“If it was easy everybody would do it.” This is what head coach Robert Tattersall said at the end of most practices this season. The Quakers ended the 2022 season with a 13-0 record, bringing home a State Championship trophy for the second time ever, the first being in 1984 with the current coach’s father, Bob Tattersall as the head coach. 

The name Tattersall is widely known across Delaware high school sports, specifically high school football. Bob Tattersall started as the head coach of Wilmington Friends’ football program in 1968 and remained the head coach for 54 years, until the 2022 season where his son, Robert Tattersall, succeeded him. Robert Tattersall grew up with Friends football, starting as a team manager in 1st grade and moving up to play JV and Varsity in 8th grade, where he played under his father as a member of the class of 1991. In 2022, Coach Tattersalls’ two sons, Robby Tattersall ‘23 and Ryan Tattersall ‘25, started on the team, with Robby at quarterback and outside linebacker and Ryan at safety. “No matter how old I was, Friends football has always been something that has been a part of me before I even stepped foot on the field with the blue helmet on,” Robby said. Just like their father, Robby and Ryan both grew up around the Friends football program and understood what it meant to hold the last name Tattersall. “Being coached by my father and grandfather is more difficult because they hold you to such high standards. There is more pressure because I am the coach’s son, so if I start and do not perform then people might think I am only playing because of my last name,” Ryan said. The 2022 State Championship means so much to so many people but it holds the most importance to the Tattersall family, with Rob Tattersall describing it as “emotional beyond explanation”.

After an impressive 10-2 record in the 2021 season, the Friends football team had high expectations heading into the 2022 season. The program embraced said expectations, boasting a 13-0 record and state championship title, though the season wasn’t without its challenges.

This season has been the culmination of the Seniors’ entire football careers, and for a few their entire lives up until this point. Offensive and defensive lineman and team captain, Colin Harron ‘23 had been determined to win a state championship before he even began his upper school career. “Seeing my brother’s dream [of winning a state championship] come crashing down in front of my eyes because of injuries left me feeling empty inside – ever since that game I was determined to finish the job.” “The sense of family in the room was what always brought me to put the pads on everyday, ” said TE and D-Lineman Ish Dobson ‘23. “We knew what we were capable of and we successfully accomplished those goals,” said FB, LB and captain Paul Beardell ‘23. “My favorite part is the practices. Practices are longer and much more frequent then actual games, so it would make sense to say that the majority of time spent with the team is at practice,” said O and D-Lineman Phil Crock ‘23. “The coaches have taught us not just how to be football players but also how to be gentlemen and how to work as a team,” added O-Lineman Matthew Malone ‘23. 

“Perseverance is the most important thing I have learned throughout my time at Friends. I remember being called on to start sophomore year. I got knocked around and beaten nearly every play, but I couldn’t just give up and let it happen, since if I did that my teammates might get hurt. This commitment allowed me to improve myself to where I was now knocking people around,” said O and D-Lineman Jack Hebert ‘23. “The most meaningful part of Quaker football is the whole 4 year process. I started as a boy and grew into the man I am today,” said WR and LB Hudson Zawadzkas ‘23. “It really means the world to me that we got to not just win but play for each other these past four years and to see how much the football program has shaped us into the people we are is amazing,” said QB, LB and Captain Robby Tattersall ‘23.

“I had an alumni from the 80s tell me that being in that stadium and watching that game was a top 5 moment in his life,” Robert Tattersall said, recalling what an alumni had said to him the night of the state championship. Tattersall also recalled how he received hundreds of letters, texts and emails from recent graduates, graduates all the way back to the 60s, alumni that lived far away and even from people unaffiliated with Friends, congratulating the team and saying how proud they were of what was accomplished. There was even a heartfelt letter written directly to the 2022 team by a former friends football player congratulating the team and saying how much this meant for alumni and everyone else involved in the Friends community. 

Although the 2022 Quaker Football team will never put on the blue jerseys and play all together again, what was accomplished this season will never be forgotten. And even when the whole team has graduated and headed down their own paths of life, they will always be a family united by what was done this year. Future Friends teams won’t just be watching the 84’ highlight tape during preseason – they will be watching the 22’ tape as well. The importance of this year of football for Friends alumni and other people related to the program probably hasn’t set in for most members of the team, and likely won’t for a while too, but that will be achieved in due time. Put best by Bob Tattersall, “That leaves just one thing left to say. Three Cheers for the Quakers!”