Delaware
Who is Delaware’s all-time best high school football player? VOTE now
Delaware has had no shortage of football players who excelled at the high school level, sparking their teams and earning fans’ admiration.
The best of them went on to collegiate and pro success.
With the United States nearing its 250th anniversary of gaining independence, USA TODAY Sports will celebrate the 250 greatest American sports figures of all time.
At the root of that are the high school athletes who became familiar names in their schools, communities and the state of Delaware while making headlines with their athletic exploits. The USA TODAY Network hopes to first spotlight those individuals.
Here in Delaware, we’re compiling lists of the best players in several sports. We begin with football, which has long garnered the most attention.
These are our choices for Delaware’s 10 greatest football players, listed alphabetically:
Jamie Duncan, Christiana
Duncan was a central figure in Christiana’s rise to power. He was 1992 state Defensive Player of the Year after also being first-team All-State at linebacker as a junior in 1991. He also starred as a tight end and running back. At Vanderbilt, he was a second-team All-American linebacker in 1997 and made 425 career tackles while earning SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Duncan then appeared in 96 NFL games with 56 starts over seven seasons.
Chris Godwin, Middletown
The wide receiver sparked Middletown to the 2011 and 2012 state titles and was a state Player of the Year honoree. He then starred at Penn State, catching 154 passes for 2,421 yards and 18 TDs. He was a third-round 2017 draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Godwin was All-Pro in 2019 and won the Super Bowl after the 2020 season. He’s caught 612 passes for 7,626 yards and 41 touchdowns in nine NFL seasons, all with the Bucs.
Duron Harmon, Caesar Rodney
Harmon was state Defensive Player of the Year while sparking the Riders to the 2008 state championship. He then played in 50 games at Rutgers, starting his last two seasons and intercepting six passes while earning All-Big East at safety. Harmon was then a key part of the New England Patriots’ secondary, spending seven of his 11 seasons there and winning three Super Bowls. He played in 168 NFL games and had 24 interceptions.
Kwame Harris, Newark
Harris was the state’s most heavily recruited high school football player ever while being a three-time first-team All-Stater and Lineman of the Year. He went to Stanford and was a three-year starter and first-team All-Pac 10 choice as a senior. Harris was a first-round draft pick, 26th overall, by the 49ers and played 86 games with 55 starts in six NFL seasons.
Bilal Nichols. Hodgson
Nichols was All-State as both a defensive lineman and tight end for the Silver Eagles. He then was a three-time All-Colonial Athletic Association choice at Delaware, making 104 career tackles, with 17½ for lost yardage, in 44 games, along with three forced fumbles, two interceptions and several blocked kicks. The Bears chose him in the fifth round of the 2018 draft. Nichols has now played in 104 NFL games with 88 starts for Chicago, Las Vegas and Arizona.
Brian O’Neill, Salesianum
O’Neill was a first-team All-State defensive end at Salesianum and recruited to Pittsburgh as a tight end, which he also played at Sallies. O’Neill moved to offensive tackle as a red-shirt freshman and ended up starting 37 games from 2015-17 and was first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference as a senior. A second-round 2018 draft choice, O’Neill has been the Vikings’ starting right tackle ever since.
Luke Petitgout, Sussex Central
Petitgout parlayed his stellar career with the Golden Knights into a scholarship to Notre Dame, where he started his last two years at offensive tackle. Chosen 19th overall by the Giants in the 1999 NFL Draft, Petitgout played in 117 NFL games with 110 starts over eight years with New York and another with Tampa Bay.
Darnell Savage, Caravel
Savage bounced back from a broken leg that cost him most of his junior season to rush for 1,298 yards and 13 touchdowns and make 54 tackles as a Caravel senior. He then started every game in the Maryland secondary from the season finale of his freshman year through his senior season, intercepting eight passes and making 182 tackles. He was then a first-round pick, 21st overall, in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. Savage has played in 97 NFL games with 83 starts in seven seasons, the first five with the Packers, and intercepted 10 passes.
Steve Watson, Saint Mark’s
Watson was a first-team All-State wide receiver for the Spartans’ 12-0 1974 state championship team. He then starred at Temple, catching 98 passes for a then-school-record 1,629 yards from 1975-78. The free-agent signee then had a prolific pro career with the Denver Broncos, making the Pro Bowl after the 1981 season, when his 13 touchdown catches led the NFL, and winning the Super Bowl after the 1987 season. Watson’s 353 career catches netted 6,112 yards and 36 touchdowns.
Randy White, McKean
White was just a second-team All-State running back at McKean High, though he also excelled on defense for the Highlanders. He then became a College Football Hall of Famer at Maryland and a Pro Football Hall of Famer with the Dallas Cowboys. The defensive end won the Outland Trophy as college football’s top lineman in 1974. Drafted second overall by Dallas, he was a 9-time Pro Bowl pick in 14 NFL seasons, getting 111 sacks in 209 games. White was MVP of the Cowboys’ Super Bowl XII win.
USA TODAY 250 for 250: Who do you think is the best of the best?
Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.
Meet the calves at Knutsen Farms in Harrington
The family dairy farm recently won a conservation award.
June means blueberry season is here, and Delaware has several farms offering u-pick fruit.
Whether you’re looking for farm-fresh produce to munch on or local ingredients for your summer baking, here’s where you can pick your own blueberries in Delaware this year.
Fifer Orchards, Camden
Recognized as a Delaware century family farm after opening in 1919, Fifer Orchards in Camden typically offers blueberry picking Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (exit by 5 p.m.) for the U-Pick experience.
For even more fun, U-Play admission features yard games, photo opportunities, food and picnic tables and restrooms for public use. The farm also has Saturdays Extras events with even more to do.
You also can stop by the Farm Store to purchase local goodies and a selection of the orchard’s fresh fruits and vegetables.
If you find yourself getting hungry after picking blueberries, the Farm Kitchen building sells a variety of lunch and dessert items.
The farm uses its Facebook page to keep guests updated on daily picking conditions and orchard offerings.
1919 Allabands Mill Road, Camden, (302) 697-2141; fiferorchards.com/
Bennett Orchards, Frankford
Bennett Orchards is another location offering u-pick blueberries. This Frankford farm has several varieties of blueberries and sells produce at various farmers markets throughout the beach towns if you can’t fit in a day of picking.
The farm provides wagons free of charge to help with the picking experience, and Bennett Orchards’ picking containers can be used on return visits for a discount.
Keep tabs on their website for updates on u-pick offerings this summer.
31442 Peach Tree Lane, Frankford,(302) 732-3358; bennettorchards.com/.
Kingsley Orchards, Frankford
Kingsley Orchards in Frankford is well-known for several types of u-pick berries.
If you’re new to the orchard or have never picked your own fruit before, find one of their farmers for a quick lesson on all things u-pick!
Keep an eye on their Facebook page for updates on u-pick hours and availability.
24349 Blueberry Lane, Frankford,(302) 238-0105;www.kingsleyorchards.com/index.html.
Parsons Farms Produce, Dagsboro
Parsons Farms Produce in Dagsboro has u-pick blueberries and other fruits available during the spring and summer months.
To make the u-pick outing complete, they also have fresh beef for sale, a country store filled with fresh produce, ice cream, events and farm animals available for feeding and petting.
The farm’s Facebook page will provide u-pick updates as the crops become available.
30391 Armory Road, Dagsboro, (302) 732-3336; parsonsfarmsproduce.com/.
Got a tip or a story idea? Contact Krys’tal Griffin at kgriffin@delawareonline.com.
300 years later, Shad welcomed back to Brandywine
Dam removal begins in the Brandywine as the Shad and other fish are welcomed back to historic breeding grounds. The project is the first of many on the waterway and one of a series in the Delaware River watershed.
William Bretzger, The News Journal
The Delaware history column features excerpts from The News Journal archives including The Morning News and The Evening Journal. See the archives at delawareonline.com.
20 years ago, The News Journal, June 7, 2006
100-year-old Stone Balloon demolished for condominiums
There was no ceremony or parting words. Just the sound of the orange high-reach excavator machine as it began clawing into the wall of the Stone Balloon tavern on East Main Street in Newark.
A large crowd gathered Tuesday to watch the 100-year-old building come down. As the familiar walls crumbled, they snapped photos on their digital cameras and cell phones.
Owner Jim Baeurle will replace the tavern with a 54-unit project called the Washington House Condominium, as well as retail and office space. Demolition could take several days. Construction is set to start in July.
“To me, the emotional part was on Dec. 17, saying goodbye to the staff and customers,” Baeurie said before the demolition. “But now we turn the page and bring to Main Street what I tried to do for two years. The excitement outweighs the sadness.”
University of Delaware students, residents and business owners had mixed emotions.
Travis Duke, 22, a UD senior from Wilmington, went to the Balloon every Thursday night for two years. His dad went there in the 1970s to watch George Thorogood perform.
“I’m upset,” Duke said. “You can’t really replace the Stone Balloon with condos. It was a one-of-a-kind type of place.”…
The Stone Balloon was opened by Bill Stevenson in 1972.
“I don’t think people will ever realize how much fun we had at this building,” Stevenson said.
50 years ago, The Morning News, June 9, 1976
Governor vetoes bill to merge 3 vo-tech schools
Fearing more problems with budget deficits and desegregation, Gov. Sherman W. Tribbitt yesterday announced his veto of a bill to put three New Castle County vocational schools under the control of a single school board. ….
The bill would have given the New Castle County Vocational Technical Board of Education control over Wilmington’s Howard Career Center which opened last year and Newark’s Hodgson Vocational-Technical School, due to open this fall. …
Before making the decision, Tribbitt talked with Albert H. Jones Jr., president of the State Board of Education. He also met with vo-tech officials and school superintendents from Wilmington and Newark which would have lost control of their vocational schools through the bill….
While vetoing the merger bill, Tribbitt let stand the two companion measures. Those bills increase the vo-tech property tax from 3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to 4 cents in Sussex County, 4 cents this year and 5 cents next year in Kent County, and 8 cents in New Castle County. The revenues raised in New Castle County will be split, based on enrollment, among the Wilmington, Newark and vo-tech districts.
Tribbitt said the cost of consolidating the three vocational schools under one board would be greater than the increased taxes would raise. The problem, he said, is “leveling up,” which state law requires when districts are consolidated. By putting three schools under one district’s control, the district would have to pay all staff according to a pay scale equal to the highest now existing at any of them. That, Tribbitt said, would have created at least a $300,000 deficit next year.
Desegregation was mentioned indirectly in the veto message, but Jones elaborated on it. In consolidating, Jones said, the district’s three schools would have to meet U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare standards. Those standards require that the district couldn’t have one school with mostly white students while another was mostly black or have a similar racial imbalance between teachers at different schools.
Meeting those guidelines, Tribbitt said, could have meant “significant shifts” in students, teachers, administrators and programs. “It could have meant busing,” a Tribbitt aide noted.
100 years ago, The Evening Journal, June 12, 1926
Wilmington to join in nation’s 150th birthday celebration
Wilmington Mayor Forrest, at 11:11 a.m. on June 28, simultaneously with the ringing of the Liberty Bell by Mayor Kendrick in Philadelphia, will ring a bell in this city, as an echo of the tolling of the symbol of liberty.
The ringing of the bell will be a signal for the commencement of American Independence Week.
President Coolidge in Washington is expected to perform a similar service, and each of the state governors are expected at that time to toll a bell in the state capitols.
The week has been set aside by a special act of Congress for the celebration of the 150th birthday of the Declaration of Independence and commemorating the Centennial of the death of its author, Thomas Jefferson.
Claude G. Bowers, executive secretary of the national commission, yesterday wired Mayor Forrest about the celebration and received an immediate return telegram from the mayor assuring the commission of his fullest cooperation. …
The tentative program follows: “Patriot’s Pledge of Faith Day” on Monday, “Universal Education Day” Tuesday, “Founders Day” Wednesday, “Great American Day” Thursday, “Signers Day” Friday, “Monticello Day” Saturday, “Jefferson Centennial Day” Sunday and “Sesqui-Centennial Independence Day” on Monday.
Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.
Residents in Wilmington are testing a traffic safety measure they hope will make a dangerous intersection safer and eventually lead to permanent changes.
With permission from the city, neighbors spent a whole day cleaning, taping off and painting part of the area around Lancaster Avenue and Connell Street as part of a temporary project known as daylighting.
Daylighting improves visibility at intersections by preventing vehicles from parking closest to corners, making it easier for drivers, pedestrians and others using the roadway to see one another.
Organizers say the temporary project is only supposed to last for a few days. Afterward, they plan to survey neighbors to determine whether residents believe it improved safety.
Neighbors say this intersection has long been a concern because vehicles often travel fast down Lancaster Avenue, making it difficult for drivers on Connell Street to safely see oncoming traffic when turning onto the avenue.
“This is local. It’s a local solution from a local set of neighbors who are taking matters into their own hands,” Jamila Davey of Green for the Greater Good said.
For Tracy Jenkins, who lives nearby, the project is personal.
“There used to be a building that sat on this block here, it got hit and knocked off the foundation,” Jenkins said. “My mom every time she gets in the car she cringes because of being afraid of us being hit. It’s just horrible.”
If neighbors believe the temporary project made the intersection safer, organizers plan to push the city and DelDOT to make the daylighting measures permanent.
For now, residents say the effort is about trying to solve a problem they see every day in their neighborhood.
“You gotta try so we’ve gotta try this first,” Jenkins said.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC Philadelphia. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC Philadelphia journalist edited the article for publication.
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