Dan Candeloro
CAMDEN — The Caesar Rodney High football team finally found the end zone late in the fourth quarter Friday night.
The first win remained elusive, however, thanks to six lost fumbles and a physical Glen Mills, Pa. squad that dominated much of a 30-6 nonconference contest.
After being outscored 72-0 during opening losses to Delaware powerhouses Middletown and Salesianum, the tally reached 102-0 as Caesar Rodney trailed by 30 points early in the fourth quarter of game No. 3.
The challenges just keep coming for CR, which hosts Division II championship contender St. Georges Tech next Friday night.
Frame of mind now becomes a critical element in the season moving forward, head coach Dan Candeloro said afterward.
“We don’t back down to anyone and we don’t define ourselves by wins and losses,” he said. “We just want to get better each week, which I think the defense has done.
“The offense still needs to come around but we will keep moving forward and continue to work at it.”
The rough night included speedy senior running back Nhaighere Wills (12 carries, 70 yards) being carted out of the stadium on a stretcher and into an ambulance with a lower leg injury following a fourth quarter tackle.
Shortly after that, the Riders finally scored a touchdown as senior Najee Whitted broke tackles and rumbled toward the end zone on a 38-yard scoring burst with 7:22 remaining.
The outcome had long since been sealed, fueled by a mistake-filled start that put CR behind almost immediately.
The Riders fumbled away two quarterback-fullback exchanges and committed a holding penalty on their first three offensive plays of the game.
The second turnover gave Glen Mills (3-2 record) the ball just seven yards from the end zone, and the visitors scored three plays later on a 5-yard pass.
CR’S Kenneth Shahan charged up the middle and blocked the extra point try, keeping the score at 6-0 with 8:17 left in the first quarter.
Riders’ safety Kaleb Moseley made an early interception, and his defensive teammates kept the Riders within a touchdown until just before halftime.
After a 67-yard CR drive stalled at the 7 with 1:54 left before intermission, the visitors connected on an 85-yard touchdown pass for a 12-0 advantage with 12 seconds left in the half.
The second half began as badly as the first – Glen Mills scored within 30 seconds after an opening 54-yard kickoff return and consecutive 13-yard rushes for a 20-0 lead.
CR went nowhere on its next drive, and methodically pounded out a 16-play, 84-yard scoring drive that ended with a 22-yard scoring pass on fourth down for a 26-0 advantage with 3:38 remaining in the third quarter.
Hopelessly behind, the Riders continued to compete as Kairi Buie and James Holmes combined for a crushing quarterback sack late in the game.
“Our defense was giving away quite a lot of pounds to many of those kids and I thought our guys hung in there,” Candeloro said.