#1 (DII) St. Mark's Spartans vs #8 (DI) Newark Yellow Jackets*
Opponent: Newark Yellow Jackets 0 - 0 (Home 0 - 0, Away 0 - 0)
National Rank: #4880 State Rank: #12 **
Conference: Blue Hen Flight A, 0 - 0 (Home 0 - 0, Away 0 - 0)
When: Friday September 11th, 7:00 PM
Where: Spartan Stadium, St. Mark's High School - Directions
Last Played: 2012 at Newark High School, St. Mark's won 21 - 0
Weather: Mostly sunny, high 82, low 59, with a 10% chance of rain.
Coach: Butch Simpson
Schedule: Link
Roster: Link
* The News Journal now does their rankings by division, as opposed to doing one for all the teams in the state.
** Cal Preps Rankings
National Rank: #4880 State Rank: #12 **
Conference: Blue Hen Flight A, 0 - 0 (Home 0 - 0, Away 0 - 0)
When: Friday September 11th, 7:00 PM
Where: Spartan Stadium, St. Mark's High School - Directions
Last Played: 2012 at Newark High School, St. Mark's won 21 - 0
Weather: Mostly sunny, high 82, low 59, with a 10% chance of rain.
Coach: Butch Simpson
Schedule: Link
Roster: Link
* The News Journal now does their rankings by division, as opposed to doing one for all the teams in the state.
** Cal Preps Rankings
Time To Turn The Lights On
St. Mark's will open their 44th season and first as a member of Division II, against long time rival Newark High School this Friday night at Spartan Stadium. The teams have a long running series that dates to the 80's, but will be meeting for the first time since 2012 due to scheduling conflicts. The schools are natural
geographical rivals, located a few miles apart. And like any rivalry, conventional wisdom can be thrown out. St. Mark's has won 3 out of the last 4 meetings between the teams, however since Newark's decade of dominance (1995-2005, during which they won 7 state titles) they stand even at 4 - 4. The Yellowjackets have struggled some since those lofty days around the turn of the century, but should provide St. Mark's with a stiff challenge in their home opener. In their last visit to Spartan Stadium, in 2011, Newark spoiled the festivities for St. Mark's, erasing an 11 point half time deficit and going on to win 39 - 27 in the Spartans fist ever night game on campus. Playing the spoiler is a role the Yellowjackets know well in the series.In 1985, playing without captain and starting lineman, Patrick Groves, St. Mark's was soundly beaten by the defending state champion Yellowjackets during the regular season. In a semifinal rematch with their captain healthy and playing, the Spartans looked to be at least Newark's equal. Trailing 8 - 0, St. Mark's scored late in the game, losing their captain to injury again on the play. With a backup in, St. Mark's conversion run was stopped and the Spartans lost 8 - 6. In 1999 St. Mark's looked to be in good position to end their long title drought after knocking off top ranked and undefeated Caeser Rodney in the semifinals of the playoffs, and facing a Newark team in the finals., whom they had lost to 7 -6 in overtime during the regular season. Surely good luck would be on the Spartans side this time around. But it wasn't to be, Newark won 22 - 0 for their third consecutive title. In 2003 the Yellowjackets struck again, in what is probably one of the more painful moments in Spartan football history. St Mark's was the top ranked team in the state and meeting a Newark team that they had crushed 33 -6 earlier in the year for the championship. Coach Simpson revamped his offense and defense and stunned the Spartans 28 -21 in double overtime. Yes, good fortune seems to be on Newark's side when these teams meet, especially when the lights are shining the brightest.
geographical rivals, located a few miles apart. And like any rivalry, conventional wisdom can be thrown out. St. Mark's has won 3 out of the last 4 meetings between the teams, however since Newark's decade of dominance (1995-2005, during which they won 7 state titles) they stand even at 4 - 4. The Yellowjackets have struggled some since those lofty days around the turn of the century, but should provide St. Mark's with a stiff challenge in their home opener. In their last visit to Spartan Stadium, in 2011, Newark spoiled the festivities for St. Mark's, erasing an 11 point half time deficit and going on to win 39 - 27 in the Spartans fist ever night game on campus. Playing the spoiler is a role the Yellowjackets know well in the series.In 1985, playing without captain and starting lineman, Patrick Groves, St. Mark's was soundly beaten by the defending state champion Yellowjackets during the regular season. In a semifinal rematch with their captain healthy and playing, the Spartans looked to be at least Newark's equal. Trailing 8 - 0, St. Mark's scored late in the game, losing their captain to injury again on the play. With a backup in, St. Mark's conversion run was stopped and the Spartans lost 8 - 6. In 1999 St. Mark's looked to be in good position to end their long title drought after knocking off top ranked and undefeated Caeser Rodney in the semifinals of the playoffs, and facing a Newark team in the finals., whom they had lost to 7 -6 in overtime during the regular season. Surely good luck would be on the Spartans side this time around. But it wasn't to be, Newark won 22 - 0 for their third consecutive title. In 2003 the Yellowjackets struck again, in what is probably one of the more painful moments in Spartan football history. St Mark's was the top ranked team in the state and meeting a Newark team that they had crushed 33 -6 earlier in the year for the championship. Coach Simpson revamped his offense and defense and stunned the Spartans 28 -21 in double overtime. Yes, good fortune seems to be on Newark's side when these teams meet, especially when the lights are shining the brightest.
Newark is coming off a 6 - 4 season in which they just missed qualifying for a playoff berth with a loss to Concord in the final game of the regular season. They played that game without star quarterback Ben Campbell who graduated along with 19 other seniors. However the Yellowjackets return many players who gained experience last year and are ready to take the next step. Andrew Delpercio saw action in Ben Campbell's absence and will take over at quarterback, possibly sharing duties with wide receiver Mekhi Pressey. Newark is big and strong on the line led by returning captains Eric Hunter and Angel Guerrero. With the offensive and defensive lines being the strength of the team and vesatility at the skill positions, Coach Simpson is optimistic about the season. With little available information on Newark's current team, and the misfortune of not having seen them play the past two seasons, it is difficult to do a proper preview. However it looks as though the Yellowjackets are in a similar situation as St. Mark's. Both teams return a core of experienced veterans with inexperienced players stepping in at key positions. How those players fill the holes will determine how good the teams can be. It's probably safe to say that one would want to catch either of these teams early in the season rather than late. How that plays out against each other is anyone's guess.
Statistical Comparison: none available due to it being both teams opener.
Results to date: n/a
Common opponents played: none to date
Results to date: n/a
Common opponents played: none to date