NEWARK – Wilmington Friends’ first state football championship in 38 years came spiraling directly toward Andrew McKenzie on Saturday night.
The junior grabbed the opportunity, intercepting Caravel’s final pass with 1:49 to play to clinch the Quakers’ 10-7 victory in the DIAA Class 2A final.
“The ball, I guess it found me. I don’t know,” McKenzie said. “I was in the right spot at the right time.”
He was in the perfect spot to finish writing an incredible chapter in the history of one of Delaware’s most prominent high school football families.
After 53 seasons and 331 wins, Bob Tattersall – the state’s all-time leader in coaching victories – transitioned to associate head coach at Friends before this season.
His son, Rob, took over as head coach. And his grandsons, Robby and Ryan, played key roles throughout the Quakers’ 13-0 season.
So all of the Tattersalls – and everyone else associated with Friends – were in tears after the game.
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“It means so much. Being at Wilmington Friends, we’ve all been together since first grade,” said Robby Tattersall, the 6-foot-5 senior quarterback who rushed for 117 yards and passed for 105 and a touchdown. “It’s been a journey, and I wouldn’t have done it with any other team.
“I’m so thankful, because everybody sacrificed so much for the team’s success. My grandfather, my dad, my brother, everybody put so much into it.”
Bob Tattersall first held a state championship trophy in 1984, when Friends became the first and still only Delaware Independent School Conference team to win a football title. On Saturday night, the Quakers were thrilled to hand him the new trophy.
“This is probably more satisfying than it was in 1984,” Bob Tattersall said. “I’m like an insurance policy. I’m there if you need me, but you never want to have to use me.
“Rob just did a tremendous job. He’s what they needed, and he did it all and put it together. The staff was just tremendous. Watching those guys from a distance every day at practice, it’s impressive.”
Of course, there was a lot of hard-nosed football to play before the celebration.
The Quakers took it to the top-seeded Buccaneers (12-1) on their opening possession, covering 86 yards in 11 plays.
Tattersall completed 5 of 6 passes, including a 30-yarder to Jason Hughes and a 4-yarder to 6-6 tight end Ishmael Dobson for the touchdown that made it 7-0 with 2:37 left in the first quarter.
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Then the Quakers forced another punt and went right back to it.
Truman Auwerda’s 55-yard boot backed up Friends to its own 18, but the Quakers clicked off 18 plays in 7:44 before the march stalled at the Bucs 11. Alessio Cristanetti-Walker came on to kick a 29-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead with 5:19 remaining in the second quarter.
“We just came out fresh. We knew what we had to do,” Robby Tattersall said. “We prepped those plays at the start, and I think we just executed perfectly.”
Friends had 32 plays for 174 yards in the first half, compared to just 55 yards on 18 plays for Caravel.
But the Buccaneers regrouped and had the Quakers on their heels throughout the second half.
“They didn’t let us get to the edge. We couldn’t run the ball,” Rob Tattersall said. “They started winning the line of scrimmage.”
Taking the ball at its own 15 with 8:41 to play, Caravel found an immediate spark when Auwerda hit Vandrick Hamlin III with a 42-yard bomb.
Then the QB completed two more passes to set up Jordan Miller’s 6-yard touchdown run. Just like that, with 6:46 remaining, the Bucs cut the lead to 10-7.
Friends picked up a couple of first downs by running wide, but was forced to punt with 2:28 to play. Robby Tattersall’s 33-yard boot pinned Caravel at its own 7.
Auwerda completed a 9-yard pass to Christian DeRegis on first down. But his next toss was intercepted by McKenzie, who returned it 18 yards to the Bucs 12.
Four plays later, the clock hit zero. And the Quakers started celebrating like it was 1984.
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ
