Caesar Rodney seniors anxious to get football program back on track
CAMDEN — Nobody has to tell Caesar Rodney High’s football seniors how difficult it’s been for the program lately.
The veteran Riders have lived it.
CR owns a record of …
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Caesar Rodney seniors anxious to get football program back on track
By Andy WalterCAMDEN — Nobody has to tell Caesar Rodney High’s football seniors how difficult it’s been for the program lately.
The veteran Riders have lived it.
CR owns a record of just 2-29 over the past three seasons.
“We know it’s tough,” said senior quarterback Julius Timmons. “Every speech that we have is ‘Just be better than you were the day before.’”
Like the Riders’ squads before them, CR’s players were optimistic as they opened practice on Monday. The Riders start the season on Aug. 29 by hosting William Penn.
Over the past decade, CR simply hasn’t been able to get back to the lofty status it once held in Delaware football.
The Riders are just 27-72 in that 10-season span. In seven of those seasons they’ve failed to win more than three games and have registered winning campaigns only twice.
CR’s seniors, though, also realize that means they have an opportunity to change that trend.
“You never know what can happen,” said senior defensive tackle Stephan Davis. “And you never know what happens with the competition. We always think we have a chance.
“We’ve been in games left and right. We just didn’t hang on in the second half. I’m really optimistic.”
Shaun Strickland is starting his second season as the head coach at his alma matter. He thinks he’s learned a lot about the program and its players over the last year.
The former Milford coach said there were close to 100 players on average at summer workouts.
“We’re only two days in but the energy is high,” he said. “Everyone looks great.”
Strickland said he’s also encouraged by what he’s seen from CR’s junior varsity, freshman and middle school teams.
As a lineman on some of the Riders’ great teams of the last few decades, Strickland knows what the program used to look like. It would mean a great deal to him to get it going again.
“I remember it as a kid growing up in it and then playing in it,” said Strickland. “We had a lot of success with our young guys last year. I feel like it’s starting to build up.
“That energy is there. Everything is trending in the right direction, it’s just time to keep putting it together. I think this is a year where we’ll take another step forward.”
Of course, for CR’s seniors, this is their last chance to make an impact on the program as a player. They’re anxious to see what they can accomplish in the next 10 games.
The Riders play three of their first four games at home. It’s the same schedule they went 1-9 against last season.
“We’ve just got a good group of guys this year,” said Timmons. “We have a team that’s played with each other since we were all young. Everybody’s bought in and everybody’s just ready to work.
“We want to leave the program better than we came into it.”
“Instead of saying ‘you want it,’ you’ve got to show it,” said Davis. “Putting your work in, paying your dues. ... if you do that, it will all come to fruition. We’ve just got to do that and be hopeful.
“And if we do what we’re supposed to during games and even practice, we’ll get the job done.”
