the Cafe
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When the 1998 high school football season opens Friday night, Indian
River will quickly find out how much it has improved from last year's 2-8
campaign.
That's because the Indians face a tough road game in Georgetown against school district rival Sussex Central. The Golden Knights went 7-3 last year, good for second place in a brutal Henlopen Conference Northern Division.
"They're the toughest team we play, probably," IR coach George Bethard said. "I'm glad to play them and I'm glad to play them first."
Sussex Central has won five of the last six meetings between the teams, including the last two by a combined score of 49-9. IR's last victory in the series was in 1995, when it defeated a winless Central squad 19-6 in Frankford.
Although Central has gone from winless team to playoff contender in just two years, IR's players appear up for the challenge.
"We're going to be sky high," quarterback Shawn Watkins said. "We want to start off with them. We have to step it up from whistle to whistle."
In 1997, Central was poised to win the Henlopen North title before suffering heartbreaking late-season losses to Dover and Sussex Tech. The Knights finished second behind division champ Cape Henlopen, a team they defeated earlier in the season.
Central is 13-7 in two years under head coach John Wells, an Indian River graduate.
But those numbers haven't shaken the confidence of IR's players.
"If I can have a successful game and we get things moving on offense, we have a chance," Watkins said.
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