Even though the DIAA football state tournament doesn’t start until Friday, Nov. 20, the playoffs for the Caesar Rodney High School football team technically opened this past weekend.
The Riders (6-3, 4-1), after losing to Sussex Tech High School, 21-14, Oct. 30, put themselves in a position where they needed to win their last two games to make the tournament.
That two-game goal started this past weekend in a successful fashion when Head Coach Mike Schonewolf’s team took down Smyrna High School (1-8, 1-4), 34-13, Nov. 6.
“The conference and the competitiveness in it makes you come to the game each week with the idea that anything can happen,” Schonewolf said. “Even though Smyrna’s record is not good, they play hard all the way through, so coming away with a win is nice.”
He added that the win-or-go-home factor was in the heads of his players going into the game, and served as a motivating factor.
Upon winning, Schonewolf said the team learned something about itself that should help in the coming weeks.
“Our team was able to do what we needed to do in a crucial situation,” he said. “They won because they knew they needed to.”
Senior running back Malcolm Yowk, who scored twice in the win, said the threat of a single loss ending the season has changed the team mentally, for the better.
“It makes everybody focus a little bit more,” Yowk said. “It brings everybody closer together. You’re playing for everything at this point, so you want to go all out.”
Standing in the Riders’ way in the final game of the season is cross-town rival Dover High School (4-5, 2-3). The two teams will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, at Caesar Rodney.
Past the obvious playoff implications of this game for the Riders, Schonewolf said there are the usual subplots that make this game an annual highlight of the season.
“I think there’s two scenarios that take place with this game,” he said. “The pride that each community takes in their team, this is a chance for the communities that support their side to remember the past and come support their team in this game in a spirited way.
“Then you have two football teams that get to write a new chapter in the CR/Dover rivalry.”
With the standings set the way they are at the moment, the Riders can guarantee at least a tie for the Henlopen Conference lead by beating Dover. With the team’s strength of schedule this year, a win also means a good chance the squad makes the playoffs.
But while the tournament is right around the corner, Yowk said that’s the furthest thing from the team’s minds right now.
“We’ve got to win this week first,” he said. “And we need to be more consistent. We need to work on fixing the mental mistakes that we make. We’ve got everything we need, we just need to put it all together.”
Email Brian Citino at brian.citino@doverpost.com
UP NEXT
WHO Caesar Rodney High School (6-3, 4-1) vs. Dover High School (4-5, 2-3)
WHEN 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13
WHERE Caesar Rodney High School, 239 Old North Road, Camden
