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Delaware 29, West Chester 10
September 18, 1999

 

NEWARK, DE -- The University of Delaware, tested early by NCAA Division II West Chester, finally got back on track in the second half and moved on to a 29-10 non-league football win Saturday at Delaware Stadium.

Delaware (3-0), ranked No. 9 in NCAA I-AA and off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 1995, received a balanced effort on the ground with three players running for 74 yards or more as the Hens downed the Rams (0-2) for the seventh straight time.

"West Chester did a great job and they came ready to play," said Delaware head coach Tubby Raymond. "We take nothing away from them, but we played poorly and we still have an awful lot to work on. We are not growing fast enough to keep up with the music we'll see in the next few weeks. We did learn how to drive the ball and that was a bright spot. We took a couple of fullbacks and just drove the ball in the second half.

Delaware's defense, which entered the game allowing just 259 yards per game, held the Rams to just 212 and picked off three passes.

Delaware took a 14-3 lead into halftime on a 46-yard pass play from Matt Nagy (Manheim, Pa.) to Brett Veach (Mt. Carmel, Pa) and on a 34-yard return on a blocked punt by Mike Watkins (Newark, Del.) with 3:21 left in the first half.

The Rams, playing without All-American flanker Kevin Ingram (hamstring), cut the lead to 14-10 with 12:33 left in the third quarter when Mike Mitros (15 of 30 for 149 yards) connected with Adrian Wilkerson on a 14-yard scoring pass.

But the Hens held West Chester in check the rest of the day, pulling away on a 37-yard field goal by Garon Sizemore (Elkton, Md.) and two short scoring runs by Craig Cummings (Ocean City, Md.) and fullback Steve Ricco (Plainview, NY).

Ricco rushed for a career-high 81 yards while backup fullback James O'Neal added 75 yards and halfback Butter Pressey ran for 74 yards.

"You're never going to stop Delaware's offense, especially the running game," said West Chester head coach Rick Daniels, whose club last downed Delaware in 1992. "You can slow it down but I don't care who is running it, they are going to get their yards."

 

AGATE

WEST CHESTER........3....0....7....0....10
DELAWARE............0...14....9....6....29

SCORING

First Quarter
WCU - FG Schacher 21, 10:16 left

Second Quarter
UD - Veach 46 pass from Nagy (run failed), 12:01
UD - Watkins 34 blocked punt return (Pressey run), 3:21

Third Quarter
WCU - Wilkerson 14 pass from Mitros (Schacher kick), 12:33
UD - FG Sizemore 37, 8:13
UD - Cummings 5 run (kick blocked), 2:04

Fourth Quarter
UD - Ricco 6 run (pass failed), 12:08

Attendance: 19,260

TEAM STATS.....WCU.......... UD
First downs.................16................21
Rushes-Yards..........27-63...........53-269
Passing..............15-30-3...........10-19-1
Passing Yards...........149................124
Total Yards..............212................393
Fumbles-lost.............0-0................1-0
Penalties-Yards.........4-20..............6-60
Punts-Average.......6-24.3............3-20.3
Return Yards..............48.................54
Time of Poss...........25:25.............34:35
3rd Down Conv.........2-12..............8-16

INDIVIDUAL STATS -RUSHING - WEST CHESTER - Muchler 9-34, DeFilipo 4-23, Reed 5-6, Mitros 8-0, Bradley 1-0; DELAWARE - Ricco 12-81, O'Neal 13-75, Pressey 7-74, Cummings 10-39, Conway 2-6, Patrick, 2-minus 1, Nagy 1-minus 2, Ginn 6-minus 3; PASSING - WCU - Mitros 15-30-3-149; D - Nagy 4-7-1-79, Ginn 6-12-0-45; RECEIVING - WCU - Lowe 4-40, Truitt 3-28, Reed 3-21, DeFilipo 2-35, Wilkerson 2-21, Muchler 1-4; D - Cummings 4-43, Veach 3-66, Elliott 2-17, Ricco 1-minus 2.

 

- DDD -