NEWARK, DE -- University of Delaware running backs Danny Jones and Omar Cuff (at right/photo by David Howell) combined to rush for 237 yards to lead a punishing ground attack as the No. 6 ranked Blue Hens continued their dominance over NCAA Division II West Chester with a 42-21 non-league football victory Saturday night at Delaware Stadium.

Cuff, the nation’s leading scorer after collecting a school-record five touchdowns in last week’s 34-33 win over Lehigh, rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns and Jones, a freshman, added 121 yards in a supporting role in the Hens’ one-back offense to lead the way. Cuff posted his fourth straight 100-yard rushing effort going back to last season and the Hens put two runners over 100 yards rushing for the first time since the 2003 NCAA I-AA national championship season.

Delaware (2-0), which won its eighth straight home game at Delaware Stadium, defeated No. 23 West Chester (2-2) for the 12th straight time.

West Chester quarterback Matt Burdalski completed 18 of 41 passes for 207 yards while Brent Steinmetz, a second-year transfer from Delaware who stepped into the starting lineup due to an injury to leading rusher Osagie Osunde a week ago, carried 24 times for 93 yards. Freshman Mike Washington collected his third 100-yard receiving effort in four career games, hauling in six passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns.

Delaware quarterback Sonny Riccio hit on 12 of 24 passes for 176 yards and one touchdown and surpassed the 3,000-yard passing mark for his career.

“To have two runners go over 100 yards, that’s a great thing for us,” said Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler. “Danny and Omar give us an outstanding one-two combination and we need that for a long season ahead. We are happy to get the win tonight but we have a long way to go and we have to get a lot better to have a chance in our league (Atlantic 10).”

Delaware piled up 452 total yards, including 267 on the ground, and used several big plays on offense, defense, and special teams to post the victory. The Blue Hens had seven plays go for over 25 yards during the game, including a 49-yard punt return by Aaron Love that set up a touchdown and a 78-yard interception return by Rashaad Woodard just
before halftime.

The Blue Hens drove 78 yards on the first drive of the game and went up 7-0 on Cuff’s two-yard scoring run with 9:10 left in the opening quarter. But the Golden Rams came right back to tie it as Washington hauled in a 20-yard scoring pass from Burdalski with just 54 seconds left in the opening stanza.

A 21-point second quarter put the game away for the Hens. Niquan Lee scored on a one-yard run on the first play of the second quarter, Cuff added a 25-yard run around the left side, and Love caught a three-yard scoring pass from Riccio with just 1:09 remaining in the half. The lead increased to 35-7 midway through the third quarter when Riccio scored on a three-yard run.

West Chester scored twice in the final quarter to make the score closer with Washington scoring on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Bill Zwaan Jr., the son of WCU head coach Bill Zwaan, with 10:44 left to play and on Patrick McDermott’s two-yard burst with 1:01 remaining.

Defensively, Roger Brown led the Blue Hens w ith 11 tackles while John Mulhern and Erik Johnson each added nine stops. The Hens recorded four sacks, including two by All-American defensive tackle Tom Parks. West Chester linebacker Jimmy Lewis, a native of Delaware, posted a team-high nine tackles, including four tackles for loss and two sacks.

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