By Joel Janssen
The Comets continue their impressive 2024 campaign with a 20-14 win over the undefeated Blue Devils Friday night, moving to 4-2 on the season with a 3-1 record in conference, good enough for second place.
Homecoming festivities started with the parade that carried into tailgating eventually leading to the big game. Players had been raving all week about how this would be the most important game of their lives. A touching ceremony honoring our veterans, followed by a few fireworks, marked the start of the battle.
Evansville received the ball to start and went a quick three and out. The Comets fielded a punt at the 35 and sustained a methodical 6-plus minute drive, capped off by a Kane Kaiser 2-yard touchdown rush. After a blocked extra point, the score would remain 6-0. Before the end of the quarter, Braedyn McKean would scoop up a botched handoff in enemy territory sparking the sideline and crowd. Penalties plagued the DDHS offense not allowing them to convert on the turnover. Evansville kicked off a drive at their own 10 but could not get anything rolling against the suffocating Comet D. Rocco Fusco and Izaiah Rice made the stop with a sack of Matthew Wickersham on 3rd and 11. Delavan got the ball back and marched down the field, careful to soak up time off the clock, eventually leading to a 4th and goal. An obvious passing situation led to the sophomore-sophomore connection between Quintin Arizola and Kaden Garbe resulting in another score, putting the Comets up 13-0 with 55 seconds left in the half. That is all the Blue Devils needed as they put an air raid on a questionable two-high safety zone for Delavan, ending in a 48-yard touchdown from Matthew Wickersham to Andrew Wickersham. Half number one wrapped up at 13-6.
The blue and gold wasted no time fresh out of halftime as Kane Kaiser made multiple men miss en route to a 49-yard touchdown which would be the highlight of a career day rushing 19 times for 153 yards and 2 house calls. The ground game accounted for over 80% of offensive Comet yardage. Kaiser was not the only force on the ground as Brody Nichols also picked up 92 rushing yards and led the defense with 16 tackles. Evansville would claw into the 20-6 lead scoring off of an interception that set up their offense in the green zone. Harker Larsen pounded his way into the endzone and it was followed with two more points from the Wickersham brothers making the score 20-14. Delavan-Darien would be unable to get anything else going on offense the rest of the game due to penalties totaling 16 by the final whistle. The Blue Devils made a valiant effort to close the gap but were stopped by the Comet defense twice in the 4th quarter. Braedyn Mckean caught a pivotal interception in the endzone to end the first of two promising drives for Evansville. With one more chance to tally points, Rocco Fusco made a huge open-field 3rd down tackle then a sack on 4th down to essentially, seal the game away. Arizola took a knee in v-formation and the team turned up with the fans.
This victory was not just about the score. This victory was a statement. It symbolized the new culture of comet football. It displayed the players’ and coaches’ hard work, determination, and spirit. Mark Kibler has revamped the coaching staff and changed the culture of Delavan-Darien football. “Too Easy! Too Easy!” is what Kibler shouted to a sea of fans after the game. The Delavan-Darien football program has a bright future in years ahead and has the chance to compete for a conference title as they take on conference leader Monroe on 10/4.
thecometeer