A day late, Delaware State football team en route to Hawaii after bus snafu

Delaware State University officials preferred taking a direct flight to Hawaii for the Hornets’ 2024 football opener.

Since none were available at closer Philadelphia or Baltimore airports, that required a bus ride to JFK Airport in the New York City borough of Queens.

It, instead, turned out to be a travel nightmare and another chapter in a history of bus excursions gone awry for Delaware State.

The DSU team missed that flight Tuesday morning because of what the bus company Wertz Motor Coaches termed “an internal scheduling malfunction,” in a statement made to HBCU GameDay.

The traveling party spent the night in a New York City hotel while scrambling to rearrange their plans.

The team flew to Hawaii on Wednesday morning, though three separate flights were required, with all expected to arrive in Honolulu on Wednesday afternoon.

Kickoff is at 6 p.m. local time Saturday, which is midnight back in Delaware. It’s a game that was already going to be a significant challenge for the Hornets, who were 1-10 last year and have now had their game-week preparation undermined. The team had planned to visit local sites after arrival Tuesday and practice Wednesday.

“It was unfortunate with the bus company, but that’s another matter,” DSU President Tony Allen told Delaware Online/The News Journal.

“I can tell you these are resilient guys,” Allen added. “Things like this happen. They got it. I know they’ll be uber-focused on the game.”

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: A day late, Delaware State football team en route to Hawaii after bus snafu