By Lynn Schofer

The Seaford Blue Jay football team defeated McKean Highlanders, 41-0, last Saturday night in Seaford to advance to the DIAA Class 1A state championship game. Seaford will play Newark Charter, which defeated number one ranked Brandywine in the semifinal round.

Senior running back Brendan West led the Blue Jays with 130 yards and three touchdowns and senior Doubensly Saint Jean recovered a fumble in the final game for seniors on Ron Dickerson Field.

“I love playing football. The coaches demand discipline, even though we had some struggles, we are a disciplined team,” said Saint Jean.

Je’Viohn Hurst breaks tackles to run to the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown Seaford touchdown

Seaford opened the first quarter on offense and McKeen was penalized for a face mask when they couldn’t stop West on his run. Seaford’s Vince Evans III moved the ball to the 13 yard-line and Taishawn Frisby carried for 11 yards. West hurdled his defenders for a touchdown and senior kicker Luke Metzner added the PAT for the 7-0 lead.

Seaford’s defense was aggressive and unrelenting on the Highlander offense. The Blue Jays gave some yardage away on penalty flags but a fumble recovery by Saint Jean set up another touchdown.

“I already saw the snap was going to be messed up, so I was ready and ran to it and fell on the ball,” St. Jean said.  “I think I lead by example, coach always says to set the standard and be the standard.”

From the 49 yard-line, Evans moved the markers to the 36, Zahir Seymore advanced the ball to the 16, and West to the two yard-line. The touchdown was scored by Je’Viohn Hurst and with an extra point by Metzner the Blue Jays led, 14-0.

The defense continued to rattle the Highlanders with strong hits by Josiah Smith and Hurst resulting in a punt. Seaford opened the second quarter on first down carries by West, Seymore, and Evans for a 19-yard touchdown. Metzner topped it off with the PAT for a 21-0 lead with 10 minutes to play in the half.

West also collected a sack on Highlander quarterback Sheldon Daniels that led to a punt with four minutes to play. Evans tucked on a keeper play and ran to the 21 yard-line and West added two carries to the three yard-line. West then scored his second touchdown of the game and an extra point by Metzner gave Seaford the 28-0 half-time lead.

In the second half, Seaford took over possession when McKean faked a punt and then a 30-yard pass to Frisby was pulled in with two defenders on his back. West executed a block for Hurst who ran the 30 yards to the end zone.

Coach Glenn Phillips spoke of the game plan, “We stuck pretty much to the plan. Brandon got rolling early and the Meat (Evans III) and then we were able to get carries to Je’Viohn Hurst and Zahir Seymore. That was a big play pass and catch by Frisby.”

Metzner was perfect and the score was 35-0. Seaford retook possession in the fourth quarter and under a rolling clock, West scored from the 28 yard-line for the final of 41-0.

“Seaford in general gets a bad rap, but people need to come and walk in the building and see these kids. Understand them, get to know them, learn about their life a little bit. They deserve to be loved and they show it on the field,” said Phillips. “They play for each other.”

Saint Jean said of going to the championship game, “It feels great. We get a chance to be a state champion.”

“This is fun and why I came back, I missed the kids and the relationships. I happened to land at a great place,” said Phillips. “Enjoy tonight, and we get back to work tomorrow. We get to practice together on Thanksgiving. We never take things for granted.”

Seaford plays Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Delaware State University’s Alumni Stadium. Tickets are available on line https://gofan.co/app/school/DIAA.