Football Preview: Dell’Arciprete’s versatility benefiting Delco Christian
Do a search on any social media platform and you will find scores of professional athletes extolling the virtues of playing multiple sports.
Delco Christian’s Josh Dell’Arciprete couldn’t agree more.
The senior is a three-sport athlete. He plays football in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring, where he earned first-team All-Delco honors as a junior last season after setting the record for the highest single-season batting average in program history (.560).
“I’ve had coaches tell me that each sport helps the other sport out, whether it’s footwork or hand-eye coordination,” Dell’Arciprete said. “And learning from different coaches makes you a better player and person.”
As for his favorite sport, well, that depends on the time of the year.
“I really don’t have a favorite,” Dell’Arciprete said. “It’s whatever is in season for me.”
With the high school football season about to start, Dell’Arciprete’s favor it turning, and he can’t wait to get back on the field for the first time in two years. Delco Christian’s 2020 season was canceled by the coronavirus pandemic. He was hoping the season would be moved to the spring, but that never came to fruition.
He’s looking forward to putting the helmet and the pads back on.
“It was a disappointing time,” Dell’Arciprete said. “We all wanted to go out, especially our senior class. We all wanted to play with them, but now we’re looking forward. We are looking to come together as a group and learn together and try to put a good season together.”
Dell’Arciprete is one of the seniors head coach Lloyd Hill will be counting on to lead the Knights in their second season of eight-man football in the Keystone State Football League along with Mercersburg Academy, Perkiomen School and Valley Forge Military Academy. The teams will play twice followed by the league semifinals and final.
Delco Christian went 3-4 in its inaugural eight-man season in 2019 and fell in the league semifinals.
“I think it’s more fun,” Dell’Arciprete said of the eight-man game. “There’s more open field, more space to run, it’s just better for the offense. It makes it more fun for the viewers to watch. And I would say it’s faster because it’s a lot more one-on-one stuff. If you make a mistake you’re basically done. You have to be ready for anything and quick with your decision-making.”
Dell’Arciprete will play quarterback and defensive back. As a sophomore, he completed 12 of 28 passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns.
Senior running back/defensive back Jason Shaw is another key returnee for DC. He ran for 244 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries as a sophomore. That’s an average of 7.2 yards per carry. Junior receiver/defensive back Titus Myers is another player Hill expects big things from this season.
“It’s going to be interesting,” said Hill, who is in his fourth season as head coach. “Even though we did not have a season last year, I still had the guys come in to practice every single day. We did some skills and drills, did some scrimmages here and there, so it was a lot of team bonding and understanding the concept of the team.
“The guys that had the experience understand the eight-man game. The guys who are new to the game, we’ve been practicing and you can see that have so much potential. I’m definitely looking forward to this season.”
