the Cafe
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The score was tied, the boisterous home crowd sensed an upset, and for one
of the few times this season, Cape Henlopen High School's Henlopen Conference Northern Division football
title hopes seemed in jeopardy.
When Cape took over at its own 36 yard line with 37 seconds remaining in the first half of a 7-7 game Friday night, Nov. 13, 1998, it appeared the upstart Senators would take the momentum into the locker room and stand a good chance of being the only Henlopen team this season to knock off the mighty Vikings.
But in four plays, Cape reached the Dover 43 and, with six seconds left until halftime, had time for just one more play. That's when the Vikings struck a blow from which the Senators would never recover.
On third down, quarterback John Howard lofted a high pass down the left sideline. Running back Elijah Worthy outleaped three Dover defenders for the ball, cut back toward the center of the field and raced almost untouched into the end zone.
"Johnny just laid the ball up real high. It was up for grabs. I was running to the end zone but then I just took a look back and I just came back for the ball," Worthy said. "I caught it and I felt nobody behind me. When I broke back over here (middle) I knew I was going to score then."
The touchdown gave Cape a 14-7 halftime lead and took the wind out of Dover's sails. The Vikings then scored three touchdowns in a two-minute, 52-second span of the third quarter to earn a 34-7 victory and their second consecutive Henlopen North title and state tournament berth.
Cape will play in the Division I state semifinals Friday, Nov. 27 or Saturday, Nov. 28. The Vikings' opponent will not be determined until after next weekend's games.
"It feels real good because all our seniors, we worked hard in the summer. We just put in a lot of time and it all paid off with a conference championship," said Worthy, who rushed for 101 yards on 19 carries and caught four passes for 65 yards.
The victory was Cape's ninth straight since a season-opening 7-6 loss to St. Mark's.
"This is where we started six years ago with the program, when coach (George) Glenn came down. What we wanted to do was be consistent in winning, and we've been consistent for six years," Cape coach Brian Donahue said.
"Each year we try to take it to the next level ... and finally we have reached that plateau where we've won it for the second year. Last year, I think we snuck up on people and this year we were picked to be favorites. It's always harder it seems when you're picked as the favorite."
Howard had another strong outing for the Vikings, completing 7 of 10 passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns. The junior has thrown four touchdown passes the past two weeks, leading the Vikings to title-clinching victories over Caesar Rodney and Dover.
"This is a great feeling for us. Collectively, as a team this was one of our goals from the beginning of the year," Howard said of the division title. "We wanted to set out to become back-to-back conference champions. The coaching staff did a great job preparing us all season, the players played up to the level of expectations we all set for ourselves. This is just one of the things we wanted to do."
But Cape had a dogfight on its hands the entire first half, as Dover kept the Vikings' offense in check and moved the ball well behind the passing of quarterback David Lee. The Senators drove to the Cape 26 midway through the first quarter before turning the ball over on downs.
From there, Cape launched a 12-play, 74-yard scoring drive. Worthy rushed 8 times for 37 yards on the drive and scored from a yard out to give the Vikings a 7-0 lead with 10:32 left in the second quarter. A 25-yard pass from Howard to Mark Moore also helped set up the score.
The teams traded punts before the Senators took over at their own 28 with 3:52 remaining in the first half. Lee quickly connected on back-to-back completions of 34 and 32 yards to Nick Rubino and Mike Bowden, respectively, to move the Senators to the Cape 2. Four plays later, on fourth and goal, James Kerney barreled in from a yard out to tie the game 7-7 with just 41 seconds left in the half.
"Dover's got a great team, they've always been playing great football in November. They play good defense in November and they did that tonight," Donahue said. "They held us on our first series offensively. We had to punt to them, they completed some first downs. They were in the ballgame right before the half."
But after Dover tied the game, Cape delivered the crushing blow in the form of a 64-yard drive capped by Howard's 43-yard scoring strike to Worthy. The drive lasted just 37 seconds and gave the Vikings a 14-7 lead at the break.
"I think it was a boost for us, but moreso, it might have been a let-down for them," Donahue said. "Elijah made great catch out there."
Added Howard: " The first half was a little shaky. We didn't play up to our expectations. I think the touchdown at the end of the first half helped us a little bit in the locker room. I think that was a big momentum builder for us. That gave us a little bit of an edge going in at halftime."
Cape roared out of the gate in the second half and put the game away. On their opening possession, the Vikings moved 56 yards in nine plays and increased their lead to 21-7 when Howard connected with Tom Sheehan on a 14-yard touchdown pass. Sheehan bobbled the ball at first but found the handle and raced into the end zone.
Bowden fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Moore recovered for Cape at the Dover 24. Four plays later, Worthy scored from eight yards out to make it 28-7 with 5:36 left in the third quarter. It was Worthy's 27th touchdown of the season.
Things got worse for the Senators on their next possession when Cape's Malik Lopez intercepted a Lee pass and raced 42 yards down the sideline for a touchdown, ending any doubt about the outcome.
The game was delayed about 30 minutes following the score when Dover's Bruce Burton was taken away in an ambulance after suffering a neck injury.
Lee finished 7 of 20 passing for 101 yards for the Senators.
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