|
|
|
Game of the Week |
Revenge on Indians With Woodbridge in South Audio Clips | Video Clips Other Games of the Week
 Photo: Delmar running back Ian Hudson (40) bulls over Indian River defenders for the first of his two touchdowns. DELMAR -- The Delmar High School football team did a Homecoming dance on some demons from its past on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2000. In what figured to be a key early game in the Henlopen Conference Southern Division season, the Wildcats whipped visiting Indian River 35-6 to remain in a first-place tie for the division lead with Woodbridge. Both Delmar and Woodbridge are 2-0 in the division. The Wildcats, ranked 10th in the state, are 5-1 overall heading into a bye week. Indian River fell to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the South. A Homecoming victory was less important to the Wildcats than gaining revenge for losses to Indian River the past two seasons, including last year's 15-12 defeat that cost Delmar any chance at a fifth consecutive Henlopen South crown. The Wildcats' motivation was evident throughout, as they completely dominated the Indians from start to finish. For the game, Delmar accumulated 325 yards in total offense while limiting Indian River to just 99 yards, two-thirds of which came on the Indians' final drive of the game, a 66-yard effort that resulted in a 3-yard scoring run by fullback John Meiklejohn. By then, Delmar already had 35 points on two touchdowns apiece by running back Ian Hudson and quarterback Dustin Johnson and another by running back Sean Hudson. Ian Hudson, who ran for 84 yards on just 8 carries, scored the Wildcats' first two touchdowns on a 14-yard run at 7:33 of the first period and a 15-yard run with 8:56 remaining in the first half. And that's when the wheels came off for the Indians. On the kickoff after Hudson's second TD, a squib kick bounced off the Indians and into the Wildcats' hands at the IR 48. Seven plays later, Johnson ran in from 3 yards out and hit Chris Zidanic in the end zone on the two-point conversion to make it 21-0 with 3:28 left in the half. The Indians showed some life with a drive to Delmar's 11 sparked by 25- and 17-yard runs by Meiklejohn and running back Billy Hall, but Wildcat linebacker Zarar Shauket's interception at the Delmar 20 shut off any momentum the Indians had built. Taking over with 1:46 before halftime, the Wildcats drove 80 yards in 4 plays thanks to a 55-yard gallop to the Indian 15 by running back Raymond Hammond, who led all rushers with 89 yards. A 5-yard run by Johnson and a pass interference penalty against the Indians put the ball at the IR 5 and set up a bizarre touchdown for Johnson, who caught the deflection of his own pass and ran it in from 5 yards out on the final play of the half to make the score 28-0 at halftime. Delmar scored its final touchdown on a 1-yard run by Sean Hudson with 4:35 left in the third quarter. The run was set up by a 31-yard scamper by Ian Hudson to the Indian 1.
First Quarter: 7:33 -- DELMAR (7-0 Delmar) 8:56 -- DELMAR (13-0 Delmar) 3:28 -- DELMAR (21-0 Delmar) 0:00 -- DELMAR (28-0 Delmar) 4:35 -- DELMAR (35-0 Delmar) 4:27 -- INDIAN RIVER (35-6 Delmar) Total Offense -- Delmar 47-325, Indian River 32-99. Rushing -- Delmar 36-261, Indian River 28-88. Passing -- Delmar 7-11-0, 64; Indian River 2-4-1, 11. First Downs -- Delmar 19, Indian River 7. Fumbles/Lost -- Delmar 2/1, Indian River 2-1. Penalties/Yards -- Delmar 11-75, Indian River 5-45. RUSHING: Delmar -- Raymond Hammond 9-86, Ian Hudson 8-84, Sean Hudson 6-30, Dustin Johnson 5-29, Jeff Wright 1-1, Maurice Stewart 2-5, Brandon Hudson 2-15, Jonathan Ellis 2-12, Chip Cuffee 1-(-1). Indian River -- John Meiklejohn 9-48, Buster Belote 6-7, Billy Hall 5-46, Joey Land 4-(-17), Paul Parsons 4-4. PASSING: Delmar -- Dustin Johnson 6-9-0, 61; Jonathan Ellis 1-2-0, 3. Indian River -- Joey Land 2-4-1, 11. RECEIVING: Delmar -- Michael Hunt 1-10, Ian Hudson 2-16, Raymond Hammond 1-11, Chris Zidanic 1-19, Sean Hudson 1-3, Dustin Johnson 1-5. Indian River -- Brock Dean 2-11.
Delmar coach Dave Hearn on beating arch-nemesis Indian River after losses two years in a row: "We certainly talked about it. I told them at the beginning of the season if there was one game we'd be prepared for it would be this one. They have played really well against us for two years and so I told them we're going to be ready to play them. I don't know if we can handle them but we were going to be ready to play. They were prepared mentally, I know, and they executed pretty well." Hearn on the remainder of the Henlopen South season: "We got a week off, which is a good one. I think we need a week off. We've played well, we've played hard. It's been a long time since August so we'll take a couple of days off this week, work out the kinks, anybody sore, and Lake Forest is a big one. Lake Forest and Smyrna are really two big games, and then you've got Laurel and Woodbridge at the end, which are always big, but you can't worry about them now. Lake and Smyrna will really be tough games for us." Hearn on the explosiveness of his offense, which has scored 123 points in the last three games: "The great part about it is we've got weapons. We've got 2 or 3 or 4 guys who can hurt you and I don't know if anybody even notices the receivers. We've got some guys who are big kids, 6-1, 6-3, and we've got a guy 6-3 on the bench there that comes off and runs about a 4.9 40. We've got a lot of offensive weapons and when Dustin Johnson's running the machine, running that gear and he makes good decisions, so there are a lot of ways we can hurt you and to prepare for that, I'd hate to have to do that as a defensive coach." Delmar quarterback Dustin Johnson on beating Indian River: "It means a lot. We knew this was revenge. We had to get them back. We lost to them in heartbreakers two years in a row. We just had to get them back." Johnson on leading Delmar's explosive offense with running back Ian Hudson: "We know we're the leaders so we've got to step up so everybody else comes up with us. We just play hard and execute and everybody else follows." Johnson on Delmar's defense, which has only given up 12 points in the last three games: "We just hustle. Our scout team probably runs the other team's plays better than they do. We kind of have an idea what's coming and we just fly to the ball. Everybody's hustling all over the place, making tackles, gang tackles." Delmar running back Ian Hudson on beating Indian River: "I think it's good that we beat them. They beat us the last two years and this was more of a revenge thing. We wanted to kill them. The bottom line was we had to beat them and that's what we did."
|
 iSyndicate® Headlines |
|
Copyright © 1999 Sussex County Online |
