DOVER — Though it may seem routine now for Delmar High, winning a state field hockey championship brings as much joy as it ever has.

“It’s just incredible, not many people get to experience it,” junior Maci Bradford said. “It never gets old. It’s an amazing feeling.”

The Wildcats captured a record sixth straight championship on Saturday at Dover High Stadium by defeating Newark Charter 8-0 in the DIAA Division II title game.

“It’s hard to put into words when you sit back and think about it,” Delmar coach Jodi Hollamon said. “Everyone is different, every team is different, there is a bond.

“The kids that are on this team have just come together after a whole year of COVID. This season we didn’t even have a field to practice on. Our soccer team was awesome and shared their field. They just persevered, like kids do, and they have fun. It’s hard to think that it’s over, this season. It went by in the blink of an eye, which tells you it was a fun season.”

It probably wasn’t the best performance Delmar had this season. The Wildcats failed to score on any of the 22 penalty corners they drew and led only 1-0 after the first quarter.

“We were a little slow (to start),” Hollamon said. “We were getting shots off but just weren’t finishing.

“I am glad we were able to come out in the second quarter, change the pace of the game and move the ball quicker. They did a great job defensively on their corners. We knew their goalie was pretty good.”

An ‘OK’ game from the Wildcats is still more than enough to put them far ahead of most teams in the state. (Other than maybe Division I champion Cape Henlopen, who they beat twice this year.) Delmar has not lost since Oct. 22, 2016, a streak of 79 straight wins.

Delmar exploded for four goals in the second quarter to put the game out of reach, led by junior Maci Bradford. Bradford, who scored the game’s initial goal in the first, added two more in the second quarter to complete a hat trick by halftime. She also provided the game’s final score in the final quarter to finish with four.

“We had a talk between the first and second quarter, we needed to pick up the intensity, one-two touch passing and we did that for the whole entire second quarter,” Bradford said.

Junior Josie Hollamon had two goals, while junior Lilly Waters and freshman Jordyn Hollamon each added one.

A member of five of the six title teams is senior goalie Kelly Davis, who won her first as an eighth grader taking over when the starter went out for the season with a knee injury. Davis is headed to Ohio State University next year to play for the Buckeyes.

“I was in the stands for the first one just hoping I would get to that point,” Davis said. “ To be able to win ever since that first year, my eighth grade year, is insane.

“I had a lot of emotions knowing that I was never going to step back out on the field with this team again. They’re my family. The entire coaching staff I’ve known ever since I was a little girl. To be able to play for them for so many years and create a family, it’s something that will last forever.”

The Wildcats lose just three seniors in Davis, defender Ella Shockley and Rachel Anchundia. It doesn’t look as though the program’s dominance is likely to end anytime soon.

These kids are lucky because they’re able to see the program that we have and legacy and tradition, so they come out and want to win,” coach Hollamon said. “These three seniors have had an impact and we will truly miss them.”

So how long can the Delmar program keep this up?

“We won’t talk about that,” coach Hollamon joked before reflecting further. “Every game you have to show and play, each win is one more day that the opposing team wants to come out and be the first one to beat you.

“At some point it will come to an end. Regardless of when it does, the success of this program and what we’ve done to this point, when that day comes we’re not worried about it.”