DCS Gators think it’s time for a change in District 4-1A

DELHI - Much like the Presidential Election, change seems to be a hot topic of conversation in District 4-1A ahead of this week’s Delhi Charter and Mangham clash. DCS is the two-time defending district champion (incumbent) and Mangham (challenger) is looking to dethrone the Gators and reclaim the crown they relinquished in 2006. The Ken Ramsey poll shows the Dragons with a .66 lead over the Gators, while the LSWA poll last week showed Mangham at #5 with Delhi Charter at #6 and only 20 votes separating the two teams. Okay, enough with the election stuff, we are all sick of it by now.

Both teams enter the game with identical 8-1 records, but the Dragons are undefeated at 3-0 in district play, while the Gators suffered their only loss of the season to the Oak Grove Tigers in week 6. What it means is that a Mangham win gives the Dragons an outright title while a DCS win would result in a three-way tie for the district crown. Either way, it will be a change from 2006 and 2007 when the Gators claimed the district crown.

Two years ago when Oak Grove entered the district, most prognosticators thought this week 10 game would simply be to decide second place, but such hasn’t been the case. Last year, Delhi Charter took a 21-6 victory and claimed its second district crown and an undefeated district slate. Unexpectedly, the game was a defensive struggle with the Gators claiming a 6-0 halftime lead before pulling away late.

Trying to handicap this game isn’t very easy. Both teams have a lot of seniors in key positions and have played a similar schedule. Looking at common opponents won’t offer much help as DCS defeated Delhi 27-0, while Mangham beat the Bears 28-0. Mangham defeated Tensas 51 – 6, while DCS defeated the Panthers 44-0. DCS defeated Madison 35-14, while Mangham beat the Jaguars 21-0. The Oak Grove situation has already been established, but then there’s the Block Bears. Mangham beat Block 21-19 who then lost to the LaSalle Tigers 21-20, while DCS beat LaSalle 48-22 in week 3. There are waaaaaay too many variables from week to week for common opponent information to be useful let alone the fact that we are dealing with high school kids. So, let’s just stick to what we know.

Mangham is led by senior quarterback Josh Wilson. Wilson is the twelfth ranked QB in the state after eight weeks passing for 1,365 yards, completing 104 of 185 passes with only four interceptions. The Dragon running game has been effective at times but plays second fiddle to the passing game. Michael Holland is Wilson’s favorite target catching 40 passes for 510 yards and six TDs. Defensively, senior Karl Wiggers leads the defense that is giving up only 13.6 points per game and has surrendered three touchdowns only three times. Offensively, the Dragons are putting up 32 points per game.

Delhi Charter is led on offense by junior running back Randy Julian and senior quarterback Stuart Scurria. Julian is the tenth leading rusher in the state with 177 carries for 1,379 yards and 14 touchdowns. Up until last week, the Gators ran first and passed once in a while. Last week against Tensas, Scurria threw for three touchdowns and had his first game with over 100 yards passing this season as the Gators appear to be trying to diversify the offense somewhat. The Gator defense is led by Senior DB Heath Pruitt and junior LB Hunter Simms and is allowing only 14.4 points per contest. Also, the defense has allowed three touchdowns only four times this season, but the offense is averaging 42 points per game.

In an unusual bit of trivia, Mangham is trying to repeat Delhi Charter’s feat from last year of losing its first game and then winning nine straight games to claim the district title. The Gators have the advantage of being at home, but that didn’t matter last year as they won on the road in Mangham and Oak Grove. .However, Delhi Charter lost to Oak Grove at home earlier this year.

All these stats mean very little. In games like these between two good teams in an important district game the outcome is usually determined by two things, special teams and turnovers. The only exception to that rule is when one team is clearly better than the other on a given night and usually, the scoreboard will reveal that fact. Either way, trying to predict the outcome using stats, common opponents, and intangibles is nearly impossible because in the end, they’re still just high school kids playing a game.

After Tuesday, we’ll know if we’ll have a Republican or a Democrat in the White House and after Friday, we’ll know if we have a Dragon as district champion or a three way tie. Either way, change is upon us…like it or not. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. in Delhi at the Swamp south of Delhi.