OFFENSE: #14 Ryan O’Connor

DEFENSE: #0 Jackson Taylor

SPECIAL TEAMS: #13 Jared Duncan

NEXT BHTC Meeting: Friday October 13th. Doors open at 11:00, Lunch served at 11:15, Program starts at Noon. In the Bob Carpenter Club.

Coach To Speak: Defensive Coordinator, Manny Rojas

Guest Speakers:

Blue Hen tight ends coach Garret Smith let the club know
that blocking communication would be the offensive key to
the game against Duquesne. Well, the players must have
been talking quite a bit as the Hens rolled for 119 yards on
the ground and 347 through the air.
Led by Braden Brose, the tight end room appears to be
clicking this year. Coach Smith described Brose as a
leader by example who much rather than block an
opponent into the ground than to catch a pass. By the way
Braden happens to be the fourth leading receiver on the
team.
Former Dover (DE) High School star Elijah Sessoms, a
red-shirt freshman, is the first off the bench to spell Brose
and to go bigger when two tight ends are needed. The
other players are settled into their special teams roles this
year.

Heidi Sarver

When marching band director Heidi Sarver asked her
counterpart at Penn State this year when the UD should
play during the game, he said it didn’t matter. Inquiring
further the Penn State director said, “no one will hear you
anyway”.

Well, that may have been true but Heidi has made a lot of
noise here at UD as she prepares to move into retirement.
Telling the lunch attendees that “it was time” and “I want to
live”, Ms. Sarver stated that she finally found the Delaware
beaches after sixteen years and wanted to enjoy her home
in Pike Creek.

As she always wanted to teach, she adapted this desire
into being a band director because of her love of music,
her love of the activity and her love watching and helping
kids take risks. Gameday is fun, icing on the cake but is
only 2% of her job. She compared her work creating the
half-time show each year to a professor (which she is)
writing a new text book each year.

She is not allowed to recruit but rather can only send a
letter out to those incoming first year students who have
indicated interest. Furthermore, that letter is amended to
a great extent by the Admissions Department so as to not
overwhelm the students and their parents.

Bigger time football schools actually cut kids from the
program but Heidi takes every student that she can. Band
members receive a $400 scholarship, the same in 2023 as
it was in 1995 when she first started.

Heidi has brought the “Pride of Delaware” a long way,
building a band of less than 100 members to over 300.
She has cut through red tape, celebrated football victories,
and helped hundreds of students enjoy music and their
UD experience.

She will be sorely missed for her impact on students and
on football gameday but she will take many memories with
her. From barely making the national championship game
in Chattanooga in 2003 (late arriving flight) to The Tub
being filled for the band’s pre-game entrance, Heidi I.
Sarver has left an enduring legacy.