By Tim Mastro

DOVER — For most players on the Delaware State University football team, this is as long as they’ve gone without playing in an actual game.

The Hornets ended the 2019 season on Nov. 23. Then the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, wiping out the 2020 season.

Delaware State is one of three Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference teams playing a spring season in 2021. The Hornets will get underway Saturday at noon when they host Howard in the first game of a five-game slate.

For a team that has been starting and stopping — workouts began over the summer in the hopes of a potential fall season which never occurred — this is the moment the Hornets have been craving for since the early days of the pandemic.

“You got to bottle it all up and not let it explode until 12 p.m. on Saturday,” said DSU coach Rod Milstead. “I’m just very thankful they’ll get an opportunity to go out there and compete against someone not wearing a Delaware State uniform.”

Delaware State is scheduled to play a combined four games against the two other MEAC teams who elected to compete in the spring, Howard and South Carolina State. The Hornets will end their season on April 10 by hosting the University of Delaware for the first time.

With only three MEAC teams having a season, no MEAC championship will be awarded this year.

“That was very disheartening,” Milstead said. “We want to compete for a MEAC championship, something that can never be erased. But we’re excited about the games that we have and we’re looking forward to building on that championship program that we’re trying to become.”

The Hornets come into the abbreviated spring season with 30 letter-winners from the 2019 squad which went 2-10 overall and 1-7 in the MEAC.

Delaware State returns one of its most experienced cores since Milstead, now in his third season, took over.

Tylik Bethea will be the starting quarterback again after winning the job as a true freshman in 2019. The Hornets bring back their top rusher from a year ago, Thomas Bertrand-Hudon, as well as Michael Chris-Ike who had a breakout season in 2018 but sat out the 2019 season. Redshirt freshman Wade Inge is also expected to see carries.

Bethea will be throwing to some familiar targets as all three of DSU’s top-three wideouts are back in Bizzett Woodley, Kwannah Kollie and Trey Gross. The offensive line does have some new faces with Sam Pearson, Matthew Derks, Dilion Marshall, Liki Seu and James King expected to be the five starters.

Milstead said the defensive unit is where the team’s strength is currently, anchored by preseason All-MEAC selections Brooks Parker (Delmar High) and Juwain Granger.

The Hornets have had two months of practice without playing a game, leading Milstead to run practice in just helmets this week, saying the team has hit enough. This philosophy, Milstead says, is something he learned when he played for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1990s.

“You can have a very productive practice mentally and physically but you don’t have to wear full gear to do so,” Milstead said.

“I wasn’t a believer in it until I got to San Francisco,” Milstead added. “Once I got there and saw it, ‘I said wow, now I know why you guys win championships because you protect the players so when you get into the playoffs you guys are fresh and you can excel.’ That’s something I want to implement here.”

One of the hardest parts of the season is already over, Milstead said, which was all the uncertainty about playing. He still knows, due to COVID-19, this season will be unlike anything most players and coaches have experienced.

“There are going to be obstacles, roadblocks and detours,” Milstead said. “We knew we’d have to overcome those if there were to be some sort of season.”