HAMPTON — Anticipation for the Peninsula District game Saturday at Darling Stadium between Warwick and Bethel was unusually high considering the Raiders had outscored the Bruins 130-0 in the previous three meetings.
But Bethel brought legitimately higher hopes this season with the return of running back and Hampton University commit Amari Pryear and receiver/safety Derek Lewis, a junior coveted by many Power Four programs. The addition of quarterback Alex Lewis, a transfer from Warwick also drawing Division I interest, added air to the Bruins’ balloon.
Raiders senior Jaron Crittenden deflated it by returning the kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown. Although the Bruins were competitive throughout, Crittenden and the Raiders — ninth-ranked in the 757Teamz Top 15 — remained in control with one big defensive and special-teams play after another to earn a well-deserved and emphatic 35-13 victory.
“When I’d seen Bethel feeling like they can compete with us, when they haven’t been able to compete with us in the past couple of years, it really hyped me up,” said Crittenden, a 5-foot-9, 174-pound cornerback who added a 64-yard punt return for a touchdown and an interception to his sterling afternoon. “I (said) to my team, ‘Let’s go get the job done and go finish it.’ ”
With Pryear running for 162 yards and Lewis passing for 150 yards — as Kasyn Campbell notched seven receptions for 99 yards — Bethel (1-2, 0-1 district) had chances. But Warwick (1-2, 0-1) was physical and pressured relentlessly on defense.
In holding the Bruins scoreless in the first half, the Raiders ended Bethel possessions with a fourth-and-2 stop, a quarterback pressure, a sack, another sack and an interception (the first of three). Delaware recruit Christian Corbin, Du’Wuane Skipwith (seven tackles and an interception) and John Thomas were physical on the line; Tracy Pope (eight tackles, four for loss) and Avion Rodriguez-Zequeira (11 tackles) were solid at linebacker; Crittenden, Gamyr Thornton (interception), Iziah Emery and Cartier Carey all had big moments in the defensive backfield.
Warwick’s Gamyr Thornton tries to fend off Bethel wide receiver Kasyn Campbell after intercepting the ball Saturday at Darling Stadium. (Steven Goldburg/Freelance)
“We knew if we could slow them down, our offense would gradually get it together and slow-grind it — control the game and control the clock,” Warwick coach Thomas Sykes said.
Warwick scored twice late in the first half — on freshman Avione Tucker’s 6-yard run and Crittenden’s punt return — to lead 20-0 at intermission in a game that felt closer. Pope’s sack of Lewis for a 21-yard loss, and a short Bethel punt, paved the way for an 8-yard run by Terius Brown that gave the Raiders a 28-0 lead midway through the third quarter.
That made Pryear’s two second-half scores — on a run and pass reception — sandwiched around Brown’s 57-yard touchdown burst for Warwick, too little too late. Crittenden added the second-half interception, then reflected on his big day.
“It felt like something in a movie,” he said. “No game I’ve had can compete with two returns and an interception.
“I really just love the feeling.”
