After starting the season with just one win through the first six weeks of the 2024 campaign, Delsea made a big change.
The Crusaders now have won three of their last four games, with two playoff wins heading into the Central Group 3 sectional championship game at top-seed and undefeated Somerville Friday night.
For Delsea, the improvement has come on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the Crusaders switched to back to their longtime Wing-T offense midseason. To do that, they brought back Sal Marchesi – who retired last year after 31 seasons – to be their offensive coordinator.
The goal was to create better looks for its talented group of backs – and that’s reflected in the box scores with a total of 2,028 yards and 23 touchdowns on the ground.
Getting starting quarterback Jimmy Reardon back from injury was also a big key.
Leading the way offensively for Delsea is running back Dan Russo, who has 897 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns through ten games this year. Delsea has plenty of reinforcements in the run game, including Alex Grippo (93 carries for 507 yards and three touchdowns), Reardon (47 carries for 345 yards and five touchdowns) and Joel Anderson (48 carries for 250 yards and a touchdown).
The Crusaders have also shown improvement on the defensive side of the ball, where they’ve allowed just 13.25 points per game over the last four weeks.
In addition to Russo’s team-high 81 tackles and three interceptions at linebacker, Delsea has also relied on strong seasons from Grippo (59 tackles and one tackle for loss), Reardon (who has a team-high four interceptions) and defensive lineman Charles Mapp (19 tackles, four tackles for loss and three sacks).
You can hear Friday night’s game on Central Jersey Sports Radio – our “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving – with kickoff slated for seven and pregame at 6:30. Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas will have the call. Click here to listen.
Click below to hear Delsea first-year head coach Jason Volpe talk about the season and Friday night’s title tilt against Somerville with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas: