WILMINGTON — Salesianum opened its defense of its 2023 football state championship against the same team it played in the championship last season. And once again, the top-seeded Sals pulled away from No. 8 Cape Henlopen, allowing no points in a 35-0 shutout on Nov. 15 at Abessinio Stadium.
Salesianum’s defense has been its strong point all season, and on Friday night a familiar face was back on the sideline. Paul Worrilow, the team’s defensive coordinator before taking a job with the New York Jets, returned to Wilmington on a day off from his NFL duties and reconnected with his old team, and they showed him they hadn’t missed a beat.
The Sals forced a Cape punt on the first possession and went right to work on offense. On their second play from scrimmage, quarterback Brady McBride (St. John the Beloved Parish) his Noah Micks with a 40-yard touchdown pass just 71 seconds in. The extra point was no good.
Cape got to the Salesianum 36 on their last possession of the first quarter, but the drive stalled, and the Vikings surrendered the ball on downs. The Sals took over at their own 40, and running back Odell Teel scampered for 28 yards on first down, then another 4. McBride picked up 11 yards on a keeper. Teel ran for three yards on the final play of the first quarter, then the final 14 on the first play of the second, extending the lead to 13.
Another three-and-out for Cape set the Sals up at the Vikings’ 44 with 9:19 to go in the half. Salesianum moved the ball on the ground until they reached the 21, when, on the fourth play of the drive, McBride connected with Vernol Gary for a 21-yard touchdown pass. A two-point conversion made it 21-0.
The Sals stuck primarily with the ground game in the second half to help run some clock. Aiden Lego (St. John the Beloved Parish) scored twice, one in the third and again in the fourth quarter, on rushes of 2 and 15 yards.
McBride finished with10 completions on 15 attempts for 115 yards and two scored, and he added 42 rushing yards. The team compiled 381 yards of offense. Salesianum improved to 10-1 and will host the winner of No. 5 Appoquinimink at No. 4 Sussex Central, which will be played Saturday night. The semifinal will be either Friday or Saturday of next week.
Cape finished the season 5-6.
