2023 Football Preview: Indian River High School

Can IR take the leap to contender?

DAGSBORO, Del. — Indian River has made strides the last two years and after their one-and-done last year, the team is hungry for another shot at the postseason. Indian River Head Coach Phillip Towsend wants to use last year’s season as a stepping stone for this year’s success.

“I got high expectations. The last two years we’ve lost in the playoffs. Now we’ve got a lot of guys that were younger and got a lot of playing time throughout the years. So a lot of these guys kind of know what we’re doing on offense, know what we’re doing on defense. We just need them to move faster, move quicker, less thinking, more movement, more movement,” Towsend said.

With a roster full of players with a lot of experience, Coach Townsend says his squad is up for the task of becoming a serious threat on the football field.

“We got quite a few guys that either returners, we got nine all-district guys that are returning and guys that got a lot of playing time and they’re meshing pretty well right now. But again, we want to just move faster, think less, move faster, and these guys are definitely up for the challenge,” he said.

Players like Sophomore Quarterback Dylan Grise, Junior Running Back Jayvion Chandler, and Senior Wide Receiver Rashad Hopkins will be some of the players to watch this season in IR’s offense. With a refigured CLass 1A, the IR football team won’t have to deal with the familiar dominance of the Laurel Bulldogs anymore but instead will have the challenge of facing teams they’re not accustomed to.

“This year they kind of changed the division schedules up a little bit. So we got some new teams like we play Conrad, St. Andrews, teams that we haven’t played in the past unless it was in a playoff-type situation. So just getting ready for teams that I’m unfamiliar with as a defensive coordinator. What are they running? Who are their players? So you got to do a little bit of research, a little bit of homework,” he said.

If they can figure that out, combine their years of experience, and then finally successfully apply on the field, Indian River could be a team to reckon with in the 1A.

2023 Indian River Football Schedule:

9/9/23  Saturday @ 6:00 p.m. vs. AI duPont HS @ AI duPont HS
9/15/23 Friday @ 7:00 p.m. vs.  St. Elizabeth HS @Abessinio Stadium
9/22/23 Friday @ 6:00 p.m. vs. Polytech HS @ Indian River HS
9/29/23 Friday @ 6:00 p.m. vs. Delmar HS/MS @ Indian River HS
10/6/23 Friday @ 7:00 p.m. vs.  Seaford HS @Seaford HS
10/13/23 Friday @ 6:00 p.m. vs. Brandywine HS @ Indian River HS
10/20/23 Friday @ 6:00 p.m. vs. Early College School @ DSU H Indian River HS
10/27/23 Friday @ 3:00 p.m. vs.St. Andrew’s School @ St. Andrew’s School
11/3/23 Friday @ 6:30 p.m. vs. Conrad School @ Conrad School
11/10/23 Friday @ 6:00 p.m. vs. First State Military Academy @ Indian River HS