Buckle your chinstrap: 2024's best Friday night games in Delaware high school football (2024)

It’s not always easy to be a Delaware high school football fan.

Upsets happen, key players get injured, your favorite team may not always win.

One of the toughest choices can be just figuring out where to go each Friday night. There will be at least a half dozen games across Delaware every Friday from late August through November, and you can only be in one place at a time.

Don’t worry. We’ve done the tough job of picking the best game each week – or at least the one we think could be the most competitive, the most intense, with the most on the line. Or, in one case, maybe it’s just the coolest.

Here is our week-by-week guide to the best Friday night games in Delaware high school football this fall:

Aug. 29: Hodgson at Howard (at Abessinio Stadium), 3:45 p.m.

This one isn’t on Friday, and it isn’t at night. So already, we have broken two rules.

But they call this Week 0, so the rules don’t apply.

This one is among several Thursday games on the opening week, so everyone can get their football fix and still head to the beach for the full Labor Day weekend.

It’s the first game of the entire season, part of the Maxwell Club Kickoff Classic at Abessinio Stadium, and it should be a good one as these longtime vo-tech rivals usually play a close game.

Sept. 6: Salesianum at Smyrna, 7 p.m.

These teams have been playing annually since 2015, and there have been some doozies. Starting with the first one – a 76-56 Salesianum victory in the third game of the regular season – and the second one – a 32-26 Smyrna victory in overtime of the DIAA Division I championship game at the end of that 2015 season. Last year's 41-40 Salesianum victory in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A playoffs was a pretty good one, too.

Sept. 13: St. Andrew’s at Tatnall, 7 p.m.

Tatnall has had the upper hand recently in this annual meeting of two of the state’s top small private schools. But it will be the Hornets’ only night game of the season, which is cool. And the teams play for a cannon, which is cool.

Sept. 20: Howard at Woodbridge, 7 p.m.

Two perennial Class 2A championship contenders, meeting in one of the state’s nicest small-school stadiums. What’s not to like?

Sept. 27: Dover at Salesianum, 7:30 p.m.

The Senators were the only team to defeat the Sals last fall, winning 27-16 on Dover’s home field. We’re pretty sure Salesianum still remembers that.

Oct. 4: Smyrna at Middletown, 7 p.m.

Most of the harvesting should be done by the time this year’s Harvest Bowl rolls around. Both teams are almost always Class 3A championship contenders, and one thing both sides never lack is intensity.

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Oct. 11: Sussex Central at Cape Henlopen, 7 p.m.

Rematch of one of last year’s Class 3A semifinals, when Cape Henlopen went to Sussex Central, scored four touchdowns in an 85-second span and floated back to Lewes with a shocking, 46-14 victory. Golden Knights coach John Wells will certainly be reminding his team about that in the week leading up to this game.

Oct. 18: Smyrna at Dover, 7 p.m.

Smyrna ran up a 52-7 win over Dover in the 2022 Class 3A championship game. The Senators went to Smyrna last fall and turned the tables with an 18-14 nail-biter. Now, they meet again in Dover and both will have plenty of motivation.

Oct. 25: Salesianum at Middletown, 7 p.m.

All of the other games scheduled on this Friday night just didn’t have a chance. Because if Salesianum and Middletown played each other every Friday, it would be the Game of the Week every week.

Nov. 1: Polytech at Brandywine, 6 p.m.

Polytech scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to stun the Bulldogs 24-21 on the Panthers’ home field last fall. This one could be for all the marbles in Class 1A-2.

Nov. 8: Middletown at Appoquinimink, 7 p.m.

Some people claim you can’t really call it a rivalry until both teams win. Appo defeated Middletown for the first time last fall – and the Jaguars have probably been reminding the Cavaliers of that every day since.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on X (aka Twitter): @BradMyersTNJ