By Andy Walter

BRIDGEVILLE — Before his Woodbridge High football team won a game on the field, first-year coach Marvin Dooley said he scored his biggest victory off it.

The veteran coach is well know in New Castle County, where he was a star athlete at William Penn High.

But, when he was hired to coach the Blue Raiders in the beginning of the summer, Dooley felt like his new players didn’t know what to make of him. They thought maybe he would just completely change the program.

“It was a rocky road for a little while,” said Dooley. “They had their hearts set on another coach I think. As we went through summer, we had some ups and downs.

“But the kids bought in. Our leadership has really been good. We didn’t change everything. We kept what they did well and we added to it. ... I told them, at the end of the day we have the same goal — to be at the U of D come December.”

Twelve wins later, that’s where the Blue Raiders are headed on Saturday.

No. 2 Woodbridge (12-0) will be trying to win the program’s third DIAA state crown since 2016 when it faces top-seeded Archmere (12-0) in the Class 2A finals on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Delaware Stadium. The Auks are going after their fourth state championship but first since 1982.

This is the first season that there’s been a Class 2A in Delaware.

A year ago, Archmere beat Woodbridge, 31-22, in the Division II semifinals after scoring 14 unanswered fourth-quarter points. Among the costly mistakes the Raiders made in the contest were having two punts blocked and a fumble returned 18 yards for an Auks’ touchdown.

Dooley has watched the film of the game.

“I talked to the kids about holding onto the football, managing the clock and all the good stuff,” he said. “I really believe that us and Archmere are about even. I think it comes down to mistakes.”

A Blue Raiders’ squad that won back-to-back 6-0 games during the regular season has clearly been led by its defense for much of the fall. Woodbridge has allowed its opponent to score in double digits just three times in its last nine contests.

The Blue Raiders are giving up only 6.4 points per game in that nine-game stretch.

Senior linebacker Wyatt Wright was named the Class 2A Defensive Player of the Year while senior defensive end Noah Matthews was named the class Lineman of the Year.

“Our defense has played tremendous all year,” said Dooley. “Our defense gave us time to find our offense, to be honest with you. We struggled a little bit during the year offensively but our defense was so good.

“We kept fiddling with the offense and I think we found it in the last four or five games.”

The Blue Raiders have scored at least 20 points in each of their last seven games.

On the other side, Archmere junior quarterback Chris Albero was named the Class 2A Offensive Player of the Year. The Auks are averaging 31.9 points per game.

Archmere also has the advantage of having a reliable field-goal kicker in Albero. He hit three field goals in the Auks’ semifinal win last fall.

“They do everything right,” Dooley said about Archmere. “They don’t make mistakes. They’re in the spots they’re supposed to be in.

“The thing that impresses me about Archmere is that nothing rattles them. They’ve been down, they’ve been up. They have great athletes. For us to win I think we’ve got to stop 16 (Albero).”

If Woodbridge can find a way to win, the reward for winning a state title is a little bit of athletic immortality.

Dooley knows what that feeling is like. He coached William Penn to the 2014 Division I state title with a 42-14 win over Middletown.

“The older I get, the more you realize things — it’s hard to get here,” he said. “They’re special. I was telling the kids the other day, you go win this game, you’ll be forever linked together as a group. You’ll aways have the memories.

“No matter how old you get, your name’s going to be on that board. They never can take it from you.”

Extra points

In its four appearances in the state finals, all since 2016, Woodbridge has had three different head coaches — Ed Manlove, Jed Bell and Dooley. ... Albero has kicked six field goals during the season. ... Archmere had a steak of eight straight appearances in the Division II state finals starting in 1976. ... Woodbridge is the fourth Henlopen South team that the Auks have faced in a title game. ... Fans are reminded that they will have to adhere to the University of Delaware’s COVID protocols to attend any of Saturday’s state championship games. That includes showing proof of vaccination or a negative PCR COVID test within 72 hours of the game. Full details are available on the DIAA website (education.delaware.gov/diaa/). ... The games will be shown online, for a fee, on the NFHS Network and are being carried on WDEL radio (1150-AM, 101.7-FM).