The vision of Blue-Gold founders Bob Carpenter and Jim Williams continued to remain vivid and vital on Friday night, played out in scenes that have become sights to behold on the Delaware sports scene.
If other 1956 creations had such an everlasting shelf life, we’d still be listening to Elvis Presley on car radios.
The fundraising football game inaugurated by those two, who each had a child who was intellectually disabled — not the term used then — and another closing his high school sports career, survives and thrives because its intent was so pure and purposeful.
It has raised more than $6 million for programs benefitting such children while allowing its participants to get to know such kids on a personal level. That’s a valuable education the recent high school graduates who comprise the two rosters can tack on to their new diplomas.
The 67th version of what is now termed the DFRC Blue-Gold All-Star football game at Delaware Stadium was actually a bit of a throwback itself. For the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, Blue-Gold players lived in University of Delaware dorms, ate in UD dining halls and practiced on Blue Hen fields this week.
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There, they developed the bonds that inspire the tradition of players’ decorating their helmets with the stickers of opposing schools. A white Archmere helmet with the green ‘A’ may, for instance, also be emblazoned with Wilmington Friends Quakers, Conrad Red Wolves and other logos.
Rivals become teammates and, in many cases, lifelong friends.
Take, for instance, Archmere’s Chris Albero and Friends’ Ryan Tattersall. Their teams had ferocious battles as Albero sparked the Auks to the 2021 DIAA Class B title and Tattersall led the Quakers to the 2022 crown.
But, this week, the two were roommates and teammates, forging a friendship that had already begun from crossing paths in their athletic pursuits.
“The people I became close to after this game,” said Albero, bound for Franklin & Marshall. “I’m never gonna forget them or the moments we had this week.”
Albero threw the 62-yard TD pass to Conrad’s Lenniek Preston that keyed the 21-12 Blue win.
Tattersall also took snaps at QB and was named the game’s top lineman for his play at defensive end.
After one defensive play, Tattersall sprinted over to Dominick Pietlock, who’d just broken up a pass, to congratulate him and help him up. Pietlock attends Tower Hill, which has merely been Friends’ archrival for more than a century.
“The whole experience was really fun,” said Tattersall, who is expected to play wide receiver at Yale. “You get to practice together, eat together. You really build a bond as a team having to get up early, go work out. We had a lot of times at night when the whole team was in one person’s room with PlayStation and talking.”
For the first time since 2019, players and other participants were able to take part in the traditional pregame on-field meeting with their “buddies” in the game’s Hand-in-Hand program, which connects them with intellectually disabled kids.
It remains a moving scene and a clear example of barriers being bridged. Albero and several teammates took turns getting photographs with Chris’ cousin Adam. Love and levity were everywhere.
Pregame orator Alex Sklar then delivered a poignant pregame induction that underscored the game’s spirit.
“We are thankful,” he said, “for the friends we have made and the experiences we have shared. … Tonight, win or lose, we will all leave this field at the end of the game as friends.”
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Despite all those tender touches, this was still a game of tackle football.
When kickoff came and the Gold’s Kristopher Shields of Sussex Central intercepted an early pass, it was time for competition to take precedence over custom.
A blocked punt and interceptions by Tenye Martin of Wilmington Charter and Jayden Smith of Newark helped turn the tide in the Blue’s favor, as Quasim Benson of St. Elizabeth and T.J. Martin of Saint Mark’s ran for first-half TDs.
“When I came here, it was just all love,” Preston said. “… It just feels amazing. I’m really going to miss this week. Probably my favorite week ever, honestly.”
So the above-the-canal Blue prevailed for the second straight year, keeping bragging rights up north. The dark clouds that spilled a downpour onto the area eight hours before stayed mercifully away, allowing for a dry night for the several thousand spectators.
And Blue-Gold remained as a fine a First State resource as there is, an enduring example of its creators’ foresight and wisdom.
Have an idea for a compelling local sports story or is there an issue that needs public scrutiny? Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com.
