Football Picks: First-week picks are never easy

DOVER — The first week is always the most difficult to predict.

It’s not like high school football teams play televised preseason games or have ESPN reporters at their practices.

Throw a couple Pennsylvania schools into the mix and there’s even more unknowns about trying to figure out who is going to win in the first week of the Delaware high school football season.

With that in mind, here’s our opening-weekend predictions for the local high school and college football games.

Andy Walter, Daily State News
Tim Mastro, free-lance writer
Glenn Frazer, 302 Sports

Thursday, Aug. 29

Games start at 7 p.m. unless noted.

A.I. DuPont at First State Military, 4 p.m.: A year after making the DIAA state tournament for the first time, the Bulldogs have a chance to get off to a good start vs. rebulding Tigers.
AW: FSM, 52-6; TM: FSM, 21-14; GF: FSM, 28-10.

William Penn at Caesar Rodney: After winning only twice in the last three seasons, the Riders could really use a win to open the season.
AW: WP, 23-17; TM: CR, 22-21; GF: CR, 14-13.

Cape Henlopen at Red Lion Christian: Considering they reached the Class 3A state finals last fall, the Vikings have some high hopes for this year.
AW: Cape, 34-20; TM: Cape, 28-17; GF: Cape, 27-14.

Sussex Central at Laurel: Central had to score a pair of fourth-quarter TDs to put away a 36-21 win over Laurel last year.
AW: SC, 21-13; TM: SC, 30-16; GF: SC, 21-10.

Seaford at Woodbridge: Since ‘09, the Blue Raiders have won the last 12 meetings with the Blue Jays.
AW: Wood, 22-20; TM: Wood, 28-12; GF: .Wood, 17-12

Lake Forest at Odessa: The Spartans are trying to win their opener for the fourth straight season.
AW: Lake, 20-14; TM: Odessa, 24-21; GF: Lake, 28-14.

College

Bryant at Delaware, 7 p.m.: The Hens would like to show they’re ready for a big final season at the FCS level.
AW: UD, 35-14; TM: UD, 30-13; GF: UD, 24-14.

Friday, Aug. 30

Milford at Mt. Pleasant, 3:30 p.m.: Last season a 42-0 win over Green Knights started Milford on the road to a 6-4 season.
AW: Milford, 38-8; TM: Milford, 24-17; GF: Milford, 16-14.

Delmar at Dickinson, 6 p.m.: The Wildcats take the trip upstate to face a team it beat by 37 in last year’s opener.
AW: Delmar, 42-7; TM: Delmar, 42-12; GF: Delmar, 28-10.

Smyrna vs. Dowingtown West, Pa. (1-0) at Abessinio Stadium, 8 p.m.: A young Smyrna squad faces a very challenging opener in Wilmington.
AW: DW, 45-28; TM: DW, 31-28; GF: DW, 30-24.

Saturday, Aug. 31

Sussex Tech at Glasgow, noon: The Ravens look to shake off the four-game losing streak they ended last season with.
AW: ST, 34-12; TM: ST, 28-10; GF: ST, 24-8.

Dover vs. Troy (1-0), Pa. at Abessinio Stadium, 8 p.m.: The Senators make their debut under new coach Maurice Paulk against an unknown opponent.
AW : Dover, 24-21; TM: Dover, 28-21; GF: Troy, 27-20.

College

Delaware State (0-1) at Sacred Heart, 6 p.m.: The Hornets return from their long trip to Hawaii by heading up to Connecticut for a contest that should be more competitive.

AW: SH, 31-17; TM: SH, 24-13; GF: SH, 34-17.