10-30-2006
Second-half dominance lifts Delhi
By Rob Centorani
Staff Writer
ENDICOTT _ Even when it was a one-point game at halftime against unbeaten Candor, Delhi’s Nate Rockefeller said the Bulldogs still had Walton on their minds.
"The whole team has a ton of heart, and we knew this was the only shot to face Walton again," said Rockefeller, who rushed for a team-high 121 yards and scored two touchdowns in Delhi’s 28-11 victory over Candor on Saturday in a Section Four Class D semifinal at Union-Endicott’s Ty Cobb Stadium. "That’s what we want more than anything."
That’s what they’ll get.
The Bulldogs (7-2) and Warriors (7-2) will meet in the Class D title game at 10 a.m. Saturday back at Ty Cobb Stadium. Walton, a 38-0 winner over Newfield on Saturday, defeated the Bulldogs, 14-6, in Week 6.
"It’ll be the biggest game of my life," said Rockefeller, whose 10-yard touchdown run in the third quarter helped the Bulldogs extend a one-point lead to 14-5. "It’s a big rivalry and we’ll be ready for vengeance."
The much anticipated rematch between the Delaware County rivals hardly seemed a certainty at halftime, when Delhi held a 6-5 edge on a cool, blustery and often rainy day.
The Division VIII champion Indians (8-1), behind the aptly-named Dustin Quick (29 carries, 147 yards), seemed to grab the momentum after scoring the final five points of the first half.
Candor was awarded a safety when Rockefeller’s snap skipped through the legs of punter Alex Fletcher, who alertly kicked it through the end zone. That cut Delhi’s lead to 6-2 with 8 minutes, 56 seconds left in the second quarter.[an error occurred while processing this directive]
After the free kick, Candor took over at its 35 and drove to Delhi’s 9 _ thanks in part to three Bulldogs penalties.
James Card’s late hit on Quick added 15 yards to a 5-yard run; Ryan Weale’s pass interference penalty brought the ball to Delhi’s 17; and with Candor’s Quick setting up for a 31-yard field goal, Fletcher jumped offsides on a fourth-and-7. Quick missed the kick wide right, but the penalty gave the Indians another shot.
Initially, it looked as if Candor would go for it on fourth-and-2 from the 9, but the Indians tried unsuccessfully to draw Delhi offsides before Quick hit a 26-yard field goal to make it 6-5.
The Bulldogs did not have a first down in the second quarter, and 58 of their 97 first-half yards came on Rockefeller’s first-quarter touchdown run on a quick-hitter up the middle.
"They were pretty physical with us," Delhi coach Dave Kelly said of Candor. "They didn’t give us the stuff we had been getting. We had to really hunt to find a bubble we could function in."
Success in the second half for the Bulldogs was basic. They lined up with two tight ends and three backs for the entire half and ran mostly counters or quick-hitters to the fullback.
With the wind at its back, Delhi started the second half with a 13-play, 61-yard drive. Aside from Pat O’Connell’s 15-yard pass to Chad Rockefeller, Delhi went to Nate Rockefeller or Card to carry the ball during the drive.
Card, who gained all 110 of his yards on nine second-half carries, bounced off several defenders on an 11-yard run up the middle to Candor’s 15. Nate Rockefeller then went off right tackle for 5 yards.
On the next play, O’Connell faked to Card in the middle before handing to Rockefeller, who went untouched around the left end for a touchdown. Chad Rockefeller then made a sliding catch of a pass from O’Connell in the left corner of the end zone on the two-point try, giving Delhi a 14-5 lead with 6:07 left in the third quarter.
Then, Delhi’s Jeff Daye _ a force on the line on both sides of the ball _ kicked off into the end zone, something he did on each of his five kickoffs.
"It was definitely big," Daye, a 6-foot-5, 330-pounder, said of his touchbacks. "If (Quick) got it, he could have easily brought it back to the 40 or 50."
The Bulldogs’ defense then forced a three-and-out, giving Delhi the ball at Candor’s 43.
After Nate Rockefeller lost a yard on first down, fullback Card raced through a huge hole in the middle of the field and went unimpeded on a 44-yard scoring run to make it 20-5 with 3:50 left in the third quarter.
Card’s touchdown was similar to Rockefeller’s 58-yarder in the first quarter as both were quick-hitters that broke wide open.
"We were running that counter for the whole game and just faking that quick-hitter," Rockefeller said. "Finally, we gave it to me on that quick-hitter (in the first quarter) and we just blocked them silly."
After Candor’s next drive stalled at Delhi’s 14, the Bulldogs drove 86 yards on 11 running plays. Card had runs of 14 and 23 yards, and Weale carried six times for 37 yards.
On fourth-and-3 from the 5, Chad Rockefeller scored into the left corner of the end zone on a tight end reverse to put it away.
Defensively, Delhi spent most of the day trying to coral Quick, who came into the game as Section Four’s leading rusher with 1,532 yards.
"Oh, my God _ he was the best running back I’ve faced in my life," Rockefeller said of Quick, whose darting, shifty style was similar to 2003 Daily Star Player of the Year Tosh DeMulder of Unatego. "We’ve never faced a back like him, so we couldn’t overrun him. We had to stay home and even then he was almost impossible to bring down."
The Bulldogs never let Quick get loose for long runs. Quick’s longest run was 26 yards and 16 of his 29 carries went for 3 yards or fewer, including four for negative yards.
"We worked all week on various things to envelope him a bit," Kelly said. "We wanted to make him cut back and give our inside guys a shot. I thought our outside linebackers (Chad Rockefeller and Devon Bedient) had very strong games."
Senior running back Brenton Hood injured his left Achilles tendon in the first quarter and did not return. Kelly said he wasn’t certain if Hood, a four-year starter, would be ready for Walton.
Delhi 28, Candor 11
SECTION FOUR CLASS D SEMIFINAL
Saturday at Union-Endicott’s Ty Cobb Stadium
Delhi 6 0 14 8 _ 28
Candor 0 5 0 6 _ 11
FIRST QUARTER
D _ Nate Rockefeller 58 run (run failed), 1:50
SECOND QUARTER
C _ Safety, Delhi’s Alex Fletcher kicked ball through end zone, 8:56
C _ Dustin Quick 26 FG, 6:28
THIRD QUARTER
D _ Nate Rockefeller 10 run (Chad Rockefeller pass from Pat O’Connell), 6:07
D _ James Card 44 run (run failed), 3:50.
FOURTH QUARTER
D _ Chad Rockefeller 5 run (Nate Rockefeller pass from O’Connell), 4:55.
C _ Pete Ahart 19 pass from Cody Rose (pass failed), 54.5.
Delhi rushing: Nate Rockefeller 16-121, Card 9-110, Ryan Weale 11-43, Chad Rockefeller 2-3, Brenton Hood 5-1, Pat O’Connell 2-(-2).
Candor rushing: Dustin Quick 29-147, Luke Thomas 7-13, Rose 3-8.
Delhi passing: O’Connell 1-for-2, 15 yards.
Candor passing: Rose 3-for-14, 40 yards; Quick 0-for-1; Gino Martone 0-for-1.
Delhi receiving: Chad Rockefeller 1-15.
Candor receiving: Ahart 3-40.۩
