the Cafe
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on Henlopen North
The Cape Henlopen High School football team stamped several significant statements into the turf at Caesar Rodney's stadium on Friday night, Nov. 6, 1998.
Most importantly, with the surprisingly easy 25-6 victory, the Vikings served notice that they are still in charge of the Henlopen Conference Northern Division and the automatic Division I state tournament berth that goes with the North crown.
Second, the Vikings proved they are not a two-dimensional football team that can only win with running and defense -- a deadly passing game led by quarterback John Howard staked Cape to a 19-0 first half lead before the Riders knew what hit them.
And finally, the Vikings showed that the six straight shutout wins they had posted entering the C.R. game were no fluke, even if three were over Division II opponents.
Despite surrendering six points to the Riders, the Vikings pretty much slammed the door on an offense averaging 39 points a game including a 69-3 win over Polytech the week before.
"We wanted to establish Cape Henlopen football," said Howard, who unlocked a passing arm against the Riders that had been kept under lock and key most of the season.
The Vikings established that the path to the Northern Division title and the state tournament now runs through Lewes, Delaware for the second year in a row.
Improving to 5-0 in the North and 8-1 overall, the Vikings are the only unbeaten team in the division and are poised to capture their second straight North title.
CR dropped to 3-1 in the North (6-2 overall) and Dover lost to Seaford Friday night to also fall to 3-1. A win over Dover on Friday, Nov. 13, will give the Vikings the championship and the state tourney appearance.
"We felt we had to win this one to make the state tournament," said Howard. "An 8-2 record (if the Vikings had lost to CR) wasn't going to get us into the playoffs (with an at-large bid). Tonight, it was 'CR or Bust' for us."
The Vikings displayed their sense of urgency from the beginning with a 15-play, 68-yard scoring drive that featured two fourth down conversions, including a 4-yard TD toss from Howard to tight end Tom Sheehan on fourth and goal.
While Cape's ground attack fueled the drive with runs of 19, 13 and 11 yards by Tim Cannon, Elijah Worthy and Malik Lopez, respectively, the Vikings stunned the Riders with the touchdown pass to Sheehan and a 5-yard pass from Howard to Worthy to convert a fourth down situation for first and goal at the CR 6.
Ahead 7-0 with 3:41 left in the first quarter, the Viking defense survived a scare when Rider receiver Jon Berry got behind the secondary only to be overthrown by quarterback Joe Schonewolf.
Cape immediately took advantage of that break as Howard completed passes of 19 and 13 yards to set up a 41-yard TD bomb to 5-foot-7, 150-pound Rick Thompson for a 13-0 lead with 9:10 left in the second quarter.
The Viking defense then set up the offense again when Nick Shaffer intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 27 yards to the Cape 48 with 5:10 remaining in the half.
Unleashing their passing attack again, Howard hit Sheehan with a 13-yard pass to the CR 39 and Worthy followed up with a 37-yard halfback option pass to a diving Mark Moore that put the ball at the Riders' 2.
Worthy, who finished with 103 yards on 25 carries, scored from 2 yards out to give Cape a commanding 19-0 lead with 3:01 left before halftime.
"We usually run the ball but we wanted to mix it up tonight," said Howard, who completed six straight passes in the first half and finished 8 of 10 for 141 yards and the two touchdowns. "We run so well that we don't usually need to throw it, but I've felt all year we could. I've been waiting all season for a chance to show we're not one dimensional."
After taking the 19-0 lead, the Vikings still had a battle on their hands.
Just before halftime, Schonewolf finally connected with Berry on a 28-yard scoring pass that made it 19-6 with 49.9 seconds to go. The Vikings blocked the extra point kick.
Neither team could muster a sustained threat in the second half as fumbles, interceptions and penalties stalled or stopped promising drives.
The Vikings fumbled twice in the second half and wouldn't score again until Lopez ran in from 8 yards out on the game's final play. The run was set up by a 15-yard pass from Howard to Moore that Howard said was a statement to several Riders who claimed that Cape's 22-15 victory over CR last year was a fluke.
As for the rest of the second half, the Riders threatened midway through the third period when Charles Clark galloped 27 yards to the Viking 23 with 6:20 remaining. A bad pitch on the next play, however, cost the Riders nine yards and the drive eventually ended at Cape's 26 when Lopez knocked down a Schonewolf pass on fourth down.
The Vikings then moved into CR territory on a facemask penalty, but Howard fumbled away the snap to Caesar Rodney's Shawn Travis to give the Riders possession at their own 44.
The Riders did nothing with that drive and had to wait until midway through the fourth quarter to get another good chance at cutting into Cape's lead. Then, with 7:25 left in the game, a Cape fumble gave the Riders the ball on Cape's 40-yard line.
After an illegal procedure penalty moved the ball back 5 yards, CR uncorked its own halfback option pass, a 27-yarder from running back Mark Razzanno to Berry, for a first down on Cape's 18 with 7:17 left.
Barely a minute later, though, a clipping penalty moved the Riders back to the Cape 44 and the drive ended on an incomplete pass with 4:43 left in the game. The last CR drive ended with 1:12 left when Sheehan intercepted a Schonewolf pass at the line of scrimmage on the Rider 23.
"This will give us a lot of confidence," said Howard. "Put us on a football field and we feel we can match up against anybody."
Amidst all of the jubilation after the game, Cape head coach Brian Donahue cautioned his team that it still needed to win one more game to clinch the North title.
"This was a big game," said Donahue of the Caesar Rodney victory. "It seems like CR is always a big game for us. But now, Dover is our biggest game."
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