NEWARK – A long pass from Chris Albero to Lenniek Preston fell incomplete on the first play of the Blue-Gold All-Star football game Friday night because head coach Jody Russell said the Blue team “had a guy out of place.”
The Blue went back to it midway through the third quarter. And this time, everything fell into place.
Albero’s 62-yard touchdown pass to Preston restored the Blue’s two-touchdown lead and keyed a spirited 21-12 victory in the 67th meeting of Delaware’s top high school senior football players at Delaware Stadium.
The Blue, made up of players from above the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal in New Castle County, won for the second straight year and now leads the series 34-30-3.
The Gold had just pulled within 14-6 on its first touchdown, a 23-yard run by Laurel quarterback Kaden Shockley, with 7:41 left in the third quarter.
On the next play from scrimmage, Preston — a Conrad graduate headed to play collegiately at Kutztown — circled out of the backfield.
Albero, who will continue playing at Franklin & Marshall, threw it deep down the right side.
THE BIG LIST:From acrobatics to football to rugby, here are 526 Delaware HS athletes headed to college
“We had a special play for him in the backfield, and I knew he was going to go make a play if I put it up to him,” the quarterback said. “There was good coverage on the play, and I put it behind him a little bit so he could grab the ball.”
Preston snatched it from a defender and raced untouched into the end zone to make it 21-6.
“I saw my quarterback put the ball in the air, and I thought I could make a play on it,” said Preston, who finished with four catches for 88 yards and was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player. “I wanted to impress the crowd. I wanted to show my potential, show what I can do. I just went up there, got that ball and scored for my team.”
Russell, the Newark coach who improved to 2-0 as a Blue-Gold head coach, wanted to give Preston a chance in the open field.
“It didn’t work on the first play of the game, but we came back to it,” Russell said. “Lenniek out of the backfield, he’s a special player. Chris put the ball right on the money, and Lenniek did the rest.”
The Blue moved 41 yards in eight plays for the game’s first score. Wilmington Friends quarterback Robby Tattersall completed a 16-yard pass to Preston on fourth-and-15, and Quasim Benson from St. Elizabeth scored from the 10 two plays later to make it 7-0 with 9:25 left in the first half.
Newark’s Jayden Smith returned a punt 17 yards to the Gold 29 to set up the next score. Benson ran for gains of 19 and 8 yards, and T.J. Martin from Saint Mark’s punched it in from the 4 for a 14-0 lead with 1:59 remaining in the half.
The Gold moved 64 yards in 10 plays after the second-half kickoff. Shockley completed passes of 18 and 17 yards to Middletown’s Noah Kracyla, who is set to join Preston at Kutztown. Then Shockley got the Gold on the board, only to see Preston answer immediately with his big TD.
The next Gold drive reached the Blue 8 before Newark’s Damian Wright broke up a fourth-down pass.
But the Gold mustered another score later, going 83 yards in 11 plays. The big gainer was Shockley’s 39-yard bomb to Polytech’s Amir Jenkins. Smyrna’s Brian Wright found Seth McGroerty of Red Lion Christian for a 3-yard TD to cut the Blue’s lead to 21-12 with 3:33 to play.
But Charter of Wilmington’s Tenye Martin intercepted the attempted 2-point pass – his second pick of the night – to keep the margin at nine points. Gold’s final drive ran out of gas at the Blue 30 as time expired.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL:In 67th edition, DFRC Blue-Gold game continues to reward founders for their foresight
“They grinded,” Russell said of his winning team. “That last three minutes, I think, took more than the rest of the whole game. But it was great.”
Tattersall, who is headed to Yale, also had a stellar night at defensive end and was named the game’s Most Valuable Lineman.
Albero completed 5 of 8 passes for 104 yards, while Benson rushed 12 times for 69 yards.
Shockley completed 7 of 12 for 84 yards for the Gold, with Kracyla catching five passes for 47 yards and Jenkins grabbing four for 55 yards. Lake Forest’s Kai Rivera led the Gold rushers with six carries for 32 yards.
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ
