CAMDEN – It was just the type of gritty effort that Caesar Rodney High School football coach Shaun Strickland and his staff were looking for in their season opener on Thursday night.
The Riders were tested by a challenging William Penn aerial attack led by quarterback Josiah Everett, but swarming defensive backs and linebackers held their ground in a 17-0 shutout in the non-district contest.
“It was awesome,” said Strickland, in his second season as coach of his alma mater’s team. “Our kids were the true definition of grind it out.
“When it mattered the most and our backs were against the wall we just responded, and I couldn’t be happier or prouder of this team.”
The Riders have taken their lumps the past three seasons, going just 2-29 over that span, including a 1-9 record last year.
One of CR’s two wins over that time period was a 26-6 win over William Penn in 2022.
Senior quarterback Julius Timmons is in his third year as a starter for the Riders. He said that he feels a different type of confidence in his team heading into this season.
“It felt amazing. It was a credit to our defense, and I’ve got to say our running backs stepping up,” Timmons said. “We’ve got a couple of running backs playing on both sides of the ball – Dion Alston, Typhen Bowe-Walker and Jaxson Timmons – but they were asking for the rock and delivering.
“We just played with a lot of energy. Everybody’s studying and doing the right things in practice and our energy is different this year.”
Despite a swirling light rain that began falling at the start of the second quarter the Riders kept their footing and pushing forward on Thursday, hoping it is a sign of more positive things to come.
CR’s first drive of the season came up just short when Alston was stopped in the center of the line on a fourth-and-three play from the Riders’ 14-yard line in what turned out to be a scoreless first quarter..
However, they capitalized on their first possession of the second quarter, going 65 yards in nine plays and scoring when sophomore Timmons swept around the left side of the line and went in for a 5-yard touchdown.
Brody Hinkle’s point-after kick gave CR a 7-0 lead with 6:14 left in the quarter.
Meanwhile, William Penn, which was in CR’s territory on three of its’ four possessions in the first half, kept hampering itself with penalties and the Riders’ clamp-down defense.
Caesar Rodney scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
Hinkle booted a 21-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter and Alston scored a touchdown on an 11-yard run before Hinkle’s point-after kick produced the 17-0 final with just 54 seconds to play.
Bowe-Walker rushed for 51 yards on 17 carries and Timmons completed 3 of 7 passes for 35 yards.
Meanwhile, William Penn sophomore quarterback Josiah Everett completed 18 of his 33 pass attempts for 179 yards.
The Colonials made it inside CR territory on six of its nine possessions during the game but was hampered by costly penalties and a speedy Riders’ defense.
On their first possession of the second half, they even had first-and-goal at CR’s 4-yard-line, but Chase Foxworth was hit on a rushing attempt and the Riders’ Parker Smith recovered the loose ball.
While Caesar Rodney did not put up any eye-popping individual statistics, it was what they did as a team that impressed Strickland the most.
“I think our discipline, especially early on when we were capitalizing on mistakes the other team was making, it kept us driving and controlling the ball,” he said, “and then at the end our conditioning and being able to wear their team down and our guys kept going and just chewed clock and put points on the board.
“I think Tanner Smith and Steph Davis are class acts. You had John Case, and our defensive line was just phenomenal … Dion Alston our middle backer and Jayden Minor on the outside were anchoring our secondary.”
For the Riders the season opener was something to build on. They will play three of their first four games at home.
“It’s a long journey and to come out and, in all honesty, to come out and start with a shutout is an absolutely phenomenal feeling to trust your defense,” Strickland said. “It was just a complete team effort.”
Staff writer Mike Finney can be reached at 302-741-8230 or mfinney@iniusa.org.
Follow @MikeFinneyDSN on X.
Caesar Rodney 17, William Penn 0
William Penn 0 0 0 0-0
Caesar Rodney 0 7 0 10-17
CR – Timmons 5 run (Hinkle kick)
CR – Hinkle 21 field goal
CR – Alston 11 run (Hinkle kick)
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