Boxscore / Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, Del.-- Johnathon Smith enjoyed his biggest night as a Blue Hen, scoring three touchdowns and running for 101 yards to lead the No. 6 ranked University of Delaware to an easy 48-20 football win over West Chester in UD’s home opener Saturday night at sold out Delaware Stadium.

Smith, a senior and a first-year starter in the Delaware backfield, scored all three of his touchdowns in the first half, including a 62-yard burst down the left sideline early in the second quarter as the Hens (1-1) jumped out to a 34-6 lead at the break and never looked back in posting a win over their NCAA Division II rivals for the 15th straight time, including the third straight year in the home opener.

The game was played before a sold out crowd of 22,029 that saw the Blue Hens, last season’s NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision runner-up, unveil a brand new video scoreboard. The board had plenty of chances to show Delaware highlights.

Smith led a balanced rushing attack that churned out 308 yards and scored four touchdowns on the ground. Smith enjoyed his first career 100-yard effort while Jerry Butler rushed for 92 yards on 12 carries, including a 53-yard scoring jaunt in the final quarter, Jared Bradley gained 78 yards on 10 carries, and Phillip Thaxton rambled for 47 yards on 10 tries.

Delaware junior quarterback Robby Schoenhoft, a first-year transfer from Ohio State, earned his first career win as he completed 14 of 26 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns, an 18-yard toss to All-American tight end Robbie Agnone in the opening quarter and a 14-yard strike to a diving Kervin Michaud in the final stanza.

West Chester (1-1), ranked No. 23 in the NCAA Division II poll and an NCAA Tournament qualifier the previous four seasons, managed to throw for three touchdowns but the Hens stuffed their run game all night, holding the Rams to just 16 yards on 17 carries without the benefit of a sack.

The Hens also held down West Chester All-American wide receiver Mike Washington to just one catch for no yards. Washington entered the game averaging 22 yards per catch with three touchdowns this season.

“I think we took some steps forward tonight,” said Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler, whose team fell in its season opener 14-7 at the University of Maryland Aug. 30 before taking last week off. “I don’t know how much the bye week hurt us, but we did make some mistakes. But our kids worked hard and we enjoy every win. West Chester played well and will be very competitive in their league, but they just could not run on us tonight and that was a big difference.”

In addition to holding the Rams to just 256 total yards, the Hens also intercepted two passes and blocked a punt on the Rams’ first possession that resulted in a first quarter touchdown. Linebacker Brian Brown (#6 at right) and Anthony Walters (#9 at right) played a big part for the UD defense with Walters intercepting a pass.

The Hens came out strong, scoring on six of their first seven possessions to take the big lead.

Delaware didn’t waste any time getting on the board as All-American defensive end Matt Marcorelle blocked a West Chester punt after a bad snap with the Hens getting the ball on the Ram seven yard line. Four plays later Smith bulled into the end zone from one-yard out on a fourth and one play.

The Hens went up 14-0 on Schoenhoft’s 18-yard pass to Agnone with 15 seconds left in the opening quarter before West Chester scored its initial touchdown on a 16-yard scoring pass from Joe Wright to Steve Miller just 45 second later.

But Delaware reeled off 20 straight points to end the half with Smith out-running the defense for a 62-yard run with 14:11 left and adding a one-yard dive with 4:52 left. All-American Jon Striefsky added field goals of 23 and 37 yards in a 90-second span to put the Hens up 34-6 at the break. The last field goal, with 24 seconds left in the half, was set up on an interception by safety Charles Graves.

“Our line really came up with some blocks up front tonight,” said Smith, a former linebacker of his performance and big touchdown run. “It was exciting to run like I did but I just want to stay consistent. Once I get down the sidelines, I have some big strides and I didn’t think the little guys could catch me.”

After a scoreless third quarter, the Hens upped the lead to 41-13 on a 14-yard diving touchdown catch by Michaud in the middle of the end zone just 1:23 into the final stanza.

West Chester backup quarterback Jared Jorgensen, who hit on 4 of 8 passes for 77 yards in relief of Wright, followed with a 55-yard scoring toss to Darryl Canty just over a minute later to cut the lead to 41-13, but the Hens countered with another big run as Butler scampered 53-yards down the right sideline 15 seconds later to push the score back up to 48-13.

The Rams closed out the scoring with Jorgensen hitting Andrew Taylor with a four-yard pass into the end zone with 6:59 left. That score was set up when Mike Dell recovered a fumble by Delaware wide receiver Tommy Crosby at the Delaware 23-yard line by Matt Colyar.

Delaware will return to action next Saturday when the Hens travel to Furman for a big non-league matchup. West Chester will host Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference foe Millersville.