There is some great high school football being played in Delaware

As a small aside, while visiting the Sussex county beaches which we did in October and November, I like to read the Wilmington News Journal and other local papers and check out the high school sports scene.  The football playing season has been much delayed this year due to Covid, but the teams are playing full tilt now, and I must say that there are some impressive box score numbers being put up this year.  Maybe the teams are more rested and they are razor sharp and ready to go.

I do not see it as a strong offense and a weak defense situation.  While I am no expert on evaluating high school football talent, I would daresay that some of the big D1 schools ought to take a closer look at the Delaware football schoolboys.  I also saw some of the video footage on the evening news of the high school game highlights and, from what I saw, there were some great passes being made, lots of speed and quickness being displayed on both sides of the ball, some great picks by the defense, plus strong running sometimes behind what looked like some big "farm boys" on the line and other times with gadget plays in the screen play area.  In short, I was quite impressed by the talent level.

Consider some of these performances from a few weeks ago.  Devon Green, DMA (all according to the News Journal) rushed for 209 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-0 win over St. Elizabeth.  Kevin Ignudo, Howard rushed for 185 yards and one TD and returned a punt for another TD in a 42-7 win over Brandywine.  And, T.J. Martin, St. Mark's rushed for 189 yards and a touchdown in a 20-19 win over Lake Forest.

Incidentally, St. Mark's is the alma mater of current Delaware Governor John Carney who was an All state quarterback and captain whose team won the school's first state championship in any sport in his senior year.  Carney then went on to have All Ivy league honors bestowed on him as a defensive back at Dartmouth and was the team MVP, too.  Incidentally, future Denver Bronco NFL player, receiver Steve Watson, was on the receiving end of Carney's passes during the high school championship season.

And, speaking of other famous political figures with a storied Delaware high school football career, President-elect Joe Biden was a very strong performer for Archmere and caught 10 TDs during his senior year and was praised by his high school coach as being one of the best pass catchers that he ever coached.  Biden's senior year team was undefeated at 8-0 and won the conference championship.  There is video on You Tube of Biden's high school career, and he looks good, and shows some nice moves to the endzone.

For the most part, the weather this Fall has cooperated and stayed crisp with generally mild temperatures so even with the late start of the high school sports season, the football games have been played under good conditions.  Hopefully, the weather will hold up through the end of the season and playoff rounds into December.

By: Tim McTaggart