By Andy Walter

DOVER — Dover High’s football team had already had a good fall.

But, on Friday night, the Senators had the chance to cap off their regular season with a pretty memorable accomplishment.

Unfortunately for Dover, that opportunity slipped through its fingers.

Salesianum used four second-half takeaways to rally from an early 15-point deficit and hand the Senators a tough 38-28 loss in a Class 3A matchup.

Trailing 21-6 late in the second quarter, the Sals (6-2) reeled off 25 unanswered points before eventually beating Dover (6-4) for the 15th straight time.

The last time the Senators downed Sallies was in the 1988 Division I state championship game.

Certainly it wasn’t the way Dover wanted to finish the regular season. The Senators have an open date next weekend before moving on to the DIAA Class 3A state tournament.

“We made too many big mistakes,” said Senators coach Chip Knapp. “We talked about it before the game that we can’t hand them things. And we kind of handed them a bunch of easy ones. For whatever reason, we didn’t execute.

“We had a great opportunity on the opening drive (of the second half) and we just turned the ball over. It shouldn’t have happened. Also, along with the turnovers, we had a couple blown coverages that are just as bad as turnovers.”

Leading 21-9 at halftime, Dover looked like it might take control of the contest when it started the second half with a 10-play, 68-yard march that lasted over five minutes and got as far as the Sals’ eight.

But on a fourth-and-four from 11, Sallies’ Jaiden Mason intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it 36 yards to end the threat.

On the Senators’ next drive, another interception set up Sallies at the Dover 46. The time, the Sals turned it into a touchdown when quarterback Conor Campbell found Ryan Rzucidlo for a 19-yard scoring pass on the final play of the third quarter.

Then, on the ensuing kickoff, a Dover fumble on the 18 put Sallies right back in scoring position.

Four plays later, Campbell scored on a one-yard run and the two-point conversion put the Sals ahead 24-21 with 11:14 remaining in the contest. Campbell threw for three touchdowns and ran for two.

Sallies had stretched it advantages to 31-21 when Dover did put together one more good drive of its own.

The Senators went 61 yards on just four plays, with QB Jordan Moran hitting freshman John Parker with a 19-yard TD pass. Parker’s second touchdown catch of the night pulled Dover within 31-28 with 5:44 still remaining.

But the Sals answered with one more scoring drive. Campbell’s 44-yard pass to Rzucidlo on a third-and-eight set up the QB’s four-yard TD run with 3:53 on the clock.

A Dover fumble with :34.9 seconds left sealed the outcome.

Senator senior Moran had one of the best passing days of his career, completing 26-of-34 passes for 278 yards with three touchdowns. Parker had one of the best games of his young career, pulling in 14 receptions for 175 yards and two TDs.

Several other Senators delivered big plays in the first half. Junior Tyron Abrams caught a 28-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-14 while senior linebacker Brandyn Eloi pulled in an interception and returned it 30 yards for a TD that gave Dover its 21-6 lead late in the second quarter.

It just didn’t end being enough for the Senators. Dover now has at least two weeks — and maybe three — to get ready for the state tournament.

“We have a great senior class,” said Knapp. “This was the only guaranteed game we have on this field for them. The picture in our head was sending them off with a win on their home field. That makes this loss a little tougher.

“Sallies did a great job exploiting some things on the defensive side of the ball. We need to come up with some answers as we move on into this playoff situation.”