Indian River vs. Sussex Central: A Henlopen showdown

A lopsided 48-0 win for Indian River over Seaford last Friday, Nov. 4, gave the Green-and-Gold a lock on the No. 1 spot in the Delaware Division II football standings. But before they head into the postseason tournament – with the highest ranking they’ve ever landed – the undefeated Indians were to face one more test, as they played host on Nov. 10 to Sussex Central, which has sealed the Henlopen North title for the past two years.

Indian River – the top team in the Henlopen South and the No. 1 team in the Henlopen Conference overall – may not have had as much hanging on Thursday night’s game as the Golden Knights, but that didn’t mean they weren’t planning early this week to leave everything on the field in what promised to be a timeless clash of Southern Delaware powerhouses.

“We decided a long time ago to take this season one at a time,” said first-year head coach Ray Steele this week, ahead of Thursday’s game, which was set to begin after the Coastal Point’s press deadline.

“We’re going to play to win, no matter what, just like we have in the other nine games this year. Other papers have said that this game doesn’t mean as much to us because it doesn’t affect our standings, but our guys got us to 9-0. They have put the pressure on themselves and, now, they want to win. As I’ve told them, you can’t go undefeated if you give up even one loss, and they know that.”

The Indians are led by fourth-year starting quarterback, Jamie Jarmon, who has averaged more than 250 yards per game this year, both through the air and on the ground, proving to be a versatile athlete, whatever circumstance is thrown his way. Wide receivers Tyler Dean and Marquel Knight have given Jarmon ideal targets through the air, while backs including Aarron Moore and De’Andre Holland allow the Indians ammunition on the ground.

Another aspect of Thursday’s game that Coach Steele was looking forward to this week was depth.

“Against Seaford,” said Steele, “we were able to look at some of the guys coming off the bench. Our second team played an entire half and looked pretty good, even put up a couple of scores. They were coming off of a really good game against Lake Forest the week before. The trick with Central is that we have to come out early.”

That’s something that the Indians, for the most part, have been able to accomplish consistently throughout the season.

Indian River was to host Sussex Central this Thursday, Nov. 10, due to the Veterans Day holiday weekend, and with the top Henlopen rivals going head to head, Steele said he expected quite the spectacle.

“The fortunate thing about this game is that it will give our guys a tournament atmosphere,” said Steele. “There may be no real negative ramifications for our guys with a loss, but they’re going to play hard. They’ll have the pressure, the packed stands, the noise, and if we can get one last win, we’ll know that we don’t have those factors to worry about in the state tournament. We’d love to go undefeated on the year and ride that high into the playoffs.”

Indian River’s closest competition this year came from Delmar, in early October, when the Henlopen South rivals finished with a 14-point margin and a final score of 28-14. With the exception of the Delmar game, the Indians have averaged a 32-point gap against their opponents in their other eight match-ups.

“We’ve seen some teams this year with great offenses and others with really good defenses,” said Steele. “Central, though, is going to bring the biggest, fastest and strongest team we’ve seen all year. They’ve got the whole package – offense, defense, special teams, a great coaching staff. And they’re a big school. They’ve got numbers.

“This is a David-and-Goliath match, and our guys know we can win this. We’ve seen great [Division I] teams this year and beat three of them. I wouldn’t say they were at the same caliber as Central, but we can definitely measure up.”

Sussex Central was set to head to Dagsboro on Thursday, Nov. 10, for the 7:30 p.m. game on Indian River’s Senior Night. As the top seed in the Henlopen Conference and the Division II State Tournament, Indian River will be looking at a bye in the first week of the tournament. A win for Central could potentially move the Golden Knights into the third seed in the tournament, but a loss to the Indians could leave them at fourth or fifth seed, at best, so Central, too, had a lot riding on this Thursday’s game.

“We’ll open up our postseason with a bye, then a home game,” said Steele, “so we’ve got that going for us. Our kids are already prepping for the tournament. We don’t know who we’ll see, yet – it may be Delmar, it may be St. Elizabeth – but if we keep the right mindset, we won’t be outclassed.

“We can play with any team in the state. The bad part of the playoffs is that one team will be left smiling and the rest are left hanging their heads. We want to be the ones smiling at the end.”