Laurel High School didn’t have to look far for its new football coach, hiring seven-year assistant and former Bulldogs standout Clarence Giles.
"It is very rewarding to have played on a state championship team and now be its head coach,” said Giles, who was a star on Laurel’s 1991 Division II state championship team.
Giles’ hire came just in time for the start of preseason training camp on Aug. 15. The Bulldogs were scrambling to fill the position following the late-summer resignation of Ed Manlove, who resigned to take the Woodbridge head coaching job, citing financial and family reasons.
“Laurel High School is very fortunate to have Clarence Giles take over our football program,” athletic director Jerry Mears said in an e-mail. “Coach Giles brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that our student athletes will surely benefit from. People in the Laurel School District are very happy that he is the next head coach at Laurel.”
Giles will reap the benefit of having seven assistant coaches return from last year’s team, which advanced to the Division II state championship game before falling to Milford. That, along with the fact that he and Manlove have similar coaching styles, gives him confidence the program will not skip a beat.
“The expectations to succeed are still here,” he said. “Everything is really the same as it was before.”
Laurel opens its season Sept. 11 by hosting Christiana.
Christiana football looks to improve
This season will be a special one for fourth-year Christiana coach Darwin Manges, because regardless of the numbers that appear in the win column, he’ll have the opportunity to watch his first group of players come full circle through his program, from freshmen to seniors.
It will take just two wins to improve on last year’s 1-9 season, but Manges is confident that a solid group of returning players can more than double last year’s win total.
“We have an excellent core group of returning young men who are good leaders,” he said shortly before preseason training camp began.
Manges’ first task will be to replace last year’s starting quarterback, Josh Tatnall. Sophomore Tim Martin will take over for the Vikings under center. While Martin most likely will experience some rookie bumps and bruises physically, learning the playbook shouldn’t be a problem for the honor student who carries a 4.1 GPA.
Manges considers his key returnees to be: Jack Barchock (C/LB), Mike Evonishon (WR/CB), Shaun Freel (FB/LB), Tray West (WR/RB/CB), Gage Taylor-McDowell (OL/DL) and Denzell Merritt (WR/LB).
Laney wins international title
Smyrna junior-to-be Betnijah Laney spent her summer doing what most high school basketball players do – practicing and playing anywhere and everywhere she could find a game.
However, unlike most of her peers, Laney found games all over the country and in Mexico City as a member of the USA Women’s Under-16 national basketball team, which won the inaugural FIBA Americas U-16 championship.
Laney’s travels took her to several cities, including Chicago, New Orleans and Colorado Springs, Colo., where tryouts were held for the U-16 team.
Although she wasn’t a starter on the team when it played in the tournament in Mexico City, Laney was third on the team in points (13.2 per game) and tied for third in average minutes per game (19).
Laney, considered to be one of the top recruits in the class of 2011, has basketball in her genes. Her mother, Yolanda, was an All-American at Cheyney University (then known as Cheyney State College) and played in the 1982 Final Four.
Laney’s first day of school is Sept. 8, when she’ll officially become a junior and the recruiting process will begin. Connecticut and Rutgers are rumored to have the best chance to land Laney.
News and Notes
Freshman Bobby Kennedy, a standout at Caravel Academy, was singled out by University of Delaware football coach K.C. Keeler on media day as one of the freshman he has been pleased with thus far in training camp. … Freshman walk-on Josh Tatnall, a graduate of Christiana, hopes to be the backup punter at UD. … Sept. 11 is the first-ever varsity football game between Middletown and Appoquinimink high schools. Appoquinimink, the second high school in the Appoquinimink School District, opened its doors in 2007. The schools are separated by less than five miles.
Jon Buzby is the Delaware correspondent for MaxPreps.com.