By Brian Citino
Staff writer
brian.citino@doverpost.com

    This upcoming weekend’s Dover/Caesar Rodney football game has an eerily familiar feel to it.
    Much like last year, the Riders are favored, they are most likely headed to the state tournament no matter the outcome of the game and they are coming off a loss against Sussex Central.
    For the Senators, they are again supposedly outmatched and are unsure of their tournament fate.
    The odd thing was, despite all that Dover had working against it in 2007 it was still able to edge out CR by a score of 14-9.
    The Sens are hoping for a similar fate this season because a win could mean a trip to the state tournament.
    “They know that they’re in a position that they control their destiny,” Carlton Brown, Dover’s head coach, said of his players. “They definitely have to come out and have a great week of practice and play at the level of a possible state championship team in Caesar Rodney.
    “All we can do is practice getting ready for them. They control their destiny.”
    On the other side of the ball, Mike Schoenwolf, head coach of the Riders, is trying to make sure his squad does not repeat last year’s upset loss.
    Creating a little more adversity for CR is the fact that after starting the season with eight straight wins, the Riders finally picked up a loss this past week as they fell 22-7 to Sussex Central, a loss Schoenwolf said was disappointing.
    “We certainly were excited to play in a game of that caliber at this time of year, and were disappointed that we didn’t get the result we wanted,” he said.
    Schoenwolf added, however, that his team was able to pull something out of the loss that will help them against Dover and into the tournament.
    “It’s important as a person to learn how to handle adversity,” he said. “It is a good lesson for us to have as a team this year. I think they know the taste of defeat is not a good taste.”
    While CR is coming off what may have been its worst game of the year, Dover will enter Friday’s game in exactly the opposite position.
    The Senators had their best offensive game of the season this past week as they dropped Cape Henlopen, 52-21.
    Dover quarterback Stevie Harris rushed for three touchdowns in the game as he continued to produce for his team this season.
    With Harris’ recent success, Schoenwolf said the Riders have to be aware of him and his ability to throw and run.
    “Stevie Harris has done a great job and they’re a force to reckon with,” he said.
    CR has a few weapons of their own on offense, which much like Schoenwolf’s awareness of Harris has garnered the attention of Brown and his staff.
    “When you look at the guys they have, guys like Duron Harmon, we just have to go out there and play hard,” Brown said.
    Both coaches agreed that the players’ statistics and team’s respective records are not the main factors when it comes to this match-up, however.
    Schoenwolf said he and his squad realize how dangerous Dover is and how much momentum fueled from their rivalry plays into the game.
    “Dover has made a tremendous amount of improvement from week one,” he said. “You never know how things are going to go. Our guys will be excited to play. They know each other and they want to compete.”
    Brown said he enjoys the rivalry because of its friendly nature, and that he knows both teams will give fans a good, hard fought game.
    “These kids grew up playing Little League and Pop Warner together,” he said. “It’s a friendly rivalry. When the game is done, it’s done, and they’re friends again.
    “That’s the great thing about a friendly rivalry, is there’s nothing malicious about it.”
    The Caesar Rodney High School football team will square off with rival Dover High School at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, at Dover High School Stadium.