By Jon Buzby
MaxPreps.com
Football: St. Georges Tech Set to Hit Field
St. Georges Technical High School will field a varsity football team for the first time this fall.
A member of the Blue Hen Conference, St. Georges will play a 10-game non-conference schedule this fall, with nine of the 10 games played as away games.
The Hawks open up against the Academy of the New Church (Bryn Athyn, Pa.) Sept. 6. Their lone “home game” will be the second game of the season against St. Frances on Sept. 13. That game will be played at Delcastle High School in Newport (approximately 20 miles from the school).
St. Georges is expected to have around 50 players, all freshmen, sophomores and juniors, from last season’s junior varsity team. The school will not have a senior class until the fall of 2009.
Football: Appoquinimink Laying Groundwork
The new Appoquinimink High School will field freshmen and junior varsity football teams this fall with plans to have a varsity team for the fall of 2009.
The Jaguars will most likely play in Division II for the first year (2009) since they will not have a senior class, and then move up to Division I for the 2010 season.
Middletown High School – the Jaguars’ inter-district rival – is coming off its first division I state championship. Their roster will not be affected this season, other than from graduation, but with the Cavaliers now sharing the district’s talent with the Jaguars, it will be interesting to see if the teams become watered down in the future or if they will both compete at the top of Division I, as Middletown has for the past few seasons.
Football: Blum Taking Over at du Pont
It took A.I. du Pont High School less than two weeks to find a replacement for former head football coach Larry Cylc, who resigned after four seasons with the Tigers for family reasons.
On Friday morning, Zeb Blum, 26, became the head football coach at A.I. duPont.
“It’s one of my dreams come true,” Blum told the Wilmington News Journal. “I’m just about as excited as you can be.”
In addition to serving as an assistant for the football team for the past four years, Blum also teaches social studies at the school, which, according to assistant principal Kevin Palladinetti, was a key reason he was chosen over the other 60 candidates.
“The school felt it was best for the program and the school community to keep it in house,” Palladinetti told the Wilmington News Journal.
Blum’s team will begin practices Aug. 15, the first day Delaware fall sports teams are allowed to practice. Their preseason will include scrimmages against Salesianum High School and the Moyer Academy (Wilmington).
On the heels of a two-win season in 2007, Blum and du Pont will be put to the test early. The Tigers open up with three straight games on the road, starting at McKean High School on Friday, Sept. 5. They then travel downstate to Sussex Tech High School before finishing their road trip with a game against Blum’s alma mater – defending state champion Middletown.
“I’m ready to gear up and get ready to go, and hopefully really get this program excited and going in the right direction,” Blum told the Wilmington News Journal.
In other news at the school, longtime Athletic Director, Bill Yelsh, will step down after serving 40 years as a teacher and coach at the school. He will be replaced by Mark Alley, who is also the defensive coordinator for the football team and will remain in that role.
Football: Tkach to Head DIFCA
Mike Tkach was recently named the president of the Delaware Interscholastic Football Coaches Association (DIFCA). He replaces Mark DelPercio of Middletown, who served three consecutive terms.
Tkach hopes that by the end of his two-year term every head coach will be a member of DIFCA. He feels this is critical to not only the association, but the sport itself.
“The biggest thing is having the liaison between the coaches, the administration and the [Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association],” Tkach told the Milford Beacon. “And we need to have every school represented.”
Tkach’s two-year term will also focus on building the relationships between coaches statewide, focusing on the division between upstate and downstate.
“We need to work on the relationship between the upstate and downstate coaches,” Tkach told the Milford Beacon.
Two people who will be critical to accomplish that goal are Tkach’s two vice presidents: Dan Ritter, of Howard Tech High School, will serve as vice president of northern schools; and Ed Manlove, of Laurel High School, will serve in the same role for southern schools.
Rounding out the DIFCA officers are Smyrna High School’s Clay Lloyd (treasurer) and John Wilson of St. Mark’s High School (secretary).