Newark	Sussex Central
11-0	10-1
Win Salesianum 32-0	Win Delmar 39-6
Win Caesar Rodney 38-0	Win Indian River 38-12
Win St. Marks 49-14	Win McKean 41-20
Win Brandywine 42-7	Win Glasgow 32-0
Win Glasgow 40-0	Win Milford 42-0
Win A.I. duPont 43-0	Win Cape Henlopen 5-0
Win McKean 55-34	Win Dover 26-7
Win Christiana 29-6	Loss Caesar Rodney 10-21
Win Delcastle 56-16	Win Sussex Tech 35-6
Win William Penn 15-8	Win Christiana 33-6
Win Caesar Rodney 33-9	Win Dover 33-3

 This matchup has been brewing for quite some time. The Sussex Central loss to Caesar Rodney was an aberration. The Golden Knights are a talented team, but they might be too banged up in the backfield for this contest. Yoree Washington missed the playoff game against Dover and George Davis is still gimpy after spraining his ankle midway through the season but he reeled off an 84 yard touchdown in the semifinal game against Dover.
  The Yellowjackets are the terror of this state, make no mistake about this. The scores listed above are not a real indication of the dominance that this team is capable of. The game against A.I. duPont (hey they still send players out there) was over in less than a minute and the second string was in after six minutes because all of the games points were scored by then.
  Nelson Drew, Austin Kisner, and Brandon Snow are the guys that the Knights will see trying to plough through their defense. Erec Spiese is the Jacket quarterback who basically just hands them the ball.
  The Knights play some good defense though and and have a couple of talented defenders. Jack Roach is a beast of a linebacker who will get a true test of his all-state team ability. 
  Knight quarterback Blake Hershelman didn't throw a pass all game against Dover, and he might not get much of a chance to throw against Newark. 
  The Knights run the Wing-T on offense and employ a 50 defense.
  Newark runs the I on offense and a 4-4 on defense.

  Just to break tradition for a change, my game score prediction is Newark 28, Sussex Central 7.

 The Division II Championship

  

St. Elizabeth	Delmar
11-0	10-1
Win A.I. duPont 49-0	Loss Sussex Central 6-39
Win Dickinson 28-12	Win Victor Cullen, MD 47-0
Win Howard 18-8	Win S. Decatur, MD 42-21
Win Seaford 56-0	Win J. Bennett, MD 35-6
Win Archmere 34-0	Win Seaford 53-3
Win Salem, NJ 39-14	Win Indian River 35-6
Win St. Marks 27-7	Win Lake Forest 29-6
Win Tatnall 44-13	Win Smyrna 41-12
Win Caravel 28-21	Win Laurel 40-8
Win Tower Hill 44-8	Win Woodbridge 27-15
Win Middletown 20-6	Win Woodbridge 33-0

 These two teams look a little bit alike on the field. They are both fast and they both hit hard. They both also run the Wing-T and they both have a lot of spirited players.
  The Vikings are fresh off a dominating performance over the three-time defending champions from Middletown. They were smaller than the Cavs, but played with more ferocity and with more togetherness.
  This time, the Vikes are a little bigger than the Wildcats, but may be a little slower. The Wildcats have a couple of real talented backs in Ian Hudson and Dustin Johnson at quarterback. Johnson is also a serious threat as a punt returner. 
  The Vikings are more physical on both sides of the ball and this will be the difference in this game. Jeff Fletcher, Andrew Swarter, and Brian Sulecki will carry the ball for head coach Joe Hemphill with Joe Durney at quarterback. Durney missed last year's championship game because of a broken leg, but, of course, was back in the rematch of last year's final against Middletown and will be here for this one. 
  Roman Schurga is an all-state candidate at linebacker for the Vikings who also plays on the offensive line.

  I'll break tradition again and predict this score also: St. Elizabeth 24, Delmar 15

  Lets hope that both of these games are played clean. There were incidents in two of the playoff games that left a little bit of character to be desired. In the Woodbridge-Delmar game a player was tossed out of the game for kicking another player in the groin while he was on the ground. In the Middletown-St. Elizabeth game, the half-time antics of some of the Cavaliers on their way to the locker rooms cleared out a bunch of fans who were scared to be hanging anywhere near players who were using some seriously rough language. 

  The all-state teams have already been voted for so these playoff games can not have any impact on a player's status on that team.
  The football all-state banquet will be at the DuPont Country Club on February 1, 2001.

  I am hoping to do a brief preseason look at the winter season sometime this week.

  Stop on by the Wyndham Garden Hotel in downtown Wilmington this Sunday at 10 a.m. for our presentations of our first ever All-Heart Team. We are waiting to make the announcements of the team because there are one or two winners who will be getting their award as a surprise.

Marshal Manlove

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