In the eight years since the Diamond Football League was formed, Sussex County has always had a team. The Sussex County Warhawks have reigned in purgatory for seven losing seasons, with only one winning season — in 2002, when former team owner and current league Commissioner Clayton Yocum’s team went 7-1 and made the playoffs where they lost to the Virginia Bulldogs in the opening round.
The Warhawks suffered through yet another losing season the following year, and Yocum decided to sell the team to her daughter, Tina Dennis. But nothing had changed.
The team, which had talent, still underachieved. They had won only seven games in her first three seasons of ownership, including consecutive 3-5 seasons over the past two years. So it became clear that change was necessary.
Dennis and the team wanted a fresh start, so they shed their team name in favor of “The Punishers” and focused on weeding out the dead weight while continuing to recruit talented players.
The coaching staff stressed commitment and a team philosophy to this year’s team and it has paid dividends.
The Punishers are 4-1 after coming off their second bye week and preparing to play the Baltimore Bulls this Saturday as a part of a final three-game stretch to end the regular season.
“We don’t have guys thinking they don’t have to practice and can just show up to the games like they’re superstars,” Punishers defensive back and fourth-year player Leroy Jenkins said. “Everybody’s on the same page now. And everybody does their job.”
And since the DFL plays during the winter, Dennis and her coaching staff often found it difficult in the past to get players to practice in cold or inclement weather or participate in their off-season training program. Now, there’s nearly 100 percent participation at both practice and during the off-season — no matter the weather conditions, according to Dennis and assistant head coach Butch Yocum.
“I can remember a time when the guys wouldn’t show up to practice because there was snow on the ground,” Dennis recalled. “And this year I tried to cancel practice when we got snow, to keep everybody from getting injured, and they were upset.”
“This is the kind of enthusiasm we have here,” she added. “This is the kind of team we are.”
“Everybody’s been working hard since we had mini-camp in July. And we’re to the point where if someone isn’t doing their job then we have someone else that can — we’re that deep,” Yocum said.
They’ve scored the fourth-most points and are tied with the Gloucester Generals for third least points scored against (33) in the Mid-Atlantic Division.
First-year player Kurt Purnell (seven touchdown passes) gives the Punishers a play-maker at the quarterback position and is complimented by the services of running back Kendall Harmon and a stacked receiving corps led by the team’s 2006 Rookie of the Year Torrez Spence.
Harmon leads the team with 299 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on 44 carries, with Purnell a distant second at 93 rushing yards over only three games played.
Spence has picked up where he left off last season (seven touchdowns) and currently leads the team with four receiving touchdowns and nine receptions. Josh Ward has two touchdown receptions (and an 82-yard touchdown run), and Kevin Belt has one touchdown reception.
Defensively, the Punishers have only once allowed two touchdowns, allowing one touchdown three times (with their lone loss to the Calvert County Cobras, 8-0) and shut-out the Prince George’s County Headhunters 26-0 in their last game, behind a staunch veteran defense.
They’re defensive line has devoured opposing running games like a black hole behind the strong play of Albert Haynes (21 tackles, two fumble recoveries — one of which went for a touchdown — and one interception), brother Troy Haynes (19 tackles, two sacks and two fumble recoveries) and nose tackle James Jackson (14 tackles). That, in turn, has freed up the rest of the defense to make plays.
First-year middle linebacker Jamel Joyner leads the team with 28 tackles, and Jonathan Meiklejohn has 13 tackles but also has three fumble recoveries and a touchdown. Strong-side backer Hassan Moasser has 12 tackles, a fumble recovery and the teams’ third and final defensive touchdown.
They’ve got playmakers on offense and play-stoppers on defense, but more importantly they understand now what it takes to win football games: Commitment. They’ve embraced a team-first philosophy and have learned to trust the man lined up next to them to get the job done.
“I’m just happy that I can contribute to the team,” Harmon said. “When I came here they didn’t that I wasn’t guaranteed to play. But as long as we’re winning, it doesn’t matter. I’ll play offensive line.”
“I was Player of the Year (for the Warhawks) and this year I haven’t half as much stuff (statistically) than I did last year because I don’t have to,” longtime Warhawks and now Punishers defensive stalwart Albert Haynes said. “We have plenty of guys that can contribute and we know that we can trust them to do their jobs.”
“This year we have what it takes to win it all, Haynes continued.
“We have, by far, the best running back tandem in the league, wide receivers that could start for anybody in the league, a good offensive line, a solid defense, have a great kicker and this year we’re playing with a grudge. Nobody gives us any respect, and this year if they don’t give it to us then we’re going to take it,” Haynes said.
The Punishers have become one of the most prolific teams in the league, after years of futility, and look to challenge the perennial powerhouse teams in the league (the Generals, New Castle Saints and Virginia Pirates) in this year’s playoffs.
“That’s why I keep playing. I want them (league contenders) to realize that they are nothing to us. Nobody, in our opinion, can match up with us,” Haynes concluded.
The top six teams out of 15 earn playoff bids, and currently the Punishers hold the fourth slot in a tie-breaker with the Wicomico Stallions.
April 7 will mark the Punishers’ final regular-season road game (at the Baltimore County Bulls) before they host their final two games at Dover High School against the Queen Anne County Thunder and the Calvert County Cobras to round out the regular season.
The first round of the DFL playoffs will begin on April 28.