Between players and coaches, the Henlopen conference was well represented at the DFRC Blue Gold All-Star Football Game. Sussex Tech’s Mark Quillin was an assistant on the Gold squad and he talked about the experience and gives an insight for the 2017 Ravens season.

Pencek: What does it mean to you that your asked to be part of the Gold staff?

Quillin: It’s a great priveledge to be involved with anything with the Blue Gold Game and all the festivities around it. I’m very blessed to have been asked by (Middletown) Coach (Mark) Delpercio. I got that call several months ago to be a part of his staff. I had the opportunity two years ago to have my first experience with Coach (Glenn) Phillips the former Laurel head coach. It was just a wonderful experience. Not only being around that level of football but also the Special Olympics kids, the band, and everything that’s involved. It’s just a great activity and just a great game.

Pencek: With all that surrounds the Blue Gold game, how much focus were you able to put towards winning the game?

Quillin: As we lead up to it, there are so many activities especially with the Buddies. Once they showed up on June 12, it does become more about football. Coach Delpercio is a very intense fellow as well as myself. We had a good staff and the Blue had a good staff. For some of these kids, it was their last experience to play football. It was a special week for them.

Pencek: How were you able to manage that week with the challenge of being together for only a few days?

Quillin: Coach Depercio gave the staff a weekly agenda and we met several times over the past six months to make sure we were organized and ready to roll. We started in on the 12th, that was our first practice. That is when we started to put in the gameplan.

Pencek: Having experienced this just recently, are you better prepared in dealing with the limited time?

Quillin: I do, I feel a lot more comfortable as far as the schedule goes. I coached the defensive backs this year, it was a smaller role than last time. You do get the opportunity to learn about football as well as hanging out some the Gold coaches I don’t get a chance to see very much as well as the Blue staff. A lot of those guys, the upstate guys and the guys I coach against, we all come together for one purpose.

Pencek: What is that like, during the season you were matched up against some of these players and coaches?

Quillin: It was a nice surprise to get a call from Coach Delpercio. He’s had our number the past couple of years in the playoffs. He does great job and he is a class act. He’s got a great program, so I was looking forward to working with him. Coach Collick at Cape (Henlopen) is somebody I now got to coach with him. You battle that week during the season, you may hate them that week but after that we’re all football coaches and we’re all part of that football family.

Pencek: Is it too early to talk Sussex Tech football?

Quillin: It’s never too early for that. We exactly started preparing for this season the day after we lost to Middletown. My staff and I have been working the whole year and looking forward to putting together another great season. We said good-bye to our seniors this month. They will be missed but we are looking forward to having a great group come back this year.