Home Local Sports Charter School of Wilmington football posts shutout of St. Elizabeth High School:...

Charter School of Wilmington football posts shutout of St. Elizabeth High School: Photo gallery

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Charter's Jason Godfrey pursues Vikings runner Jose Maldonado. Dialog photo/Mike Lang
 

WILMINGTON – Neither St. Elizabeth nor Wilmington Charter could get much going offensively in their Class 1A football game on Oct. 12, but the Force’s stiff defense led to the only scores in the game in a 14-0 victory at Peter Grandell Field.

Playing under brilliant, warm sunshine, the teams spent most of the game going to the rushing attack, but in the first half, that wasn’t enough to put any points on the board. Both teams threatened but could not punch the ball across the goal line.

Wilmington Charter recovered a Vikings fumble at the St. Elizabeth 6-yard line midway through the first quarter, but after a penalty set them back five yards, they fumbled it right back. St. Elizabeth, using running backs Nick Mancini (St. Joseph Parish, Aston, Pa.), Jose Maldonado and Ryan McCormac, drove all the way to the Charter 5, but a fumble ended that threat. Charter went on a drive lasting almost eight minutes before missing a field goal.

On their first possession of the second half, St. E’s turned the ball over on downs when Josh Pullin made a big stop on fourth and a yard. The Force took over in Vikings territory but soon faced a fourth and 9 from the Vikings’ 34. Quarterback Juan Aldas hit Malcolm Mecha, who reached the St. Elizabeth 2, and a penalty on the defense added another yard. The Vikings stopped Aldas once, but he got into the end zone on the next play to give the Force a 7-0 lead with 5:24 to go in the third.

St. Elizabeth motored down the field after getting the kickoff, with the big play being a 44-yard run by McCormac that got them down to the Charter 19. Three plays and a penalty later, the Vikings were facing a fourth and 14. Robert Cardone stepped in front of a St. Elizabeth pass for the interception and took off, going 75 yards for the second touchdown of the quarter.

St. Elizabeth had two more possessions, but they ended without points. Wilmington Charter got the ball back with 7:08 to go and burned the remainder of the time. They fumbled twice during the drive but were able to retain possession.

The Force improved to 2-4 and will host Delcastle on Oct. 18 at 4 p.m. St. Elizabeth (2-4) hosts Christiana on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. at Abessinio Stadium.

Photos by Mike Lang.