Bits and Pieces 5

  There are some more internship slots being filled as I write. As soon as they are official, we will announce them here. There are still plenty of slots available many with the newspaper coming back in a few weeks.
  We offer those who like to write the ability to have their work showcased here on the web site. Whether it's game coverage or feature stories, both are welcome so just e-mail me.
  For any downstate readers who have caught the tv show in the past few weeks since we began airing in Kent and Sussex Counties, you should know how we choose what we shoot for the show.
  Right now, since our schedule is very tight, we have been looking for teams that are playing up this way. When that happens, for the most part, those games are given priority. Unfortunately, Friday night is a rough day for us to travel South and that is when almost all of the Southern games are played. So we are trying to figure out a way to get a crew down there to tape some of the big games that are coming up in a few weeks; Sussex Central vs Caesar Rodney and Dover, and Dover vs Caesar Rodney for starters.
  

Football bits.....
Well count me as someone who was surprised that the Colonials dumped St. Marks 42-0. Even with the fact that William Penn was playing with their head coach Bruce Reynolds back on the sideline and rebounding from a poor game against Salesianum. So if Sallies beat William Penn by 21 and William Penn beat St. Marks by 42, would that mean that the Spartans are doomed when they hook up with Sallies? 
  Corey Heath rushed for 137 for Caravel as the Bucs evened up their season record at 2-2 against Riverdale Baptist from New Jersey.
  Charles Clark rushed for 310 yards and four touchdowns as Caesar Rodney beat Forrest Park Md, 43-34.
  Kerry Miles had 175 yards for Mt. Pleasant as the Green Knights plowed through division 1 A.I. duPont 52-10.
  Jason Rogers caught two touchdown passes one 63 yards and one for 78 yards as William Penn got back on the winning track.
   The Green Knights of Mt. Pleasant have their biggest test this evening when they travel to Middletown. The Knights are tough, and do know how to win, but the rough start in their first two wins may indicate some trouble against the undefeated Cavaliers. Mt. Pleasant has at least two players that might be the best at their positions, quarterback Brent Rogers, and place kicker Adam Pfister.
  Dover's Pierre Bowers ran for 143 yards against Lake Forest as the Senators beat Lake Forest 21-6. As a point of reference, Caesar Rodney beat Lake Forest 17-14.
  Smyrna's Mike Pennewell has his named mentioned in every sentence that includes the Eagles. He ran back a kickoff for a 90 yard touchdown against Middletown.
  Tony Alleyne ran for 228 yards for St. Andrews against Harford Tech. He scored two touchdowns in a 28-0 win for the Saints.
  Jeff Fletcher, Andrew Swarter, and Brian Sulecki each scored two touchdowns as St. Elizabeth beat Seaford 56-0. This game was cut short midway through the fourth quarter when the power went out at Baynard Stadium. The Vikings led this game 42-0 at half time. Fletcher ran for 162 yards in the game and continues to be one of the top backs in the state. This Viking team is fast and their swarming defense hits ball carriers hard, very hard. They would be an odds on favorite (at 4-0) to take an at-large division 2 playoff berth.

Soccer bits.....
  The St.Marks Spartans won their 40th consecutive game to establish a new state record. The prior record was held by Concord during a span of games from '71 to '73. Adam Stuller scored the only goal in the win which was against John Carroll Md.
  Tower Hill remains undefeated at this writing. Jose Torradas paces the Hillers with 9 goals and 8 assists and has scored in each game so far this year.
  As noted here a week or two ago, the Seaford Blue Jays were coming on strong. Sure enough, they beat Caesar Rodney 3-2 this week to improve their record to 7-0 at the time. Trey Ramey scored two goals for the Jays. All of the games goals were scored in the first half. 
  Just as we added Wilmington Christian to the top ten, they lost to a former top ten team. Archmere beat the Warriors 1-0 to rejoin the top ten list.

Cross Country bits.....
  Sallies had a tough time with Newark and Austin Knight this week. Final score: 23-36, with Knight winning the race at White Clay Creek in 17:34. Yeah sure, we all realize that Sallies has 500 kids running on the team, and that the counties and the states are what they are gearing up for, but not one of those 850 runners won the race. 
  An upset in the Catholic Conference happened when Padua beat Ursuline 25-32. Erin Lord has rejoined the Panda after recovering from an injury. She finished second in the race to state individual champion Colleen Taylor to lead the Panda cause. 

Field Hockey bits.....
 At Rullo Stadium at the U of D Saturday will be the second annual Turf Bowl. A few great matchups are on the schedule including Wilmington Christian taking on the undefeated Vikings of Cape Henlopen. Former pole vault state champion Maren Ford leads the Viking attack and of course, one of my favorite people to root for, Danae Chambers, leads the Warriors.
  Brandywine will take on William Penn in the final game of the day. the Bulldogs are ranked 11th in the state according to our super intern Dana Anderson who has been an important factor in the team's early success. the Bulldogs are suffering from the loss of their starting goalie, Megan Clendaniel, who Delaware Sports picked up off of the waiver wire recently.
  Danae Chambers gets most of the credit for the Warriors success, but there are obviously other talented players on the team. Sarah Raniszewski scored three goals against Archmere recently and is the play maker on Warrior corners. Jenna Schwind is the third forward who scores with frequency. She had a goal in last year's state championship game. 

Volleyball bits.....
  Well the upset of the season happened when St. Elizabeth beat St. Marks in one of the games during the Vikings 2-1 loss to the undefeated reigning state champs. Now it may be time to flat out realize that Lauren DiSabatino is the player of the year, because with all that awesome defensive talent that the Spartans have, Lauren still recorded 16 kills during the match.
  Ursuline Academy lost a match to Bishop Shanahan PA 2-1. The Raiders made a great match of it even though they might not have thought so. They won the first game 15-9 and then lost 15-13 twice. There is no shame in losing to Shanahan, but it does hurt the tournament seedings later on in the year even though they will pick up two points because Shanahan will end their season with a winning percentage of over .700. Katie Greevy and Alexis Henderson have been equally dangerous hitting the ball for Ursuline.
  I went to see the University of Delaware volleyball team play Drexel last Saturday. There are a few local products on the team; Sarah Kearns, a red-shirt freshman from St. Marks, Jen Mack the former player of the year from St. Marks who is injured and out for the year, Jackie Vaught from Tatnall, Maggie Lapinski from Brandywine and Cameo Neeman from Ursuline Academy. Neeman was the first Delaware Sports Female Athlete of the Year three years ago when her Raider team won the Volleyball state championship. It was an unpopular pick at the time basically because Cameo bloomed a little later in her high school career, but she went on to win a state tennis championship that year, and then has gone on to becoming one of the two key hitters on the Blue Hen team. With her enthusiasm and improving talent, she should be a lock to be named Captain of that team next year.
  Brandywine travels to William Penn for an anticipated match Friday night. The Colonials are still struggling after showing signs of returning to a poweful level of play. A loss to an improving McKean Highlander team was not a great way to prepare for the undefeated Bulldogs since Brandywine swept McKean easily.

Marshal Manlove