Middletown senior Isiah Mitchell runs the ball in the third quarter. Middletown defeats Concord 44-21 at Concord Saturday.
Middletown senior Isiah Mitchell catches an 18-yard-pass from quarterback Vincent DelPercio to give the Cavaliers a 27-14 lead over Concord in the second quarter. Middletown defeats Concord 44-21 at Concord Saturday.
Middletown senior Isiah Mitchell, top, celebrates with lineman Christopher Weatherford after scoring on an 18 yard touchdown pass. Middletown defeats Concord 44-21 at Concord Saturday.
Middletown quarterback Vincent DelPercio runs the ball in the second quarter. Middletown defeats Concord 44-21 at Concord Saturday.
BRANDYWINE HUNDRED – Mark DelPercio has made his lack of enthusiasm for 10:30 a.m. Saturday kickoffs known in the past.
But the Middletown football coach was OK with it on this particular Saturday. Because less than 90 seconds into the game, his Cavaliers had already scored two touchdowns.
No. 4 Middletown turned six Concord turnovers into 31 points and pulled away for a 44-21 victory that likely kept the Raiders out of the DIAA Division I playoffs and put Mount Pleasant into the postseason.
“I like 10:30 morning games up at Concord,” DelPercio said with a laugh after the game. “Check the score. I like 10:30 games up here.”
No. 6 Concord (6-4) made it easy to like. The Raiders crossed signals on a handoff on their second play from scrimmage, and the ball skittered all the way back to the 1-yard line before Middletown’s Kedrick Whitehead recovered. Frankie Datillo punched it in on the next play.
Then Concord fumbled again on its next play, and Whitehead fell on it at the 20. Datillo’s 5-yard run two plays later gave the Cavaliers a 14-0 lead, just 1:25 into the game.
“My gosh, with the way we came out, I was absolutely thrilled,” DelPercio said.
The Raiders settled down and responded with a 10-play, 70-yard drive, with Grahm Roberts scoring on a 5-yard run.
But Concord fumbled on the first play of its next possession, and Middletown’s Markel Weldon pounced on it at the Raiders 16. Vincent DelPercio’s 7-yard pass to his brother, Anthony, pushed the Middletown lead to 21-7 with 34 seconds left in the opening quarter.
The Raiders turned it over on downs, then created a Middletown turnover when Avery Roberts intercepted a pass and returned it 25 yards to the 50. Then Grahm Roberts carried five straight times, scoring from the 5 to pull the Raiders within 21-14.
Middletown (8-2) answered with its first long scoring drive, covering 65 yards in 11 plays. Isiah Mitchell capped it with an 18-yard touchdown reception to send the Cavaliers into halftime up 27-14.
But Middletown fumbled the second-half kickoff, and Byron Simpson recovered for Concord at the 23. Grahm Roberts rumbled in from there, and the Raiders were within 27-21 just 14 seconds into the third quarter.
The game settled down a bit until Concord fumbled on a punt return, and Middletown’s Shane Wilkins recovered at the Raiders 17. Tyler Bierlein’s 33-yard field goal on the second play of the fourth quarter gave the Cavaliers a two-possession lead at 30-21.
Then Middletown put it away after a Concord punt. The Cavaliers launched a nine-play, 67-yard drive that took 4:28 off the clock, including a critical conversion when Datillo squeezed out a 3-yard gain on fourth-and-a-foot from the Cavaliers 44.
“That fourth-down play at midfield, there are certain things you have to do in order to win football games,” Mark DelPercio said. “I couldn’t have been happier with our guys.”
He was even happier on the next play, as Datillo took it up the middle, cut to the left sideline and went 53 yards for the clinching touchdown with 4:40 to play.
“The line did what they had to do,” said Datillo, who finished with 124 yards on 19 carries. “I had the hole open, bounced outside and ran downfield. All credit goes to the line on that run.”
Grahm Roberts led Concord with 27 carries for 159 yards.
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ