By Andy Walter

LEWES — In their four years together, J.D. Maull has seen his Cape Henlopen High football players grow a great deal.

The Vikings went from a one-win squad as freshmen to posting a winning record last year as juniors.

Now that they’re seniors, Maull has a lot of confidence in his older players’ ability.

“They took their beatings in ninth grade,” said Maull, who is starting his fourth season at Cape. “Now we’re more mature. We’re veterans now. We’re bigger and stronger.

“We feel good this year. We feel we can compete in this new tier three.”

But, while he likes the players he has, Maull just wishes he had more of them.

As they get ready to host Salesianum on Sept. 2 in their season opener, the Vikings have had only 48 players during preseason. Maull believes the pandemic has led to more players either not playing or having to hold jobs when they’re not in school.

Whatever the reason, Maull thinks depth could be an issue, especially with Cape facing a more demanding schedule.

“It’s been tough,” he said. “We have a good group of kids. Our biggest concern is we just don’t have the depth yet.

“You have to be strategic in how you run practice,” he added. “You just can’t hit every day. There’s got to be a lot more teaching and doing fundamentals. If you’re hitting every day, you’re going to lose bodies.”

On the positive side, the Vikings finished 4-3 in last fall’s shortened season. They won four of their last five games to post the program’s first winning season since 2016.

Maull thinks that’s something Cape can build from.

“That was huge for us,” he said.

No matter what their record, the Vikings already know they are going to be in this year’s state tournament. All 11 teams in Class 3A will make the playoff field this fall.

It will be Cape’s first tournament appearance since 2012.

The Vikings return most of their starting offensive linemen, led by senior Lucas Ruppert, a second-team All-Stater last year, and junior Ryan Betins, who was a third-team All-State selection as a sophomore.

Veteran quarterback Hank D’Ambrogi returns after earning second-team All-Henlopen North honors a year ago.

On defense, junior linebacker Nathan Horn was a second-team All-North pick last fall. Cape Henlopen also added junior linebacker/running back Leo Hunsberger, who was an all-conference player at Perkiomen (Pa.) High.

The Vikings’ biggest issue on offense may be replacing running back Jaden Davis, a second-team All-Stater, who was a workhorse the last couple seasons. Senior Jordan Baines will take on a bigger role carrying the ball this fall but is also playing on defense.

Daniel Saez, Chancler Johnson and Hunsberger will also get their opportunities in the backfield.

“It’ll be a little bit more by committee,” said Maull.

As part of the state’s football alignment, Cape will be in Class 3A, District II along with Caesar Rodney, Dover, Smyrna and Sussex Central. The Vikings also face a tough non-district slate with Sallies, William Penn, Appoquinimink, St. Georges and Class 2A powers Woodbridge and Delmar on the schedule.

There shouldn’t be any easy games in there.

“There’s no break in this new tier,” said Maull. “It’s a gauntlet so we’ve got to get ready for it.”

Maull thinks it might be the first time Cape has faced Salesianum in football since 1993, when he was playing for the Vikings. The fact that Cape and Sallies regularly square off for the state title in boys’ lacrosse makes it something of an instant rivalry, though.

“It’s game one and Sallies is really, really good,” said Maull. “We’re going to give it our best shot.”