The result was what one would expect when an undefeated team faces a winless squad. Friends (Wilmington, Del.) sent the Rising Sun football team to a ninth straight defeat by topping the Tigers 32-6 Thursday night. Friends led 14-0 before the Tigers got a first down. Rising Sun responded with a drive featuring good runs by Ricky Orr and Alex Billings and a pass from Noah Juergens to Jack Stewart. Billings capped the drive with a two-run TD run. The PAT was blocked leaving Friends with a 14-6 edge. The Rising Sun defense stopped the Quakers for the first time but then the Tigers were unable to move the ball. Next came a critical sequence. In punt formation on 4th and 1 from the Rising Sun 23, the Tigers instead snapped the ball to the personal protector Juergens who scampered 39 yards to the Friends' 38. Trailing by eight, Rising Sun was in good position to get closer or tie the game but fumbled on the next play.
Friends upped the lead to 22-6 at halftime and added a field goal and TD in the second half. Billings finished with 70 yards on 14 carries. Kyle Miller made 10 tackles to lead the defense. Rising Sun coach Rich Opp was proud of the way his team bounced back from a 35-0 loss to Elkton the previous week. The Tigers committed four personal foul penalties in that game but none Thursday. "They didn't give up," he said of his team. "When you're 0-8 going into the game and you're a heavy underdog (that is saying something)." Opp said his pre-game speech came from one he used when in 1995 when he served as an assistant to head coach Ken Ulrich. "You just look at the mood of the team and it comes to you," said Opp. "And I said, 'If things go rough in life you've got to suck it up. If you can't pay your bills. If you've got a sick kid. You've got this problem, that problem, what are you going to do? Give up? No, you're not going to give up. And you're not going to do that on the football field.' I just said get out there and try. And they tried. I wrote on the chalkboard "try". And told them here's what the coaches are going to do. We're not going to yell at you.We're going to be positive. We're going to correct you. We're going to guide you. We're not giving up on you. And then on the bottom of the chalkboard it had what the players needed to do. Try and be good sports. That's all I wrote on the board. Try and be good sports." Comments are closed.
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