By Andy Walter

CAMDEN — Ashton Stafford can live with the weather not exactly being springlike this time of year.

All that matters to the Caesar Rodney High senior is that it’s lacrosse season again.

“We’re playing the best sport on the planet,” Stafford said with a smile.

But along with the cold, windy and occasionally rainy conditions, there’s nothing easy about the Riders’ schedule these days, either.

After opening the season with a 19-1 Henlopen North victory over Dover on Monday, CR is in the middle of a grueling stretch of games.

Following a home game with Queen Anne’s, Md. on Thursday, the Riders host perennial state power Salesianum on Saturday at noon and then go to Kent Island, Md. next Wednesday. After that, they go to Willow Spring, N.C. for a spring break contest and still have a date with Cape Henlopen looming on April 16.

CR’s players, though, say they like to be challenged. A year after going 13-5 and reaching the DIAA state semifinals, they know facing rugged competition is the only way they’re going to improve.

“These tough teams prepare us for the rest of the season,” said senior attack Patrick Craig. “Sallies is a great team. We don’t want to replicate them but that’s the (level of) lacrosse we want to be at by some point at the end of the season.”

“It opens us up to some of the best players in the country,” said Stafford, a long-stick midfielder. “It shows us, hey, we’ve got to be at that level of play in order for us to be great. It shows that there’s something to improve on.”

Senior Ashton Stafford is a returning starter at long-stick midfielder for the Riders. SPECIAL TO THE DAILY STATE NEWS/GARY EMEIGH.

The Riders have a good foundation of returning players to build on this spring.
Along with Craig and Cam Taylor, who were both second-team All-Staters, CR also returns All-Henlopen North players Ian Betts, Parker Smith, Phoenix Biggs and Dylan Bennett.

The Riders have only five seniors on this roster. But they have 21 juniors and nine freshmen.

Against Dover, sophomore Tanner Smith netted a team-high seven goals while Craig added a pair of goals and five assists.

“They’re great kids,” Craig said about this squad. “We’re really connected.”

As successful as last season was for the Riders, they ended the season with a 17-4 loss to Cape Henlopen. Clearly they walked away from that setback knowing they’ve got to improve.

CR has won at least one game in at least each of the last 14 state tournaments but hasn’t reached the championship game since 2018.

“It was sad,” Craig said about the loss to Cape. “I’d been playing lacrosse with a lot of the seniors for a while. That was our last game together.

“At the time, it stinks. But, when we reflect on it, it’s good for us. It’s a learning experience for sure.”

“We were one game away from (playing in) the state championship,” said Stafford. “It’s a sour taste but we played the best that we could.

“We want to work harder so we can make it to the state championship.”

At the end of the day, CR’s goal isn’t to be playing its best lacrosse of the season right now. Rather, the Riders hope they’ll hit their stride in May.

“I think that getting some big games early on is good for our guys,” said CR coach Brooks Johnson. “They can see the level of competition as early as is humanly possible. It kind of sets a barometer of where we need to be and where we are.

“I think our schedule definitely sets us up to peak in May. That’s where we want to be come tournament time. Having a tough out-of-conference schedule is important for us.”

Extra points

• CR was the last team other than Cape Henlopen or Sallies to reach the state finals. The Vikings and Sals have faced each other in the last four state championship games (there wasn’t one played in 2020).

• Cape Henlopen and Sallies are slated to meet in Lewes on May 14 in the Vikings’ regular-season finale.

• The Henlopen Conference championship game is scheduled for May 18 at the South champion’s field.

• Sallies has won the last three state titles and 12 since 2007 under former Dover coaches Bob Healy and Shawn Plews.

• Sallies is currently ranked No. 24 in the country by USA Lacrosse.

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at awalter@iniusa.org. Follow on X at @DSNsports.