By Tim Mastro

CAMDEN — Turnovers cut short several promising drives by the Caesar Rodney High football team in its season opener.

And Hodgson Vo-Tech made sure to take advantage.

The Riders were hampered by six turnovers and fell to Hodgson 20-7 at home on Thursday night in the first game for both teams. Two of Hodgson’s three touchdowns came right after fumbles by Caesar Rodney.

“We just had too many issues with putting the ball on the ground too many times,” said CR coach Dan Candeloro. “You can’t play that team and do that. They capitalized. We got some things to work on. It’s just one of those games.”

Brock Conner scored the lone touchdown for the Riders. The senior fullback spun out of the grip of Hodgson’s defensive line to cut Hodgson’s lead to 12-7 with 7:38 left in the second quarter.

The Silver Eagles responded with a touchdown of their own on the next possession. Caesar Rodney had Hodgson facing a fourth-and-goal situation on the 10-yard line, but Jacob Barker found London Bright over the middle and Joshua Ames ran for a two-point conversion on what ended up being the final score of the game with 3:05 left in the second quarter.

Ames provided a bulk of the offense for Hodgson. He finished with 188 rushing yards, 74 coming on a touchdown run to open the scoring — two plays after the Riders fumbled deep inside Hodgson territory.

Hodgson also scored on a 38-yard pass by Barker to Andrew Hansley late in the first quarter. That touchdown came one play after CR fumbled on a botched snap for a turnover.

Hodgson’s defense also forced three interceptions, two by Zion Davis. The Silver Eagles even began the game with a takeaway as Caesar Rodney muffed the opening kickoff.

Nate Waite led the Riders’ defense with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Clay Friend added a fumble recovery.

Waite also provided one of the biggest plays of the night for the CR offense with a 32-yard catch on fourth-and-long in the third quarter. It brought the Riders into the Hodgson red zone but they could not convert on a fourth-and-short, resulting on a turnover on downs.

“We’ll watch film and talk about how we can build on this,” Candeloro said. “I thought we had some good runs, some good catches, some good blocks and we hit well, we hit with them. It’s baby steps. We’re real young.”