Howard coach Dan Ritter (left) and Smyrna coach Mike Judy
Lineman Jeff Campbell (79) joins his Smyrna teammates in celebrating their 32-26, overtime win over Salesianum for the Division I title on Saturday at Delaware Stadium.
The Saturday of the football championship games at Delaware Stadium has become the biggest day in Delaware high school sports, and this year’s edition reached a new high that will be hard to top.
A record 10,094 tickets were sold, and fans had great early December weather to watch two schools – Smyrna in Division I and Howard in Division II – win their first DIAA football titles.
It marked the first time since 1994 – when Christiana won in D-I and St. Elizabeth took the D-II title – that the football tournaments had two first-time champions.
“At the start of every year, you think it’s possible,” Howard coach Dan Ritter said after his Wildcats knocked off top-seeded St. Georges 28-13. “To be here now … In the last two weeks, the coaches have had conversations where we’ve said, ‘Hey man, we should be enjoying this.’”
Howard (10-3) had plenty to enjoy, as Ritter won his first title in 15 years as head coach. That came in the night game, after Smyrna (12-1) earned the Division I crown in Mike Judy’s third year as head coach with a stirring, 32-26 overtime victory over Salesianum.
“Every coach in America tells you if you work hard, great things are going to happen for you,” Judy said. “This is the epitome of that, working hard and winning the big one. I’m really proud of them, and I’m really happy for them. I’m glad that I could be a part of a memory that they’re going to hold for the rest of their lives.”
Athlete of the Week: Gerald Wiggins of Howard
The total attendance was the highest for any event since DIAA began keeping records, eclipsing the 9,347 tickets sold when Hodgson defeated St. Georges in D-II and Salesianum topped Middletown in D-I in the 2013 football finals.
The football tournaments capped a banner season in all DIAA fall sports. Total attendance for all field hockey tournament games was 3,955, the third-highest total ever. Boys soccer drew 6,635 fans throughout the D-I and D-II tournaments, the sport’s fourth-best attendance on record.
Volleyball added a round to its playoffs and set a total attendance record of 9,532, including 2,449 for the championship match when Delaware Military Academy topped Archmere on Nov. 16 at the Bob Carpenter Center.
Figures for all football playoff games are still being totaled, but the gridiron gladiators typically draw more fans than all other DIAA sports combined.
The Smyrna Eagles hoist the DIAA Division I football championship trophy after edging Salesianum 32-26 in overtime on Saturday at Delaware Stadium.
Big win for Sanford
Chester has one of the most storied boys basketball programs in Pennsylvania, so it’s a pretty big deal any time a Delaware school can beat the Clippers.
Sanford did it on Chester’s home court Friday night, opening the season with a 59-57 victory in the Fred Pickett Classic. Quinnipiac signee Mikey Dixon scored 21 points, Jacob Walsh added 13 and Jay’are Davis chipped in 10. The Warriors (1-0) trailed 47-40 going into the fourth quarter, then outscored Chester 19-10 the rest of the way.
Murray finishes strong
Charter of Wilmington senior Kevin Murray, who broke cross-country course records across Delaware all season, finished 34th out of 195 runners at the NXN Nationals on Saturday in Portland, Oregon.
Murray qualified for the national event by finishing second in the NXN Southeast Regional on Nov. 28 in Cary, North Carolina, setting an all-time Delaware boys cross country record with a time of 15:06.8.
Wrestling recap
At the same time its football team was winning a state championship, Smyrna’s wrestling team was kicking off its season by finishing second among 18 teams at the prestigious Ray Oliver Tournament, just a half-point behind host McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Maryland.
The three-time defending DIAA Division I champion Eagles got weight-class victories from Dakota Kerr at 152 pounds and Tony Wuest at 195, with Wuest pinning Caesar Rodney’s Michael Clavier in 46 seconds in an all-Delaware final. Smyrna’s Nick Natarcola finished second at 106, and Nate Bryant took second at 145.
Delaware high school winter sports rankings
Caesar Rodney finished third in the team standings, with Cameron Hayes winning at 113. Caravel had two individual winners, with Josh Daily edging CR’s Thomas Gallucci 4-2 in an all-Delaware 160 final, and Keith Medley taking the crown at 220. Salesianum’s Joe Miller won at 182, and Riley Montgomery finished second at 285.
Two-time defending DIAA Division II champ Milford flexed its muscle at the Polytech Invitational, scoring 234 points to easily top a 14-team field. Polytech (170), Dover (142), St. Georges (137) and Delaware Military Academy (114) rounded out the top five.
Robbie Rosser (106), Bart Dalious (145), Kenny VanVorst (195) and Bryan Wynes (285) earned individual titles for Milford. Other winners were St. Georges’ Nick Novarnik (120) and Austin Clayton (182), Dover’s Anthony Fisher (132), Nicholas Lee (138) and Tim Horvath (152), Polytech’s Spenser Hahn (113), Middletown’s Dante Immediato (126), Charter of Wilmington’s Carter Lamey (160), DMA’s Nate Riley (170) and Newark’s Nazr Roberson (220).
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ