They have canceled two scrimmages so far. Will they have a team this year?

We are officially one week away from the start of the season so let’s get started with the first Pool of the season. For everyone that is new to this, THERE ARE RULES.

1. Entries must be submitted before the kickoff of the first game that week. If it’s a Thursday then you have til Thursday to submit your list.
2. You can change your entry however many times you’d like until the first game kickoff.
3. Scoring works as your entry is laid out. 10 being the game you’re most confident in, and 1 being the game you’re least confident in.
4. If you miss a week or two, you’re fine…just do your best to get your entries in and then good luck!

So, without further ado, here is the first weeks poll (WEEK 0)

THURSDAY, AUGUST 29th
Hodgson vs. Howard @ Abessinio @ 3:45pm
FSMA vs. A.i. DuPont @ 4pm
Middletown vs. Red Bank Catholic (NJ) @ 7pm
Odessa vs. Lake Forest @ 7pm
Red Lion vs. Cape Henlopen @ 7pm
Woodbridge vs. Seaford @ 7pm
Sallies vs. Episcopal (PA) @ 7:45pm

FRIDAY, AUGUST 30th
Mount Pleasant vs. Milford @ 3:30pm
Downingtown West (PA) vs. Smyrna @ Abessinio @ 8pm

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31st
Dover vs. Troy (PA) @ Abessinio @ 8pm

I might be wrong but the 2023 Champions were:

AAA - Salesianum
AA - Caravel
A - Tatnall

I believe it was trapblock22 that made the case that Caravel might have been better than the Sals. I know nothing about the lower 2 Divisions.

On the AAA, let me point out the Big S's 2 toughest in state games are away this year. They have very little chance of winning at Smyrna or Middletown. Also, and this one will rock your brain, the Big S hosts Malvern this year. Reflect upon this: the cumulative score for the last 3 Sals - Malvern games is 115 to 0 in favor of the Friars. Malvern has thrashed the Sals 42-0, 38-0 and 35-0. Can we get Bib's running clock gif ready to crank again?

Suffice it to say Bummy sees 3 big losses on the Sals schedule before the first kick off. The '24 AAA state title will move back to South of the C & D Canal.

Better minds than me can ponder the outcomes of A & AA.

Jon Buzby & I will once again be releasing a podcast each week recapping the HS football weekend. Our first pod of the season is up discussing DIAA updates and offseason coaching changes.
If this type of thread isn’t allowed, please delete.

Oakland A;s 4 Milwaukee Brewers 3 Cape Henlopen and Virginia alum Jake Gelof 1 rbi for the A's

Omaha Storm Chasers 7 Buffalo Bison 6 Cape Henlopen and Liberty alum Max Fluherty came in relief for the Bison as he pitched 1.1 innings gave up 1 hit 1 run 1 earned struck out 1 batter.

Question… are Coaches allowed to attend scrimmages of other teams ?

12/3/24
Dover v William Penn @Dover 6pm

The party gets started early! First game of the season for both teams is a top 10 matchup. Over the last 6 seasons combined, Dover has lost only a total of 5 home games. Are the William Penn freshmen really ready? "We gonn see!"

12/5/24
St. Andrew's v Odessa @St Andrew's 530pm

This same matchup featuring many of the same players occurred last season and Odessa ran away with it (70-31). We're of the belief that the 6'10" Darnell Lloyd and 6'7" Elijah Proctor-Moore of St Andrew's will be determined to alter that ending.

12/10/24
ECHS v Seaford @ECHS 7pm

Believe it or not, this is a GET THERE EARLY situation! The undersized gym will be filled (overfilled) to capacity for this one. Conference title hopes are on the line and three of the most exciting players statewide will be on display. Those players: Elisha Johnson-Dixon (ECHS), Az'juan "Mikey" Matthews (Seaford), Vincent Evans III (Seaford), Jordan Smith (Seaford)

12/12/24
William Penn v St. Elizabeth @William Penn 5pm

The Colonial Nation gets their first glimpse of the future as the youngsters will get their first home game experience. Considering who the opponent is, we're expecting a full house! The Vikings of St Elizabeth bring a veteran group poised to silence the crowd.

12/12/24
Middletown v Sanford @MIddletown 530pm

Another GET THERE EARLY special! Even if you have prepaid tickets, still GET THERE EARLY. Two of the top teams in the state, one laden with youth (Middletown) and one laden with veterans (Sanford). The home team has arguably the top sophomore in the state in 6'2" Jaelen Murphy, and the visiting Warriors has one of the top prospects in the entire region in 6'8" SR Jayden Taylor.

12/13/24
Cape Henlopen v Sussex Central @Cape Henlopen 630pm

RIVALRY ALERT! We're not sure if they don't like each other or just love to compete against one another. Either way, it's intense! Cape Henlopen will be led by their veteran point guard Jayden Dukes and his do it all tag team tag partner SUPER SOPHOMORE Jameson Tingle. Sussex Central will be armed with the veteran duo of David Maker and Brandon Spencer.

12/14/24
Salesianum v Appoquinimink @Salesianum 730pm

The last time (last season) these two teams faced each other, it was a thriller that ended with the Sals winning in overtime. Almost all of the Sals faces will have changed and many of the Appoquinimink faces will have remained the same. With both teams having high expectations for this coming season, this stands to be a good early test. The guard play should be a major treat and be potentially even, the size advantage goes to the home team. Ought to be a good one!

12/14/24
The Hammer and Nail Championship Game @St Georges TBD

If our preseason expectations are accurate, this game will be St. George's v Howard
If so, this game will be a star-studded affair and solid early test for both teams.

12/19/24
St. Elizabeth v St. George's @St Elizabeth 515pm

Presently St. Elizabeth is firmly within the lists of Top teams statewide, St. George's is sitting slightly outside. There's nothing like a head-to-head matchup to clear up any confusion.

12/28/24
St. Elizabeth v Appoquinimink @St Elizabeth 4pm

Appoquinimink makes the trip up to Wilmington once again. This has the looks of a high scoring affair. Each team filled with multiple scoring threats from the guard and wing positions. This will be a fun one!

Great Lake Loons 4 Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 2 Cape Henlopen alum Jake Gelof 1 double 1 single 1 rbi.

On to the semis.Game was on ESPN +. Only saw the last inning.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/tsn...channels-times-watch/692fe27cb548a1ac2689fb4b

Just wanted to get a grasp on if anyone is interested in doing the confidence pool once again this year? I know Bib got it started and I took it over for last year. Bib if you’d like to have it back go ahead, if not I’ll gladly continue doing it.

Anyway, who’s interested? You didn’t have to participate last year to be able to do it this year.

Was at this scrimmage today and have a few observations/opinions. Im not an X's & O's guy, just a fan. McD was a bigger and faster squad but Sallies pretty much held their own. Sallies looks somewhat smaller than last year but with more overall team speed. Remains to be seen how they compensate for Alleyne. McBride and his back up can both sling the ball and did so today. McBride had a 65yd TD bomb and a lot of yardage from the backs catching balls coming out of the backfield. The team looked fairly young. I didn't see LJ Smith in uniform (I don't think) and the VanKerkhoven LB transfer from Middletown was on crutches and the rumor is he won't be playing anytime soon. McD did a pretty good job shutting down Sallies inside the tackles. McD was ranked #5 last year in MD according to MaxPreps and I like the fact that GDD wanted to scrimmage a team like that. I've been following the Big S for decades now and the offense I saw today (yes, I know it's a scrimmage) was the most wide open I can remember. Sallies D was very aggressive going after the ball and literally ripped the ball away from the runner/receiver more than once. Rosters aren't published yet which made IDing players a challenge. McDonogh looks like a university, what a complex. Im sure Bib knows a ton about the program.

Oakland A's 9 New York Mets 4 Cape Henlopen alum Jake Gelof 1 single for the A's.

Scranton Wilkes Barre Rail Riders 6 Buffalo Bisons 4 Cape Henlopen and Liberty alum Max Fluharty came in relief for the Bison and pitched 1.2 innings gave up gave up 1 hit and recorded 1 strikeout.

did anyone go to the DMA scrimmage, wanted to get thoughts on those three teams- DMA-Cape-WPENN

Middletown hosts Red Bank Catholic.
Salesianum hosts Episcopal Academy.
Howard hosts Hodgson
Laurel hosts Sussex Central.
CR hosts Wm. Penn.
Red Lion hosts Cape Henlopen

Let the speculation begin.

25 names to know for the season 2024-25:

Robbie Johnson Jr. / Salesianun
Jayden Taylor / Sanford
Darnell Lloyd / Saint Andrew's
Jaylen Bernikow / Odessa
Darius Miller / Lake Forest
Kenny Hunter / Saint Elizabeth
Daniel Harvey / Appoquinimink
Kaleb Ra'Ifa / Appoquinimink
JayVion Denis / Dover
Latrell Wright / Salesianum
Jordan Smith / Seaford
Josh Obiora / Saint George's
Steven Nixon / Saint Elizabeth
Marice Kilgoe / Smyrna
Vincent Evans III / Seaford
Nick Baysah / Howard
Bryson Lane / Howard
Jameson Tingle / Cape Henlopen
Chase Little / Dover
Khalil Kemp / St. Mark's
Elijah Proctor-Moore / Saint Andrew's
Aven Diamond / Polytech
David Maker / Sussex Central
Elijah Farrington / Milford
Kyndal Riley-Garlick / William Penn

I'm surprised that this did not come up sooner. Some politician from downstate has this up for consideration to separate the state tournaments between public and private. A number of states still do this, Texas for example. An alternative approach toward "leveling the playing field" is to apply a multiplication factor to a school's enrollment for purposes of tournament classification. For example , a private school with 600 students might be assigned a factor of 1.5 with an assumed enrollment of 900 for tournament classification purposes. Some states also do the calculation for public schools with "open enrollment". Will this work in a tiny state with less than 50 secondary schools? I doubt it. I don't know what is driving the pol's reasoning but it won't work in the First State.

Washington Nationals 5 Cincinnati Reds 2 Caravel and LSU alum Jake Fraley 1 double for the Reds.

St. Louis Cardinals 6 Atlanta Braves 2 Wilmington DE native Paul Goldschmidt hits home run 14.

Oakland A's 6 Philadelphia Phillies 2 Cape Henlopen and Virginia alum Jake Gelof scored 1 run and walked twice for the A's

Cincinnati Reds 7 Miami Marlins 4 Caravel Academy and LSU alum Jake Fraley 1 single for the Reds.

Chicago Cubs 5 St. Louis Cardinals 1 Wilmington DE native Paul Goldschmidt 1 single 1 run scored for SL.

Starts today…..got some interesting games. For anyone wants the schedule you can go to NCC website.

For today though, the games are:

@DMA
Delcastle vs. Odessa 5:15pm
DMA vs. Delcastle 6:15pm
DMA vs. Odessa 7:15pm

@Hodgson
Salesianum vs. Christiana 5:15pm
Hodgson vs. Salesianum 6:15pm
Hodgson vs. Christiana 7:15pm

@Caravel
Caravel vs. Mckean 6:15pm
Newark vs. Newark Charter 6:15pm
Caravel vs. Newark Charter 7:15pm
Newark vs: Mckean 7:15pm

@St. Georges
St. George’s vs. Wilmington charter 6:15pm
Smyrna vs. Glasgow 6:15pm
St. George’s vs. Glasgow 7:15pm
Smyrna vs. Wilmington Charter 7:15pm

@Middletown
Middletown vs. St. Elizabeth’s 6:15pm
Lake Forest vs. Red Lion 6:15pm
Middletown vs. Red Lion 7:15pm
Lake Forest vs: St. Elizabeth’s 7:15pm

AND THE REST OF THIS WERKS SCHEDULE WILL BE PLAYED THURSDAY NIGHT…..

@A.i. DuPont
Ai DuPont vs. Brandywine 6:15 pm
Howard vs. Conrad 6:15 pm
A.i DuPont vs. Conrad 7:15 pm
Howard vs. Brandywine 7:15pm

@St. Marks
Dickinson vs. Appoquinimink 5:15pm
St. Marks vs. Dickinson 6:15pm
St. Marks vs. Appoquinimink 7:15pm

Baltimore Orioles 3 Oakland A's 2 A's Cape Henlopen and Virginia alum Jake Gelof 1 single.

St. Louis Cardinals 7 Washington Nationals 6 Wilmington DE native Paul Goldschmidt 1 single 1 run scored for the Cards.

Arizona Diamondbacks 5 Oakland A's 1 Cape Henlopen and Virginia alum Jake Gelof hits his 9th home run for the A's.

Atlanta Braves 6 St. Louis Cardinals 2 Wilmington DE native Paul Goldschmidt 1 double and 1 run scored First Game

Second Game St. Louis Cardinals 4 Atlanta Braves 1 Wilmington DE native Paul Goldschmidt 1 double, 1 rbi and 1 run scored for the Cards.

Lake County Captains 4 Great Lake Loons 2 Cape Henlopen and Virginia Alum Jake Gelof 1 double 2 rbi's for the Loons.