Bulldogs Fill the W Column

Delhi’s football Bulldogs enjoyed a successful 2009 season, enjoying the best start to a season since 1995, and winning the division title for the 2^nd year in a row.

The 9-1 season was filled with some superb defensive efforts, including 4 shutouts. The offense didn’t burst open with points like it had near the end of 2008, but some timely scoring helped propel the ‘Dogs into their 9^th Section IV Playoff and 6^th Section IV Final appearance in 11 seasons.

Delhi opened the season at home against a spirited and athletic Liberty squad. Liberty came in running a spread offense, which isn’t seen too much at the smaller school level. Both teams moved the ball reasonably well early in the game, but neither was able to close the deal. In the 3^rd quarter Liberty came very close with a 1^st and goal from the 4, but a fumble killed that drive. Delhi started to get a bit more consistent in moving the ball at that point and was able to score on a Rich Ennist run early in the 4^th. Delhi would head downfield on another nice drive, though an apparent fumble and return for a Liberty TD looked to make things very interesting. A penalty negated the play, and Delhi was able to finish off the 2^nd drive, and come out with a tough 16-0 win.

Delhi then headed down to Hancock to open the division schedule against a Wildcat team striving to come back to the stronger days of its program. Delhi started out a bit slow, especially on defense, and gave up an early TD following a nice Hancock drive. Delhi then took over on both sides of the ball, shutting down the Wildcat offense and scoring 6 more TD’s by 4 different players, including 2 TD passes to Jacob Haynes. Delhi emerged with a 51-14 win, and things were looking up.

Delhi then played host to Pumpkinfest 2009 as Walton came to town for the showdown of 2-0 teams. The two teams battled through nearly 3 quarters with no points on the board. For the game, there were a combined 12 punts. Things got rolling when Walton fumbled a Delhi punt at their 36, and Delhi was able to score on an absolute beauty of a 9 yard TD catch by Rich Ennist on 4^th down. Walton soon answered and tied the game on a Dan Gehl TD run. Jack Fletcher then began to pull off some nice runs, and his 18 yard TD put Delhi ahead once again, and an Anthony Salerno to Jacob Haynes 2 pointer made it an 8 point game. Walton continued to make it interesting, however, with a nice clutch drive and a TD, but the 2 pointer would come up short, and the Bulldogs were able to claim Route 10 supremacy, 14-12.

The ‘Dogs travelled down I-88 to Harpursville for week 4, and Delhi flexed their muscles with both Jack Fletcher and JJ Darling surpassing 100 yards rushing, and with 3 TD passes from Anthony Salerno. The defense was mostly solid, and Delhi was looking strong with a 34-14 win.

Deposit hosted the Bulldogs in a rare Lumberjack night game, played under portable lights. Delhi’s rushing game again looked strong, as Jack Fletcher accumulated 224 yards while helping the ‘Dogs to 20 first downs. The defense played very well and pitched the 2^nd shutout of the season. Delhi looked to be in charge of the division race, as they came out on top 27-0.

Week 6 brought the Bulldogs back to Delhi for a home contest against Oxford. The game didn’t appear to be a difficult one on the surface, but Oxford ended up giving Delhi all they wanted and much more. Oxford’s defense gave the Bulldogs fits all day. Outside of one 87 yard run, the ‘Dogs averaged just 3.3 yards per carry on 53 rushing attempts, and were held multiple times on 4^th and short situations. The ‘Dogs also struggled with the punting game, and one errant snap led to a Blackhawk TD. On 2 other occasions Oxford moved to the Delhi 5 yard line, but the Bulldogs were able to halt the drive both times, which proved to be game winning stops. Delhi eked out a 7-6 victory, and the thoughts of physical dominance were fading a bit.

Delhi looked to right the ship with a trip to Binghamton to play Seton Catholic. The Saints had looked strong early in the year, but some key injuries brought them down significantly. Delhi did look much stronger and better at moving the ball this time around, with JJ Darling picking up a career high 139 yards, and the team racking up 342. A pair of dropped TD passes kept the score in check, but Delhi did look a good bit better, coming out on top 16-0.

Week 8 brought the division championship game to Delhi. Bainbridge-Guilford visited, and both the Bobcats and the Bulldogs were undefeated in divisional play. The game followed torrential rain, and the field conditions were very poor. Delhi did look the best statistically, but not overly impressive, running up 10 first downs and 192 yards. The defense made a superb showing, holding BG to 31 yards on 35 plays, and keeping the Bobcats without a first down in the first half, with only 2 for the entire game. Once again though, the points were difficult to come by, and the game was not completely in the ‘Dogs’ paws till the end, when the scoreboard showed a 7-0 Delhi victory. Delhi had won the division for the 2^nd year in a row, and this was the first time for this since the ’85-’86 seasons.

Delhi entered the Class D playoffs as the top seed from the east side of the section, and played the west’s #2 Tioga Tigers. Delhi was actually outgained by Tioga, but made the plays at all the key times. A key tackle on a 4^th down play by JJ Darling and a beautiful 4^th quarter drive would show the ‘Dogs in control, and Delhi was on their way to the sectional final with a 20-3 victory.

After bowing out to Groton to close the 2008 campaign, Delhi looked to get over this hurdle to pick up yet another sectional title. Groton’s Kyle Reed had other thoughts, however, as he opened the game with a 84 yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Delhi’s offense was able to get a few first downs, but wasn’t able to consistently sustain drives. Mistakes also hurt the Bulldogs, as a fumble, a blocked punt, and an errant punt snap gave Groton the ball inside Delhi’s 20 on 3 different occasions. The defense made a valiant effort, but was not able to stop Groton on every play, especially with the poor field position and the lack of Bulldog offense. Groton was able to convert Delhi’s mistakes and to generally get by the Bulldog defense, and Delhi came out with a 43-13 loss to close the season. Groton would go on to blow out the state’s #1 ranked team in the quarterfinals before bowing out in the semi’s following an injury to Reed.

All in all it was a highly successful season for the Bulldogs, as Delhi has only had 9 or more wins twice previously since 1986 (that was in 1995 and 2001’s state championship season). The defense showed it was able to produce when it counted most in several of the games, providing for some very gritty wins and gut check moments.