Middletown, Caravel, Indian River win football state championship games

Three Delaware schools have a lot to be thankful after winning football state championship games on Thanksgiving Weekend.

DIVISION 3A

No. 3 Middletown 30, No. 1 Salesianum 27 (OT)

Five weeks ago, the defending 3A state champion Salesianum beat host Middletown by 31 points.

On Friday night, after falling behind by 18 at halftime, Middletown flipped the script and capped off a huge second-half comeback with an overtime touchdown reception by Darius Pope to beat the top-seeded Sals to claim the DIAA 3A championship.

Few people in the crowd could have predicted the final outcome with a few plays left in the third quarter and the Cavaliers trailing 24-6. But after a B.J. Garrett 10-yard reception as time expired in the quarter cut the lead to 24-12, the Cavaliers recovered the first of two onside kicks on the Sals’ 43-yard line, and took the ball down the field before Hanif Miller ran the ball in from the 2-yard line. That cut the lead to 24-18 and gave the Middletown fans some hope.

Then came Onside Kick No. 2, which the Cavaliers also recovered on the Sals 22. The momentum seemed to slow when Middletown turned the ball over on downs at the Salesianum 25, but on Salesianum’s first offensive play of the fourth quarter, sophomore Daniel Davis picked off a Brady McBride pass. Two plays later, a Makai Walker touchdown tied the game at 24 with 7:25 to play.

Overtime decides football state championship

Salesianum got the ball first in overtime, where the rules are that each team gets four plays from the 10 to score. After failing to score a touchdown on 3rd down, they kicked a field goal to take a 27-24 lead. That gave the Cavaliers four plays to either tie the game and send it to a second overtime, or to score a touchdown to win the state championship.

Quarterback Derian Cunningham only needed two plays.

On second down, Cunningham threw a pass to Pope, who came down with the catch for the game-winning touchdown that sent the Middletown sideline — and its fans in the stand — as they captured the 2024 3A football championship.

Cunningham finished 30 of 48 for 319 yards…and the championship trophy few people expected.

 

DIVISION 2A

No. 1 Caravel 43, No. 3 Howard 6

Caravel Academy scored 31 fourth-quarter points to pull away from Howard and successfully defend its 2023 state championship.

After starting running back Josh Roy went down with an injury, Ira Yates stepped in to lead his team with 12 carries for 76 yards and three rushing touchdowns, two of them in the fourth quarter.

Caravel blanked Howard 34-0 back on Sept. 13 at Abessinio Stadium.

DIVISION 1A

No. 1 Indian River 47, No. 2 Tatnall 45

Top-seeded Indian River outlasted defending champion Tatnall 47-45 as the two teams combined for 92 points in front of a packed Abessinio Stadium.

The two teams combined for 916 yards in a game that saw five lead changes. The Indians took a 21-17 lead into halftime, but the Hornets scored 21 points in the third quarter off Indian River fumbles.

Indian River found themselves down 45-41 late in the fourth quarter. With two minutes remaining and facing a 4th and 13 from their own 49, the Indians went to one of the oldest plays in the book: the old hook and ladder.

Dylan Grise hit Michael Peranteau on a short pass. Peranteau then lateraled the ball to Javion Chandler, who took the ball 53 yards for an Indians touchdown that proved to be the game-winner.

Tatnall entered the contest with a 24-game winning streak and still had a chance to preserve the streak and defend their title. After moving the ball from their own 46 to the Indians 23, Indian River stopped the Hornets on fourth and 3 and won their first state football title in 13 years.