The Dover High School football team nearly upset four-time defending state champion Newark but fell 28-24 in the 2001 Delaware Division I state championship game on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2001.

The Henlopen Conference Northern Division champion Senators, who had beaten Sussex Central 19-6 in the semifinals on Nov. 24, led the game 24-21 with 8:40 remaining on a 14-yard scramble for a touchdown by quarterback Collins Evans.

But Newark came right back and took the lead for good on a 30-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Eric Spiese to halfback Austin Kisner with 6:43 to go.

Dover, in the state championship game for the first time since 1977, finished its season with an 11-1 record. The Senators were trying to become the first Henlopen Conference team since 1990 to win the Division I crown.

Newark, with its 34th straight victory, concluded its fifth consecutive state title season with a 12-0 mark.

The Senators, led by standout running back Pierre Bowers' 189 yards rushing, had a couple of chances to win the game in the last six minutes but committed two turnovers, one on the kickoff following Kisner's touchdown reception and another on an interception by Newark's Drew Kisner with just 1:40 left.

Bowers, the state's leading scorer, carried the ball 25 times and scored on a touchdown and a two-point conversion run.

Tied 13-13 at halftime, Newark drove the opening kickoff of the second half 80 yards for a touchdown on a 39-yard run by Drew Kisner on fourth-and-one. A two-point conversion pass put Newark up 21-13.

Dover bounced back, though, and pulled within 21-16 on a 27-yard field goal by Doug Oswell.

Dover took a 7-0 lead just four minutes into the game on a 25-yard pass from Evans to receiver Jason Lilly. Newark tied the game 7-7 on a one-yard run by Drew Kisner.

Bowers then scored his touchdown on a 55-yard run for a 13-7 Senator lead, but before the half, Austin Kisner returned a punt 47 yards to set up a four-yard touchdown run by Drew Kisner to tie the game.

Drew Kisner led the Yellow Jackets with 144 yards and 3 touchdowns on 21 carries.

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