Bits and Pieces  4 

with Marshal Manlove

  There are a few behind the scenes of Delaware Sports notes to share before we reminisce about the last week in Delaware high school sports.
  There are three new staff interns with us as of this week. Stephanie Chanpimol, Megan Clendaniel, and Lauren Mineo have begun their stay and will learn whatever they will wish to learn about producing a television show. The three girls are seniors at Brandywine High School who join Super Intern Dana Anderson from the Bulldogs home. 
  Since there are plenty of things to do, see, and learn at Delaware Sports, we always welcome individuals who would to become part of the process. We are active in four different types of media, so if TV isn't your thing, perhaps radio, Internet or print might be.
  Ah yes, speaking of print. We are once again preparing to publish what we are calling a newsletter to come out every other week beginning in late November. This presents even more opportunities for internships and even some actual paying positions, so when you're done reading this, call me if you're interested in helping out.
  The newsletter will be anywhere from 16-24 pages in length to start and will be dedicated strictly to Delaware Sports (naturally). When we published a newsPAPER last year, we distributed the paper through convenient stores throughout New Castle County, but we weren't happy with the distribution process. We thought that we would distribute our letter directly into the hands or mailboxes of people who want to read more about local sports. So that's what we are doing.
  On the home page of this website, there is a link to a form that you can use to subscribe. Please help us out by picking up a subscription for yourself and maybe even one or two for some friends. The people who benefit from the purchase are the athletes and the athletic community, so please help us in that effort.
  There are more plans for expansion of the television show in New Castle County. For nearly three years we've been waiting for the break that appears to be coming in early November. 
  Our goal has been to air either 5 half-hour shows, or three one-hour shows each week in all three counties. This may soon come true. Should this happen....whoa....we're going to be busy. But it will be very cool, and provide even more opportunities.

   Football bits....
   So if Newark beat Sallies by over 30 and Sallies beat William Penn by over 20, will that mean Newark will beat William Penn  by over 60?? If so...well, I don't know what would happen if so. 
   Just to repeat something from the McKean-Sussex Central notes if last Saturday, the Highlanders are going to win some more games against some teams that will be surprised that they lost. No one here will be surprised. This team now looks like the second place team in Flight A. That's right, behind William Penn and Christiana (my preseason #1).
  How about Lake Forest as the Henlopen South pick for #1? Their loss to Caesar Rodney was by a field goal. (By Megan Collins, the Riders soccer star). No other team wants to take charge yet, and that loss has to inspire some confidence for the Spartans.
  Mike Pennewell rushed for four touchdowns  for Smyrna in the Eagles 40-24 win over Milford. Milford had previously bumped off Woodbridge, so give the Eagles some attention this coming week..even it is against Middletown.
 Woodbridge's Andre Cannon rushed for 101 yards and Jeremy Maddox caught five passes for 124 yards as the Blue Raiders dumped Polytech 38-0.That's Division One bonus points for the Blue Raiders.
  George Davis scored three touchdowns for Sussex Central against McKean.
  Nelson Drew, of Newark, rushed for 129 first half yards as the Yellowjackets trounced St. Marks in the rematch of last year's state final 49-14. The score was 42-0 before the Spartans put their points up in the fourth quarter.
  Newark has scored only one more point than Sussex Central. I smell a championship final there.
  Hey!!  Where is Caravel? 32-0 in the big match-up against Middletown. That's embarrassing. This was the team that was going to break the strangle hold on Division II. Now it's not. The Bucs are slow, and they are now 1-2.
  Miguel DiMarco rushed for 109 for Archmere as the Auks beat Tower Hill 34-6. The Hillers do have one decent athlete on their team in Rob Randolph. He ran back a kickoff for an 85 yard touchdown in the game. Randolph is a state champion hurdler for Tower Hill.
  St. Elizabeth's Jeff Fletcher added 180 rushing yards to his growing career total as the Vikings beat Howard 18-8. The Vikings trailed 8-0 in this game before waking up and taking control.
  The field goal that Caesar Rodney's Megan Collins kicked wasn't just one of those 21 yarders that get kicked with infrequency by the guys in the state, it was a 37-yarder with the game tied and 4 minutes left in the game. That was on top of two extra points that were critical because the Riders were losing 14-0 at half-time. And last year, she kicked a 40-yarder in a JV game against Dover. Collins is a 16-year-old JUNIOR. 

  Field Hockey bits...
  Tower Hill's Maggie Giddens is the Hiller star of the first part of their season. She followed up a two-goal performance against the reigning state champs with another two-goal game, this time against St. Marks.
  William Penn scored 19 goals in two games this week. They beat Dickinson 10-0 and McKean 9-0. Those teams aren't exactly field hockey powerhouses, but it's better for William Penn that they win by those scores against them than by scores of 1 or 2 to zero.

  Volleyball bits.....
  Sanford gave Ursuline the run for the money we thought they would. The Warriors took the Raiders to three games falling 15-13, 12-15, 4-15. If any loss is a good loss, this was one of them. The third game score indicates a mental letdown that could very well be necessary to experience before the tournament rolls around. Now the Warriors have learned a valuable lesson and should be dangerous in November.
  So St. Marks beats St. Thomas More 15-0, 15-8. St. Thomas More gets 2 bonus points for a loss against the Spartans second string. This was how they earned a playoff berth last year. But did they really earn it? Did they really EARN two points in this loss? I think not. Ask Charter and Hodgson what they think of that situation from last year. Only one Flight B team advanced to the playoffs despite both those mentioned teams sporting 13-3 records. St.Thomas More was 1-4 after the loss, so it may be a moot point in November.
  It should be noted that the Spartans beat Caesar Rodney 15-0, 15-4 and the Riders will probably be the Henlopen Conference Champions. To reach the finals against St. Marks will be the zenith for any other high school volleyball team this year. Ask the Pandas of Padua because the Spartans beat them 15-1, 15-0. 
  Concord continues to blast its way through Flight B. They blew out Dickinson 15-4, 15-6 with a balanced attack adn their ace Colleen Sherk was only second on her team in kills for the match.
  Flight A is still up for grabs even though Brandywine was unbeaten as of this morning (the 28th). William Penn has been playing better, and Newark is hot. Glasgow has faded and A.I. duPont has been on-again, off-again so far. 

  Cross Country bits....
  Charlie Diehlman has emerged as Salesianum's top runner so far. Kevin Winchell, another top Sal runner has been injured. 
  At White Clay Creek State Park, I was approached by a Sal who wanted to know what I thought about the St. Mark's team. I didn't need to tell him, his next sentence was about the fact that at least six Spartans are running sub-18 minute times. Three of them are more well known; Kyle Berseth, Mike Lahm, and Chris Coyne. It should be an interesting state championship even with both teams fully healthy.
  Both McKean teams suffered their first losses of the year to Newark to drop to 3-1. The Yellowjackets Austin Knight has been the leader for his undefeated team. 
  The Highlander girl's team lost by a single point. 
  Tatnall's Meredith Lambert won the Middletown Invitational by over three minutes over the second place finisher. Ten teams were present at the meet. 

  Soccer bits....
  Here comes the Seaford Blue Jays. They were 5-0 at this writing.
  The Hodgson Vo-Tech team must have been reading the press they were getting temporarily. They have choked twice since entering the Delaware Sports top ten, including a 4-0 whooping at the hands of Wilmington Friends.
  Just when it appeared that Concord was really worthy of top ten honors, they were crushed by unranked A.I. duPont 5-1. So they are out of the top ten as punishment and will have to earn their way back in. So say hello to Wilmington Christian...at least for a little while. The Warriors have been a tough soccer squad under Doug Haas for a few years now, and are 4-1, so let's show them some respect...for now.

Marshal Manlove