A dreary day followed by an hour delay greeted the Friday night football game featuring Hodgson at Cape Henlopen Sept. 29. A scheduling mistake resulted in no officials being assigned to the game. Phone calls were made, and officials were pulled from other games as far away as Dover. Four arrived, and one official said, “It’s the first time I got cheered just for showing up.”
The problem was, the Cape team didn’t show up, and trailed 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Cape went on to lose 35-0, and when the clock ran out in the fourth quarter, so did the student section. They ran out into the dark night, wearing their camo, a motif for the game.
“Hard one to put a finger on the outcome from Friday,” Mike Frederick said after reviewing game film Saturday morning. “We talk to the players about being ready for all scenarios, so the delayed start was unusual, but had little to no impact on the outcome. We were outplayed and outcoached.”
Cape trailed 19-0 at halftime. The Silver Eagles chased two missed extra points in the second half, going for two after third- and fourth-quarter touchdowns.
The Silver Eagles were a combined 3-17 over the last two seasons, but in 2019, they ran the table to a 12-0 record and a state championship, including tournament wins over Sussex Central 41-7 and Middletown 54-31.
The Cape return man slipped at the 10-yard line on the opening kickoff. The Vikings couldn’t get stud runner Maurki James going, and punted the ball, as Hodgson took possession at the Cape 40-yard line.
Xavier Brown scored on a 1-yard run.
Cape was intercepted on the next possession, which led to an 11-yard touchdown run by Mark Nelson. A Dan Lopez kick made it 13-0.
Hodgson scored again on the first play of the second quarter, taking possession after a Cape fumble. Maki Beach scored on a 5-yard run for the halftime score of 19-0.
“It was like if something could go wrong, it did,” said Frederick. “And football is a game of momentum swings. We never seemed to grab the momentum at any point. From here it is a question of how we respond. As a coach, my hope is that we rally around each other and work to improve. We must play and coach for each other and not for ourselves.”
Hodgson is coached by Dave Collins, who took over last season for retired coach Frank Moffett. There are 15 assistants and two “lifetime coaches” in Peter Grandell and Eric Fischer.
“They showed two different fronts in the past couple of games,” said Frederick. “We tried to prepare equally for both, but took the risk and spent more of our time on the three-stack. I’m surprised that they played us in the four front as much as they did. There is an advantage to having the bye week prior to playing an opponent. We were the beneficiary of that prior to Delcastle, and they certainly benefited on Friday. They showed more athleticism and physicality than we have seen so far this year, and we struggled to match them across the board.”
Hodgson’s second-half touchdowns were scored by Nybree Davis on a 13-yard catch from Brown, then Beach on a 48-yard run.
Cape’s James and Brenn Scott played both ways the entire game with notable physical efforts on both sides of the football.
Hodgson (3-1) is Caesar Rodney’s (0-4) Homecoming opponent Friday, Oct. 6. Cape travels to play the Spartans of Saint Mark’s Oct. 6 for Senior Night. The Spartans are winners of three in a row after an opening loss to St George’s (20-9). They are 3-1 with wins over Archmere (34-30), Red Lion (29-0) and Caesar Rodney (35-6).
Read More: Silver Eagles of Hodgson shut down Cape 35-0