Red Lion Christian rally falls short in interstate battle

Red Lion Christian Academy (Bear, Del.) forced a three-and-out late in the fourth quarter to get the ball back against Calvert Hall (Baltimore) Friday night, but David Sills' pass on fourth-and-3 on the Cardinals' 13-yard line was broken up and the Lions fell, 27-20, in an interstate game.

"We had an opportunity at the end and couldn't pull it off," Red Lion coach Eric Day said in a phone interview Saturday morning. "But, as the saying goes, ‘Competition is the spoon that stirs a man's soul.' And that's what we want to get from our kids. Every week we learn something. So if we are in that situation again late in the game and have to make a play, we've now been there. You can't practice that."

Calvert Hall took the lead for good in the third quarter on a 7-yard touchdown run by sophomore Stephen Kelly, and then upped its lead to 27-14 early in the fourth when Garrett Keane bulled his way into the end zone from six yards out. Keene had opened the game's scoring when he rushed for a 5-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

Red Lion Christian's highlight of the night was when Sills, the much-publicized eighth-grader who made a verbal commitment to Southern Cal last spring, hooked up with Dhameer Bradley on a 74-yard touchdown pass to pull the Lions within a score.



Red Lion Christian (6-3) will vie for a Division II playoff spot when it plays at Caravel Academy (2-6) Friday night at 7. According to early calculations, with a win the Lions are guaranteed to make the state tournament.

Calvert Hall (10-1, 3-1 MIAA A) is off for two weekends before playing Loyola (5-4, 3-1) in the annual Turkey Bowl on Thanksgiving Day.

2. Dunbar wins DCIAA-West crown: Taking advantage of its opponent's penalties and turnovers, Dunbar (Washington, D.C.) made easy work of Coolidge High, 38-6, to claim the DCIAA-West title Friday night.

Dunbar sophomore quarterback Lamel Matthews threw for 169 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Tide.

Dunbar (8-2, 4-0) will now face Ballou (8-1, 4-1 DCIAA East) in the opening round of the DCIAA playoffs. Ballou defeated Dunbar 18-7 during the regular season. Coolidge (4-6, 3-1) will face the East's top seed, H.D. Woodson (7-3, 4-0).

3. Oscar Smith captures another title: Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, Va.) celebrated senior night by clinching its seventh consecutive Southeastern District championship with a 49-7 thrashing of previously-unbeaten Great Bridge.



Junior quarterback J.J. Williamson tossed three touchdown passes, including a 16-yarder to Arkansas-bound wide receiver Quinta Funderburk, to lead a Tiger offense that outgained the Wildcats 413-195. Williams was 14-for-18 for 275 yards and two interceptions, while Funderburk finished with three catches for 96 yards.

4. An upset, a clinched title, and one remaining unbeaten team highlight gridiron play in the First State:
DuPont (Wilmington, Del.) (7-2, 5-2 Flight A) kept its playoff hopes alive when the Tigers jumped out to an early lead and held on late to come away with a 23-20 win over visiting Middletown (7-2, 5-1). Middletown (Del.) can clinch the conference title at home with a victory over winless Brandywine next week. A.I. needs several scenarios to unfold in its favor in order to make the six-team tournament.

Sussex Central (Georgetown, Del.) (6-3, 5-1 Henlopen North) clinched the Henlopen North Division crown for the fourth time in five years with a 31-14 win over Cape Henlopen (5-4, 2-3). Brandon Lewis, Kevin Guthrie, DeShawn Sheppard and Malcolm Bowden all scored short rushing touchdowns as the Knights won their fourth consecutive game.

Top-ranked St. Mark's (Wilmington, Del.) (9-0) converted three St. Elizabeth turnovers into touchdowns to come away with a 21-0 victory and set up next week's showdown with No. 2 Salesianum (Wilmington, Del.) (8-1), which blanked Caravel Academy 41-0. With a win the Spartans will secure the top seed and automatic bye in the state tournament.

Quadir Bryant scored three touchdowns as Lake Forest (Felton, Del.) (8-1, 5-1) nipped Sussex Tech (4-5, 3-3 Henlopen North) 20-17 to stay atop the Henlopen Conference South Division and secure a playoff spot.

Dover (Del.) (6-3, 3-2 Henlopen North) upended Milford 35-20 behind Pierre Foremans' two touchdowns to keep the Senators in the playoff hunt.



PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
* Jacob Milstead, senior wide receiver, Newark (Del.): Caught touchdown passes of 39, 28 and 17 yards to lift the Yellowjackets to a 43-12 win over Brandywine.

* Crusoe Gongbay, senior running back, Rockville (Md.): Carried the ball 33 times for 234 yards and four touchdowns in a 29-6 win over Blake.

* Dominique Marsh, senior quarterback, Washington (Norfolk, Va.): With his team trailing 25-0 in the second quarter, Marsh (15-for-20, 310 yards) threw five touchdown passes to complete a stunning 41-39 come-from-behind victory over previously-unbeaten Norcum.

* Darius Jennings, senior quarterback, Gilman (Baltimore): In his final performance in a Gilman uniform, the human highlight reel ran for two touchdowns and threw for two others in the Greyhounds' 42-6 win over McDonogh. Jennings finished with 185 yards on the ground and 72 through the air and will go down as one of the all-time greats in Gilman's storied football history.

GAMES TO WATCH
* Phoebus (Hampton, Va.), a two-time defending state champion (10-0) ranked No. 9 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 presented by the Army National Guard, will try to set a Virginia state record with 41 consecutive victories when it faces Warwick (Newport News, Va.) (6-4) in the first round of the VHSL Eastern Region Division 5 playoffs.

* It doesn't get any bigger in Delaware than top-ranked St. Mark's (9-0) taking on rival Salesianum (8-1) Friday night at 7 at historic Baynard Stadium. The winner of this game will receive one of the top two seeds in the state tournament and the automatic bye that comes with it.

RECRUITING NEWS
Quinn Cook, a point guard at powerhouse Oak Hill Academy (Va.), committed to Duke. Cook, considered one of the top point guards in the country, averaged 20 points and 5.9 assists last season while leading DeMatha (Md.) to the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference and Washington City championships.



THE BUZZ
The MaxPreps Basketball Preseason Xcellent 25 has been announced and includes two schools from the DE/MD/VA region: No. 21 DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) and No. 23 Norcom (Portsmouth, Va.). … The brackets for the Delaware field hockey, soccer and volleyball state tournaments have been set. The top seeds, respectively, are Cape Henlopen (Lewes, Del.) (15-0), Charter of Wilmington (13-0-1), and Ursuline (11-4). … In the MIAA B Conference football standings, Archbishop Spalding (Severn, Md.), Archbishop Curley (Baltimore) and Boys Latin (Baltimore) finished in a three-way tie for first place with 7-1 records. Because a tiebreaker could not be determined based on regular-season head-to-head results, a coin flip between the three teams resulted in Archbishop Curley and Boys' Latin squaring off in a play-in game next week, with the winner to face Archbishop Spalding in the championship Nov. 20. It's nice to see the champion decided on the field rather than by total points scored during the regular season, which would only encourage teams to run up the scores.

Jon Buzby is the sports columnist for the Newark Post, a freelance writer, and color analyst for the 1290am The Ticket High School Football Game of the Week. You can reach him at jonbuzby@hotmail.com.