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Sussex Central’s football team after its recent loss to Appoqunimink finds itself in an unusual position.
The loss was the Golden Knights’ second in as many games, and as such sends Central into Henlopen North play almost needing to win the conference to capture a Division I playoff berth.
“It’s a position we haven’t been in for a while,” head coach John Wells said after his Knights lost 25-12 to the Jaguars. “But, we’ll just have to deal with it.
“We always want to win the North and earn that auto bid anyway.”
North play for Central starts Friday at Milford against a Buccaneers team that defeated the Knights a year ago and ended their 18-game conference winning streak.
This year’s Milford team is different than last, as it graduated several key players, but Wells said his club will be in for a battle when they tackle the Bucs.
“Milford is young, but they have a lot of athletes,” he said. “They certainly aren’t a typical 1-2 team.”
The Bucs’ offense is set up by the run, but throughout their first three games they have not been afraid to pass the ball and get 6-foot-2 senior Jerrell Allen into their game plan.
Although the Knights have struggled against the pass in their first three contests – a win against Caravel and the losses to St. Mark’s and Appo – it is his club’s conditioning that concerns Wells the most.
“Right now, we seem to have a lot of problems with guys cramping up and just being out of shape,” he said. “That’s unacceptable to me, and if we are going to compete, those guys are going to have to get into the shape they need to be in to play four quarters.
“If they don’t, we will be in for a long season.”
Central, when it has the ball, will need to get its running game going despite the absence of tackle Casey Ergenzinger, who was lost for the season with a knee injury in week two.
“You can’t replace a guy like Casey, but that’s no excuse,” Wells said. “Injuries happen and we have to adjust to them.”
Sussex Central’s football team after its recent loss to Appoqunimink finds itself in an unusual position.
The loss was the Golden Knights’ second in as many games, and as such sends Central into Henlopen North play almost needing to win the conference to capture a Division I playoff berth.
“It’s a position we haven’t been in for a while,” head coach John Wells said after his Knights lost 25-12 to the Jaguars. “But, we’ll just have to deal with it.
“We always want to win the North and earn that auto bid anyway.”
North play for Central starts Friday at Milford against a Buccaneers team that defeated the Knights a year ago and ended their 18-game conference winning streak.
This year’s Milford team is different than last, as it graduated several key players, but Wells said his club will be in for a battle when they tackle the Bucs.
“Milford is young, but they have a lot of athletes,” he said. “They certainly aren’t a typical 1-2 team.”
The Bucs’ offense is set up by the run, but throughout their first three games they have not been afraid to pass the ball and get 6-foot-2 senior Jerrell Allen into their game plan.
Although the Knights have struggled against the pass in their first three contests – a win against Caravel and the losses to St. Mark’s and Appo – it is his club’s conditioning that concerns Wells the most.
“Right now, we seem to have a lot of problems with guys cramping up and just being out of shape,” he said. “That’s unacceptable to me, and if we are going to compete, those guys are going to have to get into the shape they need to be in to play four quarters.
“If they don’t, we will be in for a long season.”
Central, when it has the ball, will need to get its running game going despite the absence of tackle Casey Ergenzinger, who was lost for the season with a knee injury in week two.
“You can’t replace a guy like Casey, but that’s no excuse,” Wells said. “Injuries happen and we have to adjust to them.”
