2A Top Teams Over Last Five Years…

[DelaNewb]

EDITED FOR UPDATE HALFWAY THROUGH THE 2024 SEASON…

(From 2023) Heading into the playoffs, I thought it might be fun looking at who has been the top 2A teams over the past five seasons.

My calculations started with the entire 2019 season and am updating it with each round of the playoffs.

I used all of the schools websites (which I believe are self reporting) to get my information. I included St Marks record for their last four years in 2A.

I am not sure these are surprising results, but I did find it interesting and fun to calculate.

BELOW RESULTS ARE CURRENT FROM 2019 TO OCTOBER 24 2024

Team — Record — Winning %

Caravel — 53 - 9 — .855
Archmere — 55 - 12 — .821
Friends — 43 - 15 — .741
**St Marks — 30 - 11 — .731
Woodbridge — 45 - 16 — .734
Howard — 43 - 19 — .694
Tower Hill — 33 - 20 — .623
DMA — 34 - 22 — .607

What are your take-aways?

If anything I am surprised that highly academic schools like Archmere and Friends have been so dominant. Even Tower Hill is very respectable. Is that the norm for Delaware?

Something else that jumps out at me it’s that schools of choice seem to have a clear advantage over the past five years. The only traditional public school on this list is Woodbridge. Has there ever been any thought to creating private and public conferences like they do in Pennsylvania?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

Edited to add each team’s records against the top eight teams mentioned above from 2A over the past five years at the suggestion of @connor11. This was super interesting and kind of eye opening.

Team — Total Games Played — Record — %

DATA BELOW FROM 2019 TO OCTOBER 24, 2024

Archmere — 35 — 25 - 10 — .714
Caravel — 19 — 13 - 6 — .684
Woodbridge — 23 — 14 - 9 — .609
Friends — 23 — 11 - 12 — .478
Howard — 24 — 11 - 13 — .458
**St Marks — 15 — 7 - 8 — .467
DMA — 17 — 4 - 13 — .235
Tower Hill — 16 — 1 - 15 — .063

That’s pretty surprising to me! During Archmere’s 21 season, they played 6 of the 7 teams resulting in 8 wins 0 losses. During the 22 season, Friends played 5 of the 7 teams with 5 wins and 0 losses. I didn’t realize Archmere played that many more “quality games” than everyone else and still has the highest winning percentage by a lot.

 

[DelaNewb]

Feel free to correct any miscalculations. I wrote this on the back of a napkin!

 

[connorr1]

If you are going to put one above the others, i think you would need to do each teams record against the other teams on this list. Not sure how that would come out but I think you could drop Tower and DMA immediately. The others would be very interesting, I bet the records are very close

 

[DelaNewb]

If you are going to put one above the others, i think you would need to do each teams record against the other teams on this list. Not sure how that would come out but I think you could drop Tower and DMA immediately. The others would be very interesting, I bet the records are very close

That would be interesting! I’ll give it a look if I have time. But for now, these are just the total records, period. Take it for what it’s worth.

 

[DelaNewb]

Added the records of each team vs the top eight teams I listed.

 

[Seerock9223]

In this time frame WFS's h2h is as follows:
CA 1-1, AA 1-2, WB 1-2, HWD 2-1, DMA 0-0, STM 1-0, TH 4-1.

 

[connorr1]

alittle surprised Howard isn’t above .500. they have 2 championships in the last 5 years. Archmere has been in the playoffs the last 5 years I think so I figured they would have a good record but not that good.

 

[Uncle Bumfuzzled]

Another interesting 2A topic to ponder: Which of those championship teams was the best?

 

[DelaNewb]

alittle surprised Howard isn’t above .500. they have 2 championships in the last 5 years. Archmere has been in the playoffs the last 5 years I think so I figured they would have a good record but not that good.

They had a 5-6 season in 21. That hurt them in the five year ranking. They were 0-6 that year vs top teams.

 

[Seerock9223]

They had a 5-6 season in 21. That hurt them in the five year ranking. They were 0-6 that year vs top teams.

WF lost 3 during the COVID season and 2 this year. That's 5 of their 10, but I think they only have 9 losses, not 10.

 

[connorr1]

tough call who was the best team
Howard 20/2021
Archmere 21/2022
Friends 22/2023
Friends had an unbelievable team last year, but offensively they were kinda one dimensional
Howard has the best offense i have seen in 20/2021
Archmere had an unbelievable defense and a balanced offensive attack.
tough call but I have it
Archmere
Howard
Friends

 

[DelaNewb]

WF lost 3 during the COVID season and 2 this year. That's 5 of their 10, but I think they only have 9 losses, not 10.

According to their site:

23: 8-2
22: 13-0
21: 10-2
20: 2-3
19: 7-3

40-10

 

[Seerock9223]

Got it. I should have shown my work, but couldn't find my abacus.

 

[DelaNewb]

Another interesting 2A topic to ponder: Which of those championship teams was the best?

I’d have to defer to the group on this one. I’m a casual fan at best. I really only started watching in 2020. And maybe because that was my first year, but that Howard team was great. One of the best backs I’ve seen (Ignudo?) with a stud receiver and huge semi-athletic line?

That Archmere team was pretty great too. Stingy defense, balanced team and played a really tough schedule (based on my research).

I thought Tatersall was awesome last year and they had a good tight end too. Kid could block!

Caravel is the fav this year. They look really good.

Tough call!

 

[DelaNewb]

Got it. I should have shown my work, but couldn't find my abacus.

Oh believe me, maths ain’t my thing either!

 

[DelaNewb]

Another interesting 2A topic to ponder: Which of those championship teams was the best?

You have been around more than I…who do you think?

 

[Longagoplayer]

Another interesting 2A topic to ponder: Which of those championship teams was the best?

It is interesting considering the back to back Howard team only lost one game in 2 years. Archmere in 21 went undefeated and then Friends went undefeated last year. If things play out how they should and Caravel would end up undefeated this year. The 2020 Howard team didn't have a close game all year long. Archmeres undefeated team only best St. Marks by 3 and DMA by 4 in playoffs and Friends beat Caravel by 3 in the finals last year. Unless Caravel steam rolls everyone this year by 20 each the 2020 Howard team might be the best.

 

[DelaNewb]

It is interesting considering the back to back Howard team only lost one game in 2 years. Archmere in 21 went undefeated and then Friends went undefeated last year. If things play out how they should and Caravel would end up undefeated this year. The 2020 Howard team didn't have a close game all year long. Archmeres undefeated team only best St. Marks by 3 and DMA by 4 in playoffs and Friends beat Caravel by 3 in the finals last year. Unless Caravel steam rolls everyone this year by 20 each the 2020 Howard team might be the best.

I agree with all of this and ultimately think that Howard team might be tops. But for argument sake, Howard really didn’t play anyone that season (it was shortened via Covid).

Just checked the schedule from 21. Archmere blew out DMA in the regular season and then blew out St Marks in the playoffs (40-0) and played a significantly harder schedule than the Howard 20 team (although that’s not really Howards fault…and I feel like that team would have beat anyone that year).

 

[DelaNewb]

Oh damn. I also just realized that Archmere, like Howard, lost just one game over the 2020 and 2021 season (the Championship game to Howard in 20).

If Caravel runs the table this year, they will be able to say the same.

 

[Seerock9223]

Strength of schedule matters. If CA does run the table, and hammers most of the teams, then the 22' Friends team beat the '21 defending state champ, AA, in the regular season by 25, and the '23 champ as well. Not for nothing, but the CA team this year is pretty much the team from last year, minus the defensive guy and the wide receiver, so Friends from 22 needs a bit more credit.

 

[DelaNewb]

More thoughts on this. Here are the state championship games over this period of time.

2019 Woodbridge v Howard
2020 Howard v Archmere
2021 Archmere v Woodbridge
2022 Friends v Caravel
2023 ??

If Caravel goes to the championship this year, they will join Howard, Archmere, and Woodbridge as teams who have been to two state championships.

Currently, Howard won 2, Archmere 1, Friends 1, Woodbridge 0.

 

[Uncle Bumfuzzled]

I would go with the Howard team but I am partial to the city teams…

 

[nomorenonstop]

This is awesome @DelaNewb !! Thanks for compiling this.

I would rank the teams like this:

'21 Archmere - the most complete high school team in recent memory. Albero at QB, Udivich at WR/DB, DiGregorio at MLB/OL. Add in some of the best complimentary players that no one knows (Deaclan Pearson DB/RB, Jonny Kim RB combined for over 200 rush yards in the title game). Defense only gave up 16 total points the playoffs including opening round and title game shutouts. Was this the first 13-0 team in Delaware history?

'20 Howard - The offense that could not be stopped. They never scored less than 34 points that season and averaged 44.8 points per game. Kevin Ignudo was the most electrifiying player in Delaware. The defense was potent as well; no team scored more than 13 points on them all year and they averaged 7.3 points per game. This was the COVID year too. Howard beat Archmere 42-6 for the last D2 title. 8-0 record

'22 Friends - Every team knew that Tattersall was the engine for the offense AND defense. Offense averaged 33.8 points per game and the defense never gave up more than 14 points in a game (averaged 6 points per game). The offense did slow down in the playoffs: 14 points against St Marks in the semis (rain game/sloppy field) and 10 against Caravel (Friends played keep away to shorten the game and keep the Caravel offense off the field). Was this the second 13-0 team in Delaware history?

 

[trapblock22]

Another interesting 2A topic to ponder: Which of those championship teams was the best?

Howard 2020 was the best with Archmere 2021 as a close second. In 2020, Howard’s O-line and TE was a 6 man sled that threw the entire state around. They also had the best two skill players in the state. They didn’t really play a close game that whole year. O line coach left after that year and they haven’t been the same since.

 

[Seerock9223]

This is awesome @DelaNewb !! Thanks for compiling this.

I would rank the teams like this:

'21 Archmere - the most complete high school team in recent memory. Albero at QB, Udivich at WR/DB, DiGregorio at MLB/OL. Add in some of the best complimentary players that no one knows (Deaclan Pearson DB/RB, Jonny Kim RB combined for over 200 rush yards in the title game). Defense only gave up 16 total points the playoffs including opening round and title game shutouts. Was this the first 13-0 team in Delaware history?

'20 Howard - The offense that could not be stopped. They never scored less than 34 points that season and averaged 44.8 points per game. Kevin Ignudo was the most electrifiying player in Delaware. The defense was potent as well; no team scored more than 13 points on them all year and they averaged 7.3 points per game. This was the COVID year too. Howard beat Archmere 42-6 for the last D2 title. 8-0 record

'22 Friends - Every team knew that Tattersall was the engine for the offense AND defense. Offense averaged 33.8 points per game and the defense never gave up more than 14 points in a game (averaged 6 points per game). The offense did slow down in the playoffs: 14 points against St Marks in the semis (rain game/sloppy field) and 10 against Caravel (Friends played keep away to shorten the game and keep the Caravel offense off the field). Was this the second 13-0 team in Delaware history?

No, Friends played great defense as caravel had to punt several times in the game. Caravel had one sustained drive and that didn't happen until the fourth quarter. And not for nothing, but the 21 AA team, being so complete, got lucky to beat Friends that year by 3 as Friends had 2 starters out. If Friends had run the 22 offense in 21 they would have beaten AA and every one else.

 

[nomorenonstop]

No, Friends played great defense as caravel had to punt several times in the game. Caravel had one sustained drive and that didn't happen until the fourth quarter. And not for nothing, but the 21 AA team, being so complete, got lucky to beat Friends that year by 3 as Friends had 2 starters out. If Friends had run the 22 offense in 21 they would have beaten AA and every one else.

found Tatersall’s burner account

 

[nomorenonstop]

Howard 2020 was the best with Archmere 2021 as a close second. In 2020, Howard’s O-line and TE was a 6 man sled that threw the entire state around. They also had the best two skill players in the state. They didn’t really play a close game that whole year. O line coach left after that year and they haven’t been the same since.

I think my biggest knock against the '20 Howard team is that they only played 7 games (1 was a forfeit). This is was the covid yearl; Howard played and beat everyone soundly.

The '21 Auks and '22 Quakers both played a season that was 62.5% (!!!!) longer. Playing, and winning, 5 additional games is something that cannot be overlooked.

 

[connorr1]

No, Friends played great defense as caravel had to punt several times in the game. Caravel had one sustained drive and that didn't happen until the fourth quarter. And not for nothing, but the 21 AA team, being so complete, got lucky to beat Friends that year by 3 as Friends had 2 starters out. If Friends had run the 22 offense in 21 they would have beaten AA and every one else.

absolutely true about Friends only losing by 3 To AA in 21, but if i remember correct AA was up 24-0 in that game and Friends came back late but AA was never in jeopardy of losing. the game they almost lost was St Marks 10-7 that year. Marks had opportunities to win that and AA stopped them on the goal line as time expired. AA then went on to beat Marks 41-0 in 2nd round of playoffs

 

[Seerock9223]

Yeah, I see your side and forgot about SM. All good here

 

[DelaNewb]

Edited to reflect yesterdays playoff results. The only change in the “standings” is that with a loss to Caravel, DMA drops below Tower Hill to eighth place in terms of winning percentage.

I’ll update this as the playoffs continue. Remaining four teams are Caravel, Archmere, Woodbridge, Howard.

 

[DelaNewb]

Just a little more 2A research. In the past five seasons, here are the Semi-final appearances from the top 8 teams:

Woodbridge — 4
Archmere — 4
Caravel — 3
Howard — 3
Friends — 2
St Marks — 1
DMA — 1

 

[DelaNewb]

I updated all of the records in the original post include all rounds of the playoffs.

2023 will feature Caravel and Archmere.

Here is the number of championship appearances for 2A since 2019

Archmere — 3
Caravel — 2
Woodbridge — 2
Howard — 2
Friends — 1

 

[DelaNewb]

By advancing to the championship, Caravel joins Howard and Archmere as teams going to the title game in back to back years.

 

[Seerock9223]

Tell you what, go back ten years (14-23) and see what you find. Five years is a short window and I think you will be surprised by some of the results. Record, semi's and finals.

 

[Uncle Bumfuzzled]

Tell you what, go back ten years (14-23) and see what you find. Five years is a short window and I think you will be surprised by some of the results. Record, semi's and finals.

I have no clue….but I wonder about the impact of coaching continuity. We know Ritt has been at Howard a couple of decades (he’s still a kid). Did Coach Tatt ever truly leave?

 

[DelaNewb]

Tell you what, go back ten years (14-23) and see what you find. Five years is a short window and I think you will be surprised by some of the results. Record, semi's and finals.

That would be interesting! All of it is interesting to me. It’s fun to read thoughts here in this forum to get a feel for “who’s who” and then neat to see if the numbers all match up.

No clue who was “good” 10 years ago. Not sure I’ll go down that rabbit hole. For me, I’m just looking to see who’s “good” recently.

 

[DelaNewb]

Congrats to Caravel, the 2023 2A State Champs!!

All calculations are complete for the past five seasons!

Were there any surprises? Any interesting trends? Any takeaways?

What do you think the next five years will look like?

 

[connorr1]

Caravel was obviously the cream of the crop this year in D2 and possibly the whole state, but Archmere plays the top teams more often and wins more often than anyone else. Even this year they were 5-2 against the top teams, with the 2 losses both to Caravel.

 

[DelaNewb]

^ that’s one of the things I was most surprised about in this research. I always understood Archmere to be strictly an academic institution and didn’t recruit for athletics. Then I saw them win a bit and their name was routinely in the conversation as a top team so I always paid attention to that.

But then actually seeing how many more “quality games” they played and won vs everyone else is really impressive.

On the flip side, I always viewed Tower Hill and DMA as top teams because of their records until I took a closer look at their opponents. I didn’t fully realize that they really didn’t win many games against “quality opponents” until I put all of this together.

As for top team over past five years:

Only Howard has two Championships (19 and 20) in the past five years. They also had 3 semi final appearances in the past five years.

Only Archmere has been to three championships in this stretch, winning one (semis 4 times). And they clearly have the best record against “top teams” (by a lot).

Caravel owns the best overall record during this time and only lost one game (in the championship) in the past two years with an undefeated championship season this year. They also have a strong record against the “top teams” (but played just about half the amount as Archmere).

Woodbridge has been to four semi-finals over the past five years with no championships.

Friends has been to one championship and a nice record overall and right around .500 against “top teams”.

Tough call, these teams are very stable and consistent. They all seem to have GREAT coaching staffs and tough committed players.

But if I had to make a call, I’d give the overall edge to Archmere as “top program” since they seem to play so many more top teams while continuing to win at a high rate. I give Caravel a close second with this years team being as good as any I’ve seen in my short time paying attention.

Really curious to see what the next five years look like!

 

[nomorenonstop]

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would read someone posting on DEpreps that Archmere is the top football program in D2/2A/whatever. What a time to be alive.