Mount Pleasant’s Isaiah McCready (73) and Franklin Horne pursue Middletown’s Anthony DelPercio. The Green Knights will meet Smyrna in the first round of the Division I playoffs on Friday night.
The usual contenders – Salesianum, William Penn, Middletown, Sussex Tech – were in the field when the DIAA Division I football playoff seedings were announced Sunday.
But two newcomers – Mount Pleasant and Smyrna – added some spice to the six-team field. And the Green Knights and Eagles will meet in the first round at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Smyrna.
Coach Randy Holmes said Mount Pleasant hasn’t reached the postseason since 1981, when the Green Knights defeated Archmere 28-14 for the Division II title. Mount Pleasant’s run to the playoffs is even more remarkable because the school’s athletic teams moved up to Blue Hen Flight A and Division I this year.
“We knew it was going to be special if we stayed in Flight B,” Holmes said. “We knew what kind of athletes we had. I kind of knew those kids were going to be decent seniors when they were in ninth grade.
“When we got the word late in the year last year that we were moving up, we didn’t know what to expect. We knew everybody in Flight B very well. Now, we had to deal with the unknown in Flight A.”
The Green Knights dealt with it well, finishing 7-3 overall and 5-3 in Flight A. Now they will meet a Smyrna team that lasted reached the postseason in 2003.
“I kind of hinted that it would be fun to play Smyrna, just to see how that game would turn out,” Holmes said. “It’s coming true.
“I think I’ve got some pretty good athletes in the defensive backfield, and I’ve definitely got some great athletes at wide receiver,” Holmes added. “It’s definitely going to be a matchup of athletes, and just like every week, what happens in those trenches is going to really make a difference.”
Smyrna continued its amazing improvement under second-year coach Mike Judy, from 2-8 two years ago to 5-5 last year to 9-1 and the Henlopen North championship this season. Like Holmes, he sees similarities in his team and Mount Pleasant.
“We’re actually kind of alike. We look a little different, but the concept is the same,” Judy said. “We try to get the big plays on the outside, and soften you up up the middle.”
The Eagles are averaging an overwhelming 55 points per game, and even scored 56 in the game they lost – when Salesianum scored 76. But Judy said the key may be on defense, where the teams also employ similar concepts.
No. 1 DMA captures first volleyball state title in undefeated season
“We know how to defend them,” the Smyrna coach said. “It’s a matter of can we defend them, with all the great speed and athleticism they have. It’s going to be a huge challenge.”
Silver Eagles are in
Hodgson needed several things to happen to reach the Division II football playoffs. Somehow, it all fell in line for the Silver Eagles.
Hodgson coach Frank Moffett listened to the Lake Forest-Milford game on Friday night, rooting for a Lake Forest victory. That, combined with wins by Howard, St. Georges and Delaware Military Academy, boosted Hodgson up to an eighth-place tie with Milford in the DIAA points system. The Silver Eagles grabbed the final playoff spot on the second tiebreaker, as their opponents combined for more victories than Milford (44-40).
“We’ve had ups and downs with a lot of kids in new positions,” Moffett said of his team, which finished 6-4 with a 46-0 win over Brandywine. “We’ve had to play some new kids in different spots. … We knew we would go through some growing pains.”
Top running back DeJuan Outlaw (361 yards, 6 TDs) was lost for the season because of a knee injury against Howard in the fourth game of the season. The Silver Eagles also lost starting quarterback Bryon Cowen, but had junior Marc Perez-Echevarria (316 rushing yards, 7 TDs) step in capably. Hodgson is also getting rushing production from two sophomores – Tymier Sewell (342 yards, 5 TDs) and Sea’queris Wiggins (260 yards, 2 TDs).
Now, the two-time defending D-II champion Silver Eagles face an 11 a.m. Saturday kickoff at top-seeded St. Georges, which pummeled Hodgson 47-0 on Oct. 17.
“We went into halftime only down 14-0,” Moffett said. “If we had made a play here or a play there, but there were things we didn’t do well in that game. A lot of it wasn’t about what they did, it was about what we didn’t do.”
Sign ’em up
Last Wednesday marked the start of one of three periods in which high school seniors are allowed to sign a national letter of intent to continue their athletic career in college. Dozens of Delaware seniors made their decisions official, and here’s a rundown.
Softball: Hodgson’s Courtney Dellinger (Delaware) and Kendra Ziemba (East Carolina), DMA’s Kylie Quirk (Goldey-Beacom), Red Lion Christian’s Noelle Holiday (Georgetown), Polytech’s Whitney DeMora (Wilmington University), Taylor Pechin (Stony Brook) and Hayley Friess (University of Charleston); Wilmington Christian’s Daniela Solis (Caldwell).
Women’s basketball: Woodbridge’s Altia Anderson (Marquette), St. Andrew’s Olivia Gumbs (Lafayette), Ursuline’s Alyssa Irons (Southern Connecticut State), Sanford’s Taylor Sparks-Faulkner (Florida Southern).
Athlete of Week: Altia Anderson
Men’s basketball: Sanford’s Mikey Dixon (Quinnipiac).
Swimming: A.I. du Pont’s Alicia Diaz (Drexel), Salesianum’s Jack Portmann (West Virginia).
Baseball: St. Mark’s Andrew Reich (Delaware), Salesianum’s Nick Robino (Wagner College), Middletown’s Colin Peluse (Wake Forest), Dover’s Jordan Hutchins (Delaware) and Garrett Lawson (Delaware State).
Volleyball: St. Mark’s Addison Reich (Wilmington University) and Kara Wirt (Millersville).
Cross country: Salesianum’s Andrew Hally (Penn).
Men’s lacrosse: Salesianum’s Patrick Lyons (North Carolina) and Luke Bianchino (Delaware), Sussex Tech’s Nathan Hanenfeld (Catawba College), Tower Hill’s Doug McCoy (Furman).
Women’s lacrosse: Charter of Wilmington’s Jordan Wood (Davidson), Polytech’s Jamie Trabaudo (North Carolina), Brandywine’s Cady Burnside (Mansfield).
Golf: Salesianum’s Reed Winkler (St. Joseph’s).
Field hockey: Cape Henlopen’s Tess Bernheimer (Drexel), Lizzie Frederick (Temple) and Sydney Ostroski (West Chester); Polytech’s Alison McKay (Bloomsburg), Padua’s Molly Bobjak (Kutztown), Caesar Rodney’s Tara Daddio (Salisbury), Sanford’s Carter Ayars (Louisville), Mount Pleasant’s Kate Walker (Michigan) and Wilmington Christian’s Jenny Kurlej, Sydney Baffone and Annika Roberts (all Liberty) and Jenna Johnson (Towson).
Rowing: Conrad’s Tara Carr (Louisville), Mercersburg Academy’s Kate Hastings, a Wilmington resident (Virginia).
Rounding it up
• The Newark High boys basketball team will host a free, one-hour basketball clinic for ages 7-13 at 11 a.m. Saturday at Newark High. Also, Newark FCA will give families that sign up a complete Thanksgiving turkey dinner. Registration is required, and the dinner giveaway will take place after the clinic. To sign up, call Kevin Scannell at (302) 631-4700 ext. 14430 or email NewarkFCA@gmail.com.
Delaware athletes sign to play college sports
• Football players from Caravel outdueled football players from William Penn and baseball players from Conrad and Hodgson in a rib-eating contest on Sunday at Texas Roadhouse in Bear. The event raised funds for Easter Seals.
• Polytech has received approval to start boys and girls swimming teams in the 2016-17 school year.
• Salesianum (12-3-1) has moved into the USA Today/National Soccer Coaches Association national boys soccer rankings at No. 24.
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ