in the first half.

“My teammates just put me in the right spot at the right time,” Kempski said. “Tariq came out for a pick; I slipped that and went to the basket, hit a 3. I’ve got to give credit to my teammates right there.”

But the Colonials crept closer in the second half, with Jermal Crumel (15 points) and Gerrad Wall (13 points) leading the way. William Penn trailed 43-27 with 1:09 left in the third quarter, but scored 11 of the next 13 to pull within 45-38 on Wall’s 3-ball with 5:04 to play.

“They definitely ran their offense more crisp,” Kempski said. “They were coming off the screens harder, coming off sharper, and it was tough to get around them.”

The Colonials had a chance to get within five with less than three minutes remaining, but Crumel’s 3-point attempt rimmed in and out. Then Brown fed Ingraham for a layup, and the Sals hit enough free throws to put it away.

“We got a little shaky, but they caused some of that and exposed some things that we’ve got to get better at,” Haley said. “We’ve got plenty of things to work on, obviously, but we gutted it out.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Salesianum’s Michael Kempski puts up a shot off of a steal in the second quarter of Salesianum’s 58-48 win over William Penn at Salesianum School in Wilmington on Tuesday night.

Salesianum’s Michael Kempski steals the ball in the second quarter of Salesianum’s 58-48 win over William Penn at Salesianum School in Wilmington on Tuesday night.

Salesianum’s Tariq Ingraham puts up a shot over William Penn’s Absalom Bowling in the second quarter of Salesianum’s 58-48 win over William Penn at Salesianum School in Wilmington on Tuesday night.

William Penn’s Gerrard Wall looks for room to pass around Salesianum’s Tariq Ingraham in the first quarter of Salesianum’s 58-48 win over William Penn at Salesianum School in Wilmington on Tuesday night.

William Penn’s Brahin Riley drives the baseline in front of Salesianum’s Brett Henshey in the first quarter of Salesianum’s 58-48 win over William Penn at Salesianum School in Wilmington on Tuesday night.

William Penn’s Errol Jackson puts up a shot over Salesianum’s Paul Brown in the first quarter of Salesianum’s 58-48 win over William Penn at Salesianum School in Wilmington on Tuesday night.

GLASGOW – Kevin Burns’ 3-point attempt from the deep left corner may not have been exactly what the Appoquinimink boys basketball team was looking for while clinging to a four-point lead with less than a minute left Thursday night.

But when the sophomore’s shot splashed through the net with 52 seconds remaining, it gave the Jaguars a comfortable cushion on the way to a season-opening, 64-58 victory at Hodgson.

“What I told Kevin about that was, I loved his confidence,” said Brian Hoffses, who was making his debut as Appo’s coach. “The confidence he had to knock that down, I loved that. That’s the type of player Kevin is. He knows what he can do.”

Burns did it, scoring his first points of the game. He added a free throw later as the sixth-ranked Jaguars (1-0) held off the Silver Eagles’ second-half rally in front of a frenzied crowd.

“It was a good win, coming into a hostile environment like this with the other team’s crowd really into it,” Hoffses said. “They were fired up and they tried to get under our skin, and we kept our poise. Our guys stayed cool, calm and collected.”

Appoquinimink’s Myles Cale drives against Hodgson’s Dawson Grinnage in the first half of Appoquinimink’s 64-58 win at Hodgson Thursday.

Seton Hall signee Myles Cale came out of the gate with 25 points and nine rebounds to start his senior season. Cale scored 12 in the first half as Appo hit 44.8 percent from the field on the way to a 33-20 halftime lead.

“We were playing as a team, looking for each other, not being selfish,” Cale said. “We were passing it, just doing everything right.”

The eighth-ranked Silver Eagles (1-1) got back in it with defense. Hodgson trailed 42-27 with 4:53 left in the third quarter, then scored 14 of the next 16 points.

Dawson Grinnage scored on a rebound, powered in for a layup and fed L.J. Stansbury for an easy bucket. Then Stansbury stoked the crowd with a breakaway dunk, Nasir Galloway drove for a layup and Keenan Williams converted off a steal to pull the Silver Eagles within 44-41 with 29 seconds left in the quarter.

“When you’re attacking them a little bit, it’s just a different mindset,” said Ed Sobocinski, returning as Hodgson’s coach after a two-year hiatus. “It was good for us, once we started attacking.”

Grinnage started the fourth quarter with a 3-point play to get the Silver Eagles within 46-44. But that was as close as they could get as the Jaguars gained some breathing room with a 7-2 run. Cale started it with a dunk, and Keith DeLoatch drove for two layups to push Appo back up 58-50 with 2:23 remaining.

“We just got lazy,” Cale said. “We were up by 15 so we just got a little comfortable. We had to rethink and get ourselves right.”

Appoquinimink’s Keith DeLoatch throws a pass around Hodgson’s Malik Holloman in the first half of Appoquinimink’s 64-58 win at Hodgson Thursday.

Hodgson put together another run, but Burns’ 3-ball put the Jaguars up seven and clinched it.

“We got away from our offense, but it was our defense the whole game that really kept them at bay,” Hoffses said. “When we would dig in and they would have those long possessions, we just stuck with them and didn’t let them get any easy hoops.”

DeLoatch, Darrell Jenkins and Maxwell Somelofske each added 10 points for Appo. Stansbury scored 21 for the Silver Eagles, while Grinnage had 14 and Williams chipped in 11.

“We fought back,” Sobocinski said. “We played very poorly in the first half and the beginning of the third quarter, but just with energy and fight, we fought back. So I’m very proud of them for that.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

LEWES – It had been 9½ months since Cape Henlopen’s Randy Rickards played a basketball game on the Vikings’ home floor. He wanted to show the fans how much he has improved.

Rickards scorched the nets for 14 of his 24 points in the first quarter as Cape rode a hot start to a 62-46 victory over Caesar Rodney on Friday night.

“I was ready to play. I was fired up,” Rickards said. “It’s the first home game, I was ready. I started knocking down the first one and I just started feeling it, got hot.”

The 6-foot-5 junior also added 10 rebounds and four blocked shots as the seventh-ranked Vikings moved to 2-0, both overall and in the Henlopen North.

“Randy Rickards has come a long way,” Cape coach Stephen Re said. “He’s been putting in work all offseason, and he’s just been maturing. We saw a little bit of a flash of what he’s capable of tonight. It was exciting to watch.”

John Campiglia opened the game with a driving layup for the Riders (1-1, 1-1). But that was CR’s only bucket for the next 5:46, and the Vikings took total command.

Freshman Cory Barnes drove for a score, and Rickards hit a 12-footer and turned Barnes’ steal into a fast-break layup. Then Jerry Harden drove for another bucket, and Rickards blocked a shot and went coast-to-coast for a layup.

Rickards popped another short jumper, then turned an offensive rebound into a three-point play as Cape jumped to a 15-2 lead with 2:35 left in the first quarter.

“It was a terrific team effort all around,” Re said. “We stayed within the concepts all night, shared the ball really well and made the plays.”

The Riders scored the next five points, but Rickards closed the quarter with a 3-pointer from the top of the key for an 18-7 cushion. He said it may have been the first 3-ball of his Cape career.

“We practice it every day,” Rickards said. “I just stepped into it. I was feeling it, and I drained it.”

Izaiah Dadzie dropped another 3 from the top, Ian Robertson got on the board with two free throws and Rickards dunked off Robertson’s inbounds pass to push the margin to 25-12 with 5:10 left in the second quarter.

The Vikings led 35-18 at the half. Robertson couldn’t find his normal offensive flow (4 of 15 from the floor, including 0 of 5 behind the arc), but the 6-6 junior hit all six of his free throws and still finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

“Jump shot is a big part of my game, but I know that’s not going to be there every night,” Robertson said. “In practice, I like working on doing everything else. Because you can contribute to the team without making shots.”

The Riders reeled off the first seven points of the third quarter, and Re called a timeout after CR pulled within 35-25 on a layup by Joe Williams. Rickards went on another surge late in the third quarter, scoring on a reverse layup, blocking a shot to set up Robertson’s fast-break score and hitting another bucket after a nice spin move to make it 50-36.

The Vikings emphasized a faster start after falling behind 18-12 in their season opener at Polytech on Tuesday. Cape rallied for a 66-58 win, but didn’t want to give any hope to the talented Riders.

“We didn’t play well in the first half against Polytech, and we practiced on Wednesday and Thursday, got back at it and practiced hard,” Rickards said. “We were motivated to come out in the first half and win this game.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Caesar Rodney’s Kairi Buie (13) reaches over the shoulder of Cape Henlopen’s Randy Rickards (5) as he goes up for a basket during their game at Cape Henlopen High School.

Cape Henlopen’s Randy Rickards (5), left, and teammate Sh’Kai Chandler (11) battle for a loose ball against Caesar Rodney’s Kairi Buie (13) during their game at Cape Henlopen High School.

Cape Henlopen’s Sh’Kai Chandler (11) dribbles the ball down the court in their home game against Caesar Rodney.

Cape Henlopen’s Randy Rickards (5) goes up for a dunk in their home game against Caesar Rodney.

Caesar Rodney’s Shaft Clark (15), left defends against Cape Henlopen’s Ian Robertson (32) during their game at Cape Henlopen High School.

Cape Henlopen’s Izaiah Dadzie (4) jumps up for a shot in their home game against Caesar Rodney.

Cape Henlopen’s Randy Rickards (5) passes the ball in front of the hoop in their home game against Caesar Rodney.

Cape Henlopen’s Cory Barnes (2) being defended near the baseline in their home game against Caesar Rodney.

Caesar Rodney’s Joseph Williams (32) and Cape Henlopen’s Randy Rickards (5) jump up for the opening tip off at their game at Cape Henlopen High School.

Cape Henlopen’s Ian Robertson (32), left, goes up for a basket as Caesar Rodney’s Shaft Clark (15) defends during their game at Cape Henlopen High School.

Cape Henlopen’s Cory Barnes (2) goes up for a basket in their home game against Caesar Rodney.

Cape Henlopen’s Randy Rickards (5) goes up for a basket during their home game against Caesar Rodney.

Caesar Rodney’s Davione Robinson (3) goes up for a layup in their game against Cape Henlopen.

Caesar Rodney’s Joseph Williams (32) and Cape Henlopen’s Jerry Harden (1) battle for the ball in their game against Cape Henlopen High School.

Cape Henlopen’s Randy Rickards (5) passes the ball down the court in their home game against Caesar Rodney.

MILFORD – As one of the state’s earliest tournaments and a prelude to next week’s Beast of the East, Saturday’s Milford Invitational gave a lot of teams and wrestlers reason for optimism.

Sussex Central left feeling the best, as the Golden Knights topped the field with four individual winners on their way to the team trophy.

“I’m very happy. I thought we wrestled extremely well today,” Sussex Central coach Phil Shultie said. “It’s our first tournament of the season, and the kids did a great job. … Everybody fought hard for us.”

Rashad Stratton (126), Blake Chambers (160), Brandon Bautista (170) and John Morris (220) each won for Sussex Central.

“It’s going to be easier to go back to practice on Monday, where everybody really wants to work hard,” Shultie said. “We’ll talk about why we got beat, why we won, what we’ve got to do to stay where we are. Hopefully, they’re going to buy into it and do it.”

Morris, moving up after a third-place state finish at 195 last year, won the only final to go to overtime with a 4-2 decision over Milford’s Dom Hovington, the state’s fourth-place finisher at 220 last season.

“I knew he was going to be tough,” Morris said. “It was like any normal match, I just stayed low. I never come in cocky. I just come in confident and just stick with what I do.”

Middletown earned three individual titles, as Will Carl (120), Dante Immediato (138) and Brian Schneider (152) left coach Clif Bakhsh in a good mood.

“There are some really tough teams here. For us to put three in the finals and get three out, it’s a good feeling,” Bakhsh said. “Still have work to do, but we’re pretty pleased right now.”

Carl earned the only pin in the championship round, felling Sussex Central’s Junior Perez in 3:30.

“I just tried to look for the best position I could to score, and I saw that I could get the pin so I went for it,” Carl said.

Schneider rallied to grit out a 4-2 decision over Smyrna’s Nate Bryant.

“I was a little slow on my feet to start, but I felt like I rode him pretty well,” Schneider said. “He started getting me with the cross wrist tilt, and I think I figured out a way to stop it.”

Smyrna, the four-time defending DIAA Division I team champions, had some pieces missing as some football players have yet to resume wrestling after winning the Eagles’ second straight D-I gridiron title last Saturday. But Smyrna still got wins from Greg Baum (132), Tony Wuest (195) and Chase Archangelo, who was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler after shutting out Milford’s Alex Creasey 6-0 in the 145 final.

“I think it went pretty well. I took what he gave me,” Archangelo said. “I expected him to hold on tight and be very defensive. I know how to wrestle with a guy who has a lot of strength.”

The host team also earned three individual titles, as Milford’s Robbie Rosser (113), Bevensky Augustin (182) and Bryan Wynes (285) won on their home mat. The other championship went to Salesianum’s Zach Spence, who started the final round with a 4-0 decision over Delmar’s Isaac O’Neal at 106.

“I felt like I could have done better,” Spence said. “Couldn’t get my bars in, but I rode him out as much as I could and kept the pressure on him.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Salesianum’s Zach Spence holds Delmar’s Isaac O’Neal down on the mat in the 106 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Delmar’s Isaac O’Neal, left and Salesianum’s Zach Spence wrestle in the 106 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Middletown’s Hunter Hammill, left and Milford’s Robbie Rosser wrestle in the 113 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Milford’s Robbie Rosser, left and Middletown’s Hunter Hammill wrestle in the 113 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Milford’s Robbie Rosser, left and Middletown’s Hunter Hammill wrestle in the 113 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Middletown’s Will Carl, left reaches for the leg of Sussex Central’s Junior Perez in the 120 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Middletown’s Will Carl, left holds the leg of Sussex Central’s Junior Perez in the 120 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Smyrna’s Cole Sebastianelli, left and Sussex Central’s Rashad Stratton wrestle in the 126 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Sussex Central’s Rashad Stratton looks over to his coaches while holding Smyrna’s Cole Sebastianelli on the mat in the 126 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Milford’s Gavin Garcia, left and Smyrna’s Greg Baum wrestle in the 132 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Milford’s Gavin Garcia, left and Smyrna’s Greg Baum wrestle in the 132 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Smyrna’s Greg Baum, left and Smyrna’s Greg Baum wrestle in the 132 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Middletown’s Dante Immediato, left, grabs the leg of Sussex Central’s Drew Morris in the 138 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Milford’s Alex Creasey, left wrestles Smyrna’s Chase Archangelo in the 145 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Middletown’s Dante Immediato, left and Sussex Central’s Drew Morris wrestle in the 138 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Smyrna’s Nate Bryant picks up Middletown’s Brian Schneider off the mat in the 152 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Sussex Central’s Blake Chambers, left, grabs the leg of Smyrna’s Dakota Kerr in the 160 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Smyrna’s Chase Archangelo, left tries to get away from the grip of Milford’s Alex Creasey in the 145 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Milford’s Bevensky Augustin holds down Sussex Central’s Yunior Cruz on the mat in the 182 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Milford’s Bevensky Augustin, right and Sussex Central’s Yunior Cruz wrestle in the 182 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Sussex Central’s Blake Chambers, left, grabs the leg of Smyrna’s Dakota Kerr in the 160 pound championship match at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament.

Cape Henlopen’s Randy Rickards (5) whistles a pass up court against Caesar Rodney’s Nhaighere Wills in the Vikings’ 62-46 win last Friday.

THE NEWS JOURNAL/DELAWAREONLINE RANKINGS

BOYS BASKETBALL

1. Mount Pleasant (2-0) 1

2. Smyrna (3-0) 2

3. St. Georges (0-0) 3

4. Sanford (1-0) 4

5. Salesianum (2-0) 5

6. Appoquinimink (1-0) 6

7. Cape Henlopen (2-0) 7

8. A.I. du Pont (3-0) NR

9. St. Thomas More (1-1) 9

10. Hodgson (1-1) 8

GIRLS BASKETBALL

1. Ursuline (1-1) 1

2. St. Elizabeth (0-0) 2

3. Sanford (1-1) 3

4. Conrad (4-0) 4

5. Caravel (2-1) 5

6. Concord (1-0) 6

7. Caesar Rodney (3-0) 7

8. Archmere (4-0) NR

9. Hodgson (1-1) 8

10. Howard (2-1) 9

WRESTLING

DIVISION I

1. Smyrna (0-0) 1

2. Sussex Central (0-0) 2

3. Caesar Rodney (0-0) 3

4. Cape Henlopen (1-0) 4

5. Salesianum (0-0) 5

DIVISION II

1. Milford (0-0) 1

2. St. Georges (0-0) 2

3. Sanford (0-0) 3

4. Caravel (0-0) 4

5. Laurel (0-1) 5

BOYS SWIMMING

1. Charter of Wilmington (2-0) 1

2. Salesianum (2-0) 2

3. Conrad (1-1) 3

4. St. Andrew’s (2-1) 4

5. Concord (2-0) 5

GIRLS SWIMMING

1. Ursuline (2-0) 1

2. Charter of Wilmington (2-0) 2

3. Cape Henlopen (2-0) 3

4. Archmere (0-0) 4

5. Padua (1-0) 5

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

JOSH HUTCHINSON, senior, Smyrna football

THE WEEK: Had six solo tackles, seven assisted tackles and a sack in the Eagles’ 36-14 victory over Middletown for their second straight DIAA Division I championship on Dec. 3 at Delaware Stadium.

THE PLAN: The Eagles managed to hold Middletown’s dynamic passing game to 12 of 28 for 142 yards in the title game. “We knew we needed to work on our back end on defense, so that’s basically what we focused on most of the weeks before Middletown,” Hutchinson said. “Coach came up with a pretty good scheme that would help us out the best in that situation, would allow us to get a rush and focus on the pass defense.”

THE ROLE: “My role was just to stay inside and protect against the run, just scrape over the top, really, pick up anything that I could see,” Hutchinson said.

THE DEFENSE: The Eagles’ high-flying offense averaged 52.7 points per game this season, while their underrated defense held opponents to 16 points per game. “I wouldn’t say we’ve been overlooked. We’ve gotten our acknowledgements,” Hutchinson said. “We understand as a team, all things have to be working in motion, all things have to click.”

Linebacker Josh Hutchinson led the Smyrna defense with 112 tackles this season.

THE SPEED: “The best part of my game is I can fly around,” Hutchinson said. “I think I’m a little faster than most people expect a linebacker to be. So I just take advantage of that.”

THE LEADERSHIP: “We watch film a lot,” Hutchinson said. “As a senior, I’m able to communicate with the younger guys and help them out to see things that they probably wouldn’t see. Mentally, as a senior, you’re able to influence the other players around you.”

THE REPEAT: Smyrna became the first Division I team to earn back-to-back football championships since Middletown in 2011-12. The Eagles edged Salesianum 32-26 in overtime in last year’s final. “Not a lot of people get to say that they’ve done something like this,” Hutchinson said. “I’m just proud of my team, my family, my coaches.”

THE CLASSROOM: Hutchinson said his favorite subjects are Social Studies, Government and Health Sciences.

THE FUTURE: Hutchinson has received some recruiting interest to play college football, but has yet to decide on a destination. He would like to study athletic training.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Sussex Central’s Rashad Stratton (right) works his way to a 9-3 decision over Smyrna’s Cole Sebastianelli in the 126-pound final at the Milford Invitational last Saturday. Both teams will compete in the Beast of the East this weekend.

Sussex Central won the team title at the Milford Invitational wrestling tournament last Saturday. But veteran coach Phil Shultie knows the Golden Knights are stepping into the deep end this weekend.

“We could have a couple of guys who come back Sunday,” Shultie said. “I’m hoping that we will.”

Just reaching the second day at the Beast of the East, one of the nation’s largest and toughest high school wrestling tournaments, is quite an achievement. The action starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at the Bob Carpenter Center, with wrestling scheduled to go through 10:30 p.m. on 11 mats.

The quarterfinals crank up at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, with the finals scheduled to begin at 3:15 p.m. Admission is $30 per day to watch a star-studded field that always has multiple state champions battling it out in each of the 14 weight classes.

Sussex Central won the Governor’s Cup last year as the highest-scoring Delaware team at the Beast, finishing 36th overall among 112 teams. Shultie said Brandon Bautista and John Morris may be the two Golden Knights with the best chance to make a run this time, but it won’t be easy

Last year, the only Delawarean to earn a top-eight finish was Caesar Rodney senior Michael Clavier, who took seventh at 195 pounds. This year, 115 teams from as far away as California, Colorado and Canada are on the way.

Morris managed to win four matches at the 2015 Beast, but all of the Golden Knights received valuable experience.

“The biggest thing they gain is learning that basically, they do the same thing that we do. Except they execute it a little better than we do,” Shultie said. “It opens their eyes up to say, ‘If I can wrestle the No. 1 guy in the country and stick with him for a period, then it’s all worth coming.’”

Remembering Gregore

Bob Gregore, who coached the powerhouse Concord High soccer teams when the sport burst onto the scene in the 1970s, died on Dec. 1. He was 87.

Gregore’s Concord teams won four state championships (1971, ’72, ’76 and ’78) after the first tournament was held in 1970. He was voted state coach of the year three times.

Concord went 133-27-13 under Gregore from 1968-79, including 103-14-4 in the Blue Hen Conference, with six championships or co-titles. He was a math teacher at the school.

The key to Gregore’s success, said former assistant Paul Wellborn, was “his ability to motivate players by treating them with respect by building their confidence and commitment to the program.”

The Raiders had 27- and 48-game unbeaten streaks in Blue Hen Conference play and a 32-game unbeaten run in all games, including the postseason. Seventy of Gregore’s players made All-State.

“The soccer community in Delaware has lost a legend, but those who knew him have also lost a father figure and a great friend,” said Chris Donahue, an All-State forward and captain from 1970-73 at Concord who later covered Gregore’s teams for The News Journal.

Donahue said players greatly respected Gregore.

“He was not only a great coach of the sport but a role model because he was the consummate gentleman,” Donahue said. “We got to the state finals three consecutive years and were the first team to win consecutive state titles but he never raised his voice at us. If he wanted us to focus more after a game because he thought we didn’t play as well as we should have, occasionally we would run a few more wind sprints in practice the next day. But that was about the extent of his displeasure.’’

Funeral services will be Dec. 28, with information available at Mccreryandharra.com.

Remembering Steele

Dale Steele, Indian River’s all-time leader in football coaching victories, died Dec. 2 at age 68.

Steele coached the Indians from 1979-89, compiling a 73-42-4 record. He guided Indian River to five Henlopen South title and its first Division II state championship, as the 1988 Indians went 11-1 and defeated Dickinson 18-13 in the state title.

Steele served for 35 years as a teacher, coach and athletic director. He began his career as a football, basketball and baseball coach at Rehoboth Junior High, then was an assistant football coach at Cape Henlopen before taking over the Indian River football program. He also served as a coach in the Lower Sussex Little League for several years.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Ursuline’s Alisha Lewis (left) – shown here against Concord’s Caroline Procak last year – scored 15 points in a season-opening win over the Mary Louis Academy last Saturday.

Five of Delaware’s best girls basketball teams went against some top competition over the weekend at the She Got Game Classic, especially defending state champion Ursuline and Caravel.

Both the Raiders and Buccaneers lost to Rufus King High of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which features Sydnee Roby, a 6-foot-3 sophomore rated the fourth-best center in the Class of 2019 by espn.com.

“She was physical, on offense and defense. She was tough,” Caravel coach Kristin Caldwell said of Roby. “And around her, they had really athletic guards that challenged you on every possession, getting the ball up the court. That’s great for us.”

The Buccaneers (2-1) limited Roby to 16 points, but lost 66-57 on Saturday despite 19 points from junior forward Kaylee Otlowski. Caravel returned on Sunday to down Vincentian Academy of Pittsburgh 56-34, as Maia Bryson scored 13.

“What I’m exceptionally happy with is our toughness, and just how hard we’re playing,” Caldwell said. “You could feel it, just how bad the girls wanted it against the team from Wisconsin. We came up short, but there were so many positives to take from it.”

Roby cranked it up for 29 points in a 54-49 win over Ursuline on Sunday. The Raiders only trailed by one point with 13 seconds remaining, but couldn’t get over the hump despite 12 points from Maggie Connolly.

“We didn’t play well,” Ursuline coach John Noonan said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’ll be all right. We’ll get there.”

Alisha Lewis scored 15 as the Raiders (1-1) edged Mary Louis Academy of New York City 54-50 on Saturday.

“Everybody down there was trying to do the same thing, trying to get their team ready for the season and see what you have and what you don’t have,” Noonan said. “We definitely found out some things, and that’s good.”

She Got Game has mushroomed into a three-day showcase that featured 87 games over three days, in seven gyms at five locations in the Washington, D.C., area. Conrad routed National Cathedral School (D.C.) 61-13 on Friday, then edged Anacostia (D.C.) 53-52 on Saturday. Sanford got past Boyertown (Pa.) 50-47 on Saturday, with Olivia Tucker scoring 17 points. Padua lost to National Cathedral 40-30 on Saturday, despite 15 points from Camryn Scully.

Rumble By The River

St. Georges boys basketball coach Rod Griffin has worked to put together the second annual Rumble By The River Upstate Downstate Hoops Challenge, to be held Saturday at St. Georges.

Four boys basketball games will be featured, each matching a New Castle County team against a Kent or Sussex County team. The action begins at noon with Howard vs. Polytech, followed by Sussex Central vs. Appoquinimink at 1:45, Caesar Rodney vs. Concord at 3:30 and Dover vs. host St. Georges at 5:15.

Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for students. One ticket is good for all four games.

Rounding it up

— Quarterback Nolan Henderson of back-to-back DIAA Division I football champion Smyrna has been named the Gatorade Delaware Football Player of the Year.

— Speaking of Smyrna, the 12-0 Eagles finished 16th in the maxpreps.com Northeast Region computer rankings.

— Smyrna senior Chase Archangelo earned the 100th victory of his high school wrestling career last Friday at the Milford Invitational. Archangelo went on to take the title at 145 pounds.

— Brian Derrickson of Middletown has been named the 2016 Atlantic Region spring season large schools girls soccer coach of the year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Derrickson guided the Cavaliers to a 14-1-2 season and a spot in the DIAA Division I tournament semifinals.

— Glasgow High is honoring former boys basketball coach Donald Haman before the 5:30 p.m. start of the Dragons’ home game against Mount Pleasant on Dec. 20. All former Glasgow basketball players, coaches and alumni are invited. For more information, contact Glasgow coach Jeremy Jeanne at (302) 442-0286 or Mark Sills at (302) 389-8558.

— Polytech right-handed pitcher Joey Haass and Salesianum catcher Zach Miller have signed to play baseball at the University of Delaware.

— St. Elizabeth junior Nathan Thomas has given a verbal commitment to play baseball at Saint Joseph’s.

— Delaware was well represented at the annual National High School Baseball Coaches Association convention last week in Columbus, Ohio. Ten First State coaches received plaques for years of coaching: St. Georges’ Jeff Rodgers (10 years); Wilmington Christian’s Jim Fedena, Hodgson’s Chris Moxley and Tatnall’s T.J. Ostrishko (15 years); St. Mark’s Matt Smith (25 years); St. Elizabeth’s Tom Beddow, Delmar’s Dave Hearn and Caravel’s Paul Niggebrugge (30 years); Brandywine’s Larry Wheeler (40 years) and St. Andrew’s Bob Colburn (55 years). Former William Penn coach Mel Gardner will serve as president of the association next year.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.

CLAYMONT – The Archmere girls basketball team downed Conrad twice last season. And for most of Tuesday night’s game, it looked like the Auks were going to do it again.

But Conrad unleashed a furious rally, erasing a nine-point deficit in the final five minutes. Eighth-grader Stefanie Kulesza capped the comeback with a steal and layup with 2.6 seconds remaining to give Conrad a dramatic, 45-44 victory.

Kulesza’s sister, Julie, clamped down on an Archmere ballhandler on the Auks’ final trip up the court. Her sister took it from there.

“My sister is a good defender, and I saw she was defending the player really well,” Stefanie Kulesza said. “Her player couldn’t pass my player the ball, so I just came up behind her and stole it.”

It was the second straight one-point victory for fourth-ranked Conrad (5-0), which outlasted Anacostia of Washington, D.C., 53-52 on Saturday in the She Got Game showcase in Bladensburg, Maryland.

Conrad’s Stefanie Kulesza reaches for a rebound between Archmere’s Amanda Denning (left) and Sydney Niumataiwalu in the first half of Conrad’s 45-44 win Tuesday.

Eighth-ranked Archmere (4-1) was coming off a 40-36 win over Villa Maria Academy (Pa.) on Saturday. But the Auks’ first three wins were lopsided, and coach Daniel Pisani thought that might have been costly down the stretch.

“Sometimes when you haven’t played a lot of close games – and three of our games were decided by over 20 – you make some mistakes in those situations,” Pisani said. “That’s on all of us, coaches included, to go back to practice tomorrow and keep working on handling the pressure better at the end.”

Conrad’s Stefanie Kulesza (center) celebrates with Julie Kulesza (left) Ja’Nylah Whittlesey after she finished the game with a steal and layup at the buzzer for the difference in Conrad’s 45-44 win at Archmere Tuesday.

Conrad led 10-7 after one quarter, but Archmere started the second period with a 13-3 run. Two free throws by Madison Stewart and a 3-pointer by Emma McCann pushed the Auks up 20-13 with 3:06 left in the half.

Archmere led 23-18 at halftime, and stretched it to 32-19 on Danaziah Brown’s pull-up jumper with 5:07 left in the third quarter. Conrad was getting frustrated.

“They played good defense, and they wouldn’t let us run our offense as well as we can,” Stefanie Kulesza said.

The Conrad comeback began after Amanda Denning’s layup gave Archmere a 43-34 lead with 5:37 to play. Ja’Nylah Whittlesey hit a layup, Alyssa Faville turned a steal into an easy bucket and another steal by Julie Kulesza became a three-point play that pulled Conrad within 43-41 with 1:24 left.

“We’re a resilient group of girls,” Julie Kulesza said. “We always work hard and keep going. We never give up.”

Stewart made a free throw for Archmere with 50.6 seconds remaining. But Whittlesey’s layup pulled Conrad within 44-43 with 14.8 seconds left. Then Stefanie Kulesza turned defense into offense to win it.

“It’s going to help our team know when there’s a close situation, what we need to do and when we need to do it,” she said.

Stefanie Kulesza scored 20 points, including five 3-pointers, and Julie Kulesza added 14 for Conrad. Archmere got 15 points from Brown and 11 from Stewart.

“We’re going to go back, we’re going to look at film, and we’re going to adjust,” Pisani said. “I told the girls, ‘You can’t win a championship in December.’ It’s a loss, we obviously wanted it to go the other way, but it doesn’t change anything for us going forward.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.

BOYS BASKETBALL

1. Mount Pleasant (4-0) Prev. 1

2. Smyrna (4-0) 2

3. St. Georges (2-0) 3

4. Salesianum (4-0) 5

5. Appoquinimink (4-0) 6

6. Sanford (1-3) 4

7. A.I. du Pont (4-1) 8

8. Woodbridge (3-0) NR

9. Cape Henlopen (3-1) 7

10. Hodgson (2-1) 10

GIRLS BASKETBALL 

1. Ursuline (3-1) 1

2. Sanford (1-1) 3

3. St. Elizabeth (1-1) 2

4. Caesar Rodney (5-0) 7

5. Caravel (2-1) 5

6. Conrad (6-0) 4

7. Concord (3-0) 6

8. Archmere (5-1) 8

9. Hodgson (2-1) 9

10. William Penn (3-0) NR

WRESTLING 

DIVISION I

1. Smyrna (1-0) 1

2. Sussex Central (1-0) 2

3. Cape Henlopen (2-0) 4

4. Caesar Rodney (0-1) 3

5. Salesianum (0-0) NR

DIVISION II

1. Milford (1-0) 1

2. St. Georges (0-1) 2

3. Sanford (0-0) 3

4. Caravel (0-0) 4

5. Hodgson (1-1) NR

BOYS SWIMMING

1. Charter of Wilmington (4-0) 1

2. Salesianum (2-0) 2

3. Conrad (2-1) 3

4. St. Andrew’s (3-1) 4

5. Concord (3-1) 5

GIRLS SWIMMING

1. Ursuline (2-0) 1

2. Charter of Wilmington (4-0) 2

3. Cape Henlopen (3-0) 3

4. Archmere (2-0) 4

5. Padua (2-0) 5

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Chase Archangelo (left) and Smyrna are ranked No. 1 in Division I wrestling.

Danaziah Brown poses for a portrait outside The Patio on the campus of Archmere Academy on Monday afternoon.

DANAZIAH BROWN, senior, Archmere girls basketball

THE WEEK: Had 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals in a 45-44 loss to Conrad last Tuesday.

THE THREES: Brown hit three 3-pointers against Conrad, but says she doesn’t emphasize her long-distance shooting. “I just throw it up and hopefully it goes in,” she said. “I practice a lot of inside shots, not a lot of threes, which I should work on.”

THE VERSATILITY: “She just does everything well for you,” Archmere coach Daniel Pisani said. “She doesn’t have to score a lot in the game to contribute. She rebounds, she gets a lot of assists, she plays real tough defense.”

THE STRENGTH: “I love defense, better than offense,” Brown said. “I love putting pressure on the opponents and trying to get steals and blocks, offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds.”

THE COACH ADDS: “She usually guards the other team’s point guard,” Pisani said. “She’s a real tough defender. Not a lot of people score much on her. So as good as she is on the offensive side, I’d say her defense is her best attribute.”

THE BURST: Against Conrad, Brown was at her offensive best during a five minute stretch spanning the end of the first quarter and start of the second quarter. The senior scored from the baseline, hit a 12-foot jumper and splashed two 3-pointers as the Auks built a 15-10 lead. “It was all my teammates,” she said. “They found me open looks and set screens for me to get to get a shot off.”

THE POISE: “When you need her to start scoring, when your offense starts to stall, she’s going to step up and get her shots off,” Pisani said. “The kid has ice in her veins. The tougher the game, the better she plays.”

THE TEAMMATES: “We’re tight. We practice defense a lot at practice,” Brown said. “We’re stronger on defense. Offense will come, but defense wins championships.”

THE CLASSROOM: Brown’s favorite subject is Calculus, taught by Mike Johnson. “He’s energetic,” Brown said. “He gets the class going. It’s just fun.”

THE FUTURE: Brown wants to continue to play basketball in college. She has received some recruiting interest, but has yet to decide on a destination.

Send Athlete of the Week nominations to bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Danaziah Brown poses for a portrait outside The Patio on the campus of Archmere Academy on Monday afternoon.

Danaziah Brown poses for a portrait outside The Patio on the campus of Archmere Academy on Monday afternoon.

As a center on offense and a nose guard on defense, Caleb Weatherford knew what was going to happen.

“You know you’re gonna get hit,” Weatherford said. “You know you’re either going to hit somebody and make them fall down, or you’re going to get hit and fall down.”

Weatherford made the other guy fall down a lot. As the only player to be voted to the All-State first team on both offense and defense, he was an easy pick as Delaware’s Lineman of the Year.

The award is determined through voting by the Delaware Interscholastic Football Coaches Association board of directors and the state’s high school football media. It’s hard to garner much attention as an interior lineman, but the 6-foot-1, 276-pound Weatherford stood out during his senior season.

“Caleb Weatherford was an absolute anchor on both sides of the ball,” Smyrna coach Mike Judy said. “He did a tremendous job at center, blocked well, snapped the ball really well all season long.

“And he was a guy defensively you had to game plan around. He was really tough to move. He made plays, he was really good with his hands and he ran to the ball really well.”

Weatherford was a three-year starter at center for Middletown, which went 11-1 and lost to Smyrna 36-14 in the DIAA Division I championship game this season. But this was his first year of extensive defensive action, and his game expanded.

“He brought so much experience to the table,” Middletown coach Mark DelPercio said. “Caleb was somebody who worked hard in the offseason to put himself in the position where he is right now, playing both sides of the ball.”

Weatherford often made the blocking calls on the offensive line, then had to be on target with a shotgun snap. Then came his favorite part – hitting.

“He has a low center of gravity, and his strength went a long way,” DelPercio said. “Fundamentally, he works hard at it. He’s a solid football player.”

Weatherford’s blocking paved the way for a Cavaliers offense that averaged 40 points per game. Sophomore quarterback Drew Fry passed for 2,542 yards and 35 touchdowns, and junior running back Kedrick Whitehead rushed for 1,263 yards and 15 scores.

“Offensively, he kind of got things rolling for them,” Concord coach Greg Mitchell said. “He was, without question, their best kid. He’s big and he’s very tough.”

Weatherford brought that same toughness to defense, where he made 33 tackles, including three for a loss, and forced two fumbles. Almost all of his action took place within a yard or two of the line of scrimmage.

“I’m really agile within 10 yards,” Weatherford said. “Past that, I’m kind of slow. But I’m physical, like to attack the point.”

His experience at center helped when it came time to play on the other side.

“As a nose guard, he was able to see when he was playing center what worked against him and what worked for him,” DelPercio said. “He could use that and kind of put it in his tool box.”

Bill DiNardo watched Middletown down his Salesianum team twice this season, 42-24 during the regular season and 25-7 in the D-I semifinals. He said Weatherford played a big part in both games.

“I thought he was outstanding on both sides of the ball,” DiNardo said. “He was a great center, great blocker, did everything he was supposed to do. Defensively, he was very tough to block. We had to account for him on every single play.”

And in his final season of high school football, Weatherford also increased his guidance of the younger players.

“I’d never really been vocal with the team,” he said. “I’d always been a more lead by example type of guy. But after being voted captain, I had to grow into that leadership role. I’m the only lineman graduating this year, so I had to step up and be a leader for my team.”

The Cavaliers went 40-8 during Weatherford’s four seasons, reaching the state championship game three times. He wants to continue playing football in college while studying engineering or business, but has yet to decide on a destination.

Wherever Weatherford goes, DelPercio believes he will be exactly what he was with the Cavaliers. Dependable.

“He was the given,” DelPercio said. “You didn’t want to take him for granted, but you knew you didn’t have to spend a lot of time with him. He was going to be in the right place at the right time and do the right thing.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

"After being voted captain, I had to grow into that leadership role," Middletown senior Caleb Weatherford said.

Avery Roberts and Leah Styles were different.

They played different positions, for different teams, in different divisions, in different parts of the state.

But they had one huge thing in common. Both consistently made plays behind the line of scrimmage.

So when it came time to select Delaware’s Defensive Player of the Year, the Delaware Interscholastic Football Coaches Association board of directors and the state’s high school football media couldn’t decide who was best. The vote was a tie.

So Roberts – a big, menacing linebacker from Concord – will share the award with Styles – an undersized, hard-hitting defensive end from Woodbridge. Both had the eye-popping statistics to earn it.

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Roberts has had a legendary career, a three-time first team All-State selection. When the Concord defense was on the field, all eyes were on him.

“You know where he is on the field, every single play,” Middletown coach Mark DelPercio said. “As somebody calling the offensive plays, I was looking for No. 11. I knew where he was, what he was doing.”

He was usually in the backfield. Of Roberts’ 135 tackles this season, 18 resulted in lost yardage. Add in eight sacks and he constantly kept the opponent going backward.

“Playing the same teams for the past four years, you kind of get an understanding of what they’re going to do, when certain things were coming,” Roberts said.

Some of Roberts’ best games came against the Raiders’ toughest opponents – Salesianum, Middletown and William Penn. The Sals beat Concord (7-4) twice this year, during the regular season and in the opening round of the DIAA Division I playoffs. The offensive key was targeting Roberts.

“The whole Sallies games, they made sure I was blocked at some point,” the linebacker said. “At the line of scrimmage, they would call out who had me before each snap.”

It wasn’t an easy assignment.

“Our scheme was to put a body on him every single play,” Salesianum coach Bill DiNardo said. “And I don’t think we did it in two games. I don’t think we touched him.”

Roberts had the strength, quickness and elusiveness to handle anyone coming to stop him.

“He’s hard to block,” Concord coach Greg Mitchell said. “Sallies probably did the best job of getting bodies on him. But when he’s out in space, he’s tough to block. He’s very fast, and he’s physical.”

And he was healthy. Roberts struggled with a hamstring injury throughout his junior season, missing three games and playing at less than full speed in the others. This year, he was all out.

“He was 100 percent for 11 games, and you could really see how well he moved,” Mitchell said. “It made a big impact on his play. He made a lot of plays that last year, maybe he didn’t make because of his injury. He just was able to get all over the field.”

Roberts’ favorite play came in a 55-0 victory over Delcastle, when he stripped the ball from a Cougars runner and took it for a touchdown.

“I got my speed back,” Roberts said. “I was able to react much faster to the ball and just stop plays before they got started.”

That speed made Roberts a major-college recruiting target. Nebraska was the first to show interest, and he never wavered. Roberts visited the campus in September and watched the Cornhuskers trounce Fresno State 43-10 before a capacity crowd of 86,047, the 354th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium.

He was sold, and has already completed his classes at Concord. Roberts will enroll at Nebraska in January, with an eye toward playing on special teams and fitting somewhere in the Huskers’ linebacker rotation next season.

“He has a knack for getting to the ball that makes him a Division I player,” Mitchell said. “He understands the game. He studies film, and he had a good feel for what other teams were trying to do.”

Styles was also on every opponent’s radar after earning second-team, All-State honors last season. But as a sophomore, the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder wasn’t even on the Blue Raiders’ radar early.

Styles was bouncing between outside linebacker and defensive back on the junior varsity when Woodbridge needed an end to go against the first-team offense during practice.

“By chance one day, we put him in the practice defense at defensive end,” Blue Raiders coach Ed Manlove said. “He went in there and lit us up, and the rest is history.”

Manlove instantly discovered that Styles had a unique set of skills that made him difficult to deal with close to the line of scrimmage.

“He’s like a rubber band,” the coach said. “You can’t really block him. He’s a very flexible kid, contorts himself in all kinds of ways. And he’s extremely quick. His first two or three steps are just amazing.”

His stats were amazing, too. Of Styles’ 89 tackles this season, 33 came behind the line of scrimmage. He racked up 19 sacks as the Blue Raiders went 13-0 and won the school’s first DIAA Division II state championship.

“I like to play close up on the ball, because I like to have a little more contact,” Styles said. “Playing off the ball, I just don’t feel right.

“When they’re in a two-point stance and I’m standing up, it gives me more than half a second to get past them.”

His surprising burst kept opposing linemen off guard.

“He’s got quick hands, quick feet,” Manlove said. “That was the key to him making the plays, because you didn’t know where he was going to set up. You didn’t know where he was going to end up.”

And Styles added an element of power to his game this year that made him even harder to stop.

“This season, he could take on the big linemen and just drive them straight back,” Manlove said. “That wasn’t his thing last year. But he figured it out, because he’s just got a motor. He was taking double teams against Milford and [Wilmington] Friends, and he was just driving those kids straight back into the quarterback.”

The Blue Raiders’ defense was stellar all season, holding opponents to just 68 points in 13 games – a 5.2 average. No one scored more than 12 on the Woodbridge D, which was at its best in the 14-9 victory over Friends in the championship game.

The Quakers’ only touchdown came on an interception return. Styles combined with fellow defensive end Shymere Vessels – also a first team All-State pick – and the rest of the defense to stop Friends after Woodbridge lost fumbles at its own 20 in the first quarter and own 13 with six minutes to play.

“Last year, we were just hoping we could squeeze into the championship,” Styles said of an 8-4 team that lost to St. Georges 33-14 in the semifinals. “This year, it was a determination thing. We were going to make it to the championship and win it. We achieved our goal.”

Styles’ next goal is playing college football. Manlove projects him as a strong safety at the next level, and said Styles may need to go to a prep school or junior college to learn a new position. Styles is eager to attack that transition, but already has a skill that will be valuable to any defense.

“It’s not that hard to get past them. I don’t know what it is,” he said of blockers. “It’s just easy for me to slip through.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.

Leah Styles (top) and Avery Roberts

Concord linebacker Avery Roberts

Concord linebacker Avery Roberts

Woodbridge High School Co-Defensive football player of the year Leah Styles

Woodbridge High School Co-Defensive football player of the year Leah Styles

The first play of Nolan Henderson’s high school football career showed Smyrna coach Mike Judy all he needed to see.

Three years ago, the helmet of the Eagles’ starting quarterback came off in the season opener against Glasgow. Henderson, a sophomore backup, had to go in for one play.

Henderson fumbled a low snap, picked up the ball, ran away from pressure and threw a dart for a first down. With no fanfare, he went back to the bench.

“He could have easily been rattled, but he just held his composure,” Judy said. “To me, I knew, ‘This kid has got it.’

“Ten years from now when we’re talking about Nolan Henderson and what he did here, that was it in one play. He was calm under pressure, couldn’t be rattled and was able to extend plays. Those are the three things that he left as his legacy.”

Henderson also left behind a 22-game winning streak, two consecutive DIAA Division I championships and Delaware’s Offensive Player of the Year award as a senior. He was a clear choice in voting by the Delaware Interscholastic Football Coaches Association and the state’s high school football media.

“He has been the centerpiece of the offense. As we call him, the triggerman,” Judy said. “He’s the guy that makes us work offensively, and we’re going to sorely miss him. He’s a tremendous leader, a great talent, and more than both of those, he’s a great kid.”

Henderson had the keys to the Bugatti, calling the signals for perhaps the most prolific offense in Delaware high school history. Smyrna scored 632 points in 12 games this season, an average of 52.7 per outing.

“It’s definitely a dream offense for any quarterback,” Henderson said. “I was blessed with the great weapons in the backfield and in the receiving corps my whole career… It’s fun to put up all those points.”

Henderson took over as the starter in the second game of his sophomore year, setting school records for passing yards (2,150) and touchdown passes (21) as the Eagles improved from 2-8 to 5-5.

Then, it got even better. Henderson passed for 3,297 yards and 36 scores last year as Smyrna went 12-1 and won its first D-I title. And he wasn’t even the main attraction. Running back Will Knight cranked out 2,015 rushing yards and 33 TDs to win the state’s Offensive Player of the Year honors.

“We’ve played together since we were younger, and he’s always been that freak of an athlete,” Henderson said of Knight. “He’s always been fun to watch. Just getting the ball in his hands in open space and watching him work, it makes my job easier… Every time he touches the ball, he’s a threat to score.”

This year, the numbers for Henderson and Knight dipped a little as the Eagles added junior Leddie Brown, another talented running back who was voted first team All-State as a kick returner.

Brown rushed for 730 yards and 14 touchdowns. Knight ripped off 1,339 yards and 24 scores. The two junior running backs also combined for 49 catches for 1,195 yards and 16 TDs.

Henderson still threw for 2,317 yards and 32 scores. Not that he was counting.

“He threw less passes this year, threw a pretty similar amount of touchdowns and ran the ball less than I thought we would run him,” Judy said. “He was blessed with some great guys surrounding him. To watch him just thrive in that, and not be worried and caught up in his own production, you couldn’t ask for anything better.”

A prime example was the state championship game. Smyrna’s coaches thought the Eagles’ spread offense would create running opportunities up the middle against Middletown’s stout defense.

“We knew we were going to play this game a certain way, and it wasn’t necessarily going to be what we normally roll out there,” Judy said.

Knight grounded and pounded for 241 yards and four touchdowns on 35 carries. Brown added 176 yards and the final TD on 26 carries. Henderson completed just 2 of 6 passes for 18 yards, but the Eagles rolled to a 36-14 victory.

The Eagles call it RPO – run-pass option. Henderson had it on almost every play, following the instructions of offensive coordinator Mike Marks. On this day, it was more running than passing. Henderson had the discipline to carry it out.

“This year, I definitely had a better grasp of the play calls and what beats what,” Henderson said. “If I saw a look, I knew what I’m going to go with. Coach Marks did a great job teaching me, letting me know the right call in each situation.”

But other teams dared the Eagles to pass, and Henderson delivered. Sussex Tech blitzed repeatedly, forcing the quarterback to make quick reads under pressure. The result: 18 of 25 for 329 yards and five touchdowns in a 54-22 victory on Oct. 14.

“There might be one person who watches more film than the staff, and that’s Nolan,” Judy said. “He was always prepared for every situation, and understood what we were trying to do.”

Salesianum already knew what Henderson could do, as he guided the Eagles to a 32-26 overtime victory against the Sals in the 2015 D-I title game. On Sept. 23, in one of the most highly anticipated rematches in Delaware history, Henderson completed 14 of 17 for 278 yards and five scores in a 60-26 victory.

“We’ve seen it on the other side, going against him,” Sallies coach Bill DiNardo said. “He can run the ball. He makes great decisions. He puts pressure on your defense. He can extend plays. He has a great release. He’s extremely accurate.

“He’s just a great quarterback.”

He was part of a great turnaround, as Smyrna has suddenly become one of the state’s most powerful football programs.

“We came a long way, from 2-8 to 5-5 and where we are now,” Henderson said. “It’s a pretty drastic change in such a quick period of time. It just goes back to the hard work we put in. I felt like we had the talent and the great coaches, and the work we put in paid off.”

Nobody worked harder than Henderson, who concentrated on refining his footwork and hip rotation going into his senior season.

“The kid just never gets tired,” Judy said. “A pitcher, a quarterback, anybody who’s a thrower, they tend to have a pitch count. Even at practice, a kid might have 100 throws in him, then you’ve got to rest him.

“This kid never has a pitch count. He could throw 300, 400 balls a day, and he never has to ice his elbow, never has to worry about his shoulder. He’s like Superman.”

Henderson and the Eagles relished the hard work because they knew what was possible. Especially after winning their first title last season.

“We definitely knew that the only team that could beat us was ourselves,” Henderson said. “Every day at practice, we chase perfection and worry about the details, not having many turnovers or penalties. Because we knew, that was basically the only thing that could stop us.”

They were unstoppable, and Henderson made it all work. Judy estimated that on 30 to 50 percent of the Eagles’ snaps, Henderson was dictating where the ball was going to go.

College coaches noticed his array of skills, and the 6-foot-1, 170-pounder committed to the University of Delaware in July. That was placed on hold, however, when the Blue Hens fired head coach Dave Brock in October. Henderson, who still has interest from other schools, plans to meet with new UD coach Danny Rocco before making a final decision.

“He’s just such a tremendous player,” DiNardo said. “I’ve been so excited to talk about him to other coaches and to college coaches coming through. I truly believe he’s a big-time, Division I prospect.”

He was one of the stars who brought a big-time feel to Smyrna, which was starved for football success. After passing for 7,764 yards and 89 touchdowns and running for 1,077 yards and 14 more scores in three years, it’s safe to say the fans there will never forget him.

“The progress we’ve made over such a short period of time is special,” Henderson said. “All the hard work that we put in, it paid off. I’m just glad we were able to do it for this town and this community.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ

Smyrna High School football player Nolan Henderson,18, a senior.