From: Selheimer, Scott Sent: Saturday, October 4, 2014 10:30:55 PM Subject: SUBJECT: Quick Start by University of Delaware Not Enough as Sacred Heart Stuns No. 24 Blue Hens 10-7 in Non-League Football SUBJECT: Quick Start by University of Delaware Not Enough as Sacred Heart Stuns No. 24 Blue Hens 10-7 in Non-League Football DATE: October 4, 2014 sws: NEWARK, Del. -- For the second straight week, the University of Delaware’s Jalen Randolph scored off a long touchdown run on the game’s first play from scrimmage. This time though, the result wasn’t quite what the Blue Hens were hoping for. After Randolph’s 75-yard scoring run off a screen pass propelled Delaware to a 30-23 overtime victory over James Madison last week, on Saturday his 79-yard scoring jaunt just 14 seconds into the game were the only points his team could muster as the No. 24 ranked Blue Hens fell to Sacred Heart 10-7 in a non-league football game at Delaware Stadium. The Blue Hens (3-2), who were meeting the defending Northeast Conference champions in football for the first time ever, had a three-game win streak snapped and lost to a non-conference opponent at home for the first time since 2006 to end a 22-game win streak. Delaware had not lost at home to a non-league opponent since a 17-10 setback to then Northeast Conference opponent and current Colonial Athletic Association foe Albany that season. “This is a disappointing loss,” said Delaware second-year head coach Dave Brock. “We have to be in a position where we are more ready to play and put ourselves in better situations to be successful. That falls on me. I give a lot of credit to Sacred Heart. Those kids have won and they were able to come in here today and do that. We played poorly. We have to get back to the drawing board tomorrow and get ready to return to conference play next week.” The Pioneers (4-1), who advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago and started this season by winning its first three games, scored the equalizer on an eight-yard scoring pass from RJ Noel to Tyler Dube with 6:36 left in the first half and converted the winning points on a 25-yard field goal by Chris Rogers with 8:28 left to play. Delaware had two chances to pull out the win in the final minutes of the fourth quarter but the Hens were stopped on a fourth-and-three play at the SHU 39-yard line with 6:12 left to play and gained just one yard on three plays after Vince Hollerman sacked Noel and Grant Roberts recovered his fumble at the UD 27-yard with 4:26 remaining. Playing against the nation’s top ranked run defense and No. 5 ranked defense overall, the Blue Hens managed just 15 first downs and 354 total yards - only 138 after halftime - and were hurt by 10 penalties for 85 yards and just 3 of 15 third down efficiency. Sacred Heart gained 21 first downs and 407 total yards but came through with a 10-play, 72-yard drive to set up the winning field goal by Rogers, who is now 8 of 9 on the season. Sacred Heart’s winning drive was set up when safety J.D. Roussel intercepted Delaware senior quarterback Trent Hurley in the end zone with 13:11 remaining. The Hens appeared to be on their way to putting points on the board after driving 86 yards to the Sacred Heart four-yard line, but after a SHU pass interference penalty put the ball on the seven and Randolph ran three yards to the four, Hurley was picked off in the back of the end zone while looking for his top target Michael Johnson. Hurley hit on 21 of 34 passes for 196 yards and surpassed the 5,000-yard mark for his career while Johnson caught a career-high 10 passes for 128 yards and Randolph finished with game-high 113 yards on 16 carries. His 79-yard run was the 12th longest in UD history and longest since an 85-yard run by quarterback Andy Hall vs. Hofstra in 2003. Noel hit on 17 of 31 passes for 208 yards and a touchdown for Sacred Heart while Walter Payton Award candidate Keshaudas Spence ran for a team-high 86 yards on 18 carries. Dube caught six passes for 66 yards to lead the Pioneers. Defensively, Gordon Hill made 13 tackles and James Rentz added 10 stops with each collecting two sacks on the day. “Defensively we made progress today but there were situations where we had to make a play and we came up short, said Delaware senior co-captain and safety Jake Giusti, who led the team with 11 tackles. “We have to continue to work hard so when those situations come up again we deliver. This was an important game for them and I take my hat off, but we knew this was an important game for us too. We just didn’t execute. This was a hurtful loss, but we are going to take this as fuel (to get better).” Delaware will return to Colonial Athletic Association action next Saturday when the Blue Hens host CAA newcomer Elon at 3:30 p.m. at Delaware Stadium as part of Parents and Family Weekend. Hen Scratchings: • Johnson had 200 all-purpose yards and extended his pass-catching streak to 27 straight games. His 128-yard receiving effort marked the sixth time in his career he has surpassed the 100-yard mark • Delaware All-American punter Eric Enderson averaged 46.9 yards on seven punts with a season-long 59-yarder • Despite the loss, the Hens extended two streaks as they scored in their 207th straight home game since 1983 and scored against an NCAA FCS foe for the 200th straight game since 1996 • Blue Hens tight end Nick Boyle caught one pass to up his career total to 77, one shy of the UD record for a tight end held by John Yergey (78 in 1987-89) • Delaware’s defense recorded its first interception of the season when sophomore Ryan Torzsa picked off Noel in the end zone with 1:45 left in the third quarter but the Hens could not capitalize. The interception was the first of Torzsa’s career • Hurley now has 5,110 career passing yards to rank No. 7 all-time at Delaware AGATE: Scoring Summary Sacred Heart.....0.....7.....0.....3.....10 Delaware..........7.....0.....0.....0......7 1st Quarter Delaware - Jalen Randolph 79 run (Garrett Greenway kick), 14:46 left 2nd Quarter SHU - Tyler Dube 8 pass from RJ Noel (Chris Rogers kick), 6:36 4th Quarter SHU - FG Chris Rogers 25, 8:28 Attendance: 14,894 Team Statistics Sacred Heart Delaware First downs 21 15 Rushes-yards 47-199 37-158 Passing yards 208 196 Passes 17-31-1 21-35-2 Total yards 407 354 Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0 Penalties-yards 9-79 10-85 Punts-avg. 8-33.6 7-46.9 Time of Poss: 30:04 29:56 Third Down Conv.7-16 3-15 Sacks by 4-44 1-8 Individual Statistics: Rushing, Sacred Heart, Keshaudas Spence, 18-86, RJ Noel, 15-76, Sean Bell, 8-34, Moses Webb, 3-6, Tyler Dube, 1-3, Team, 2-(-6); Delaware, Jalen Randolph, 16-113, Michael Johnson, 3-39, Kareem Williams, 4-25, Wes Hills, 6-11, Jerel Harrison, 2-11, Trent Hurley, 6-(-41); Passing, SHU, Noel, 17-3-1-1-208; Delaware, Hurley, 21-34-2-196; Team, 0-1-0-0; Receiving, SHU, Dube, 6-66, Webb, 3-34, Bell, 2-41, Jackson King, 2-32, Robert Dim, 2-13, Pat Casey, 1-11, Spence, 1-11. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Scott Selheimer | [email protected] | Office: 302-831-8007 | Cell: 302-562-5129
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 03:08:16 +0000
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