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HIGHLIGHTS

Delaware's Howard is selected All-Colonial

Elena DelleDonne joins UD volleyball team

Three Blue Hens named football All-Americans

Blue Hen wins bronze in Olympic baseball

Delaware football sets season ticket record

UD men's ice hockey offers season tickets

UD men's basketball sets non-conference schedule

WVUD announces fall football broadcasts

Hitchens Classic benefits UD women's athletics

Flacco selected by Baltimore in NFL draft

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Unbeaten UD football team will face Hofstra Sept. 27

10:11 a.m., Sept. 22, 2003--The unbeaten University of Delaware football team will take to the road for its first game outside the friendly confines of Delaware Stadium this weekend, taking on Atlantic 10 Football Conference rival Hofstra University at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 27, at James M. Shuart Stadium.

Hofstra has started the season 0-4 with losses to Marshall, Maine, Elon and James Madison.

The Fightin’ Blue Hens are unbeaten at 3-0 and have scored more than 40 points in each of the first three games.

On Saturday night, the Hens defeated West Chester University 49-7 before 21,002 fans.

UD bolted to a 35-0 lead early in the second quarter and pounded out 356 first-half yards in defeating the Rams for the 10th straight time.

Delaware is now off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2000 and the 42-0 halftime lead was the team's second largest in history, second only to a 43-0 intermission lead over West Chester in an 84-0 win in 2000. Also, the Hens have scored 40 or more points in their first three games for the first time since 1973.

Senior quarterback Andy Hall, who entered the game as the highest rated passer in NCAA Division I-AA football with a mark of 184.00, enjoyed another superb game as he hit on nine of 13 passes for 176 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 54 yards on four carries before sitting down for the entire second half.

Hall threw for three touchdowns for the third straight game, connecting with Joe Bleymaier for a 12-yard score just two minutes into the game and hitting Brian Ingram on scoring tosses of 71 yards late in the first quarter and five yards late in the second quarter. Ingram, who entered the game as the leading pass catcher in Division I-AA with 8.5 per game, caught four passes for 87 yards.

“I told the team that I would know a lot more about what kind of team the are after I saw the way they approached this game,” UD Head Coach K.C. Keeler said. “They showed a lot of maturity and had a great week of practice. We wanted to take the opening kickoff and go right down the field, and that's what we did. That first drive really set the tempo.”

The Hens struck early, taking the opening kickoff, moving 48 yards and completing the drive on Hall's scoring pass to Bleymaier. Just 76 seconds later, the score was 14-0 when Sidney Haugabrook intercepted a pass by West Chester quarterback Bob Findora and raced 39 yards for the touchdown.

Delaware extended the lead to 21-0 when wide receiver Justin Long took a reverse and fired a 64-yard scoring strike to G.J. Crescione who outran the defense for his first touchdown. Hall followed just three minutes later on a 71-yard bomb to Ingram and the Hens took a 28-0 lead into the second stanza. A one-yard Germaine Bennett dive and Ingram's second touchdown pass gave the Hens the 42-0 lead at intermission.

Delaware scored its only second half touchdown with 8:58 left in the third quarter when backup quarterback Ryan Carty scored on a keeper from 30 yards out.

West Chester, which has not won in this neighborhood series since 1992, scored its only touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter when Osagie Osunde capped an 18-play, 79-yard drive that consumed 9:04 with a two-yard run.

The Rams, who entered the game averaging 489.5 total yards, 296.5 yards rushing and 42 points per game, were held to just 242 total yards and rushed 35 times for 55 yards. Mike Eckmeyer, who ran for 170 yards in last year's 31-10 loss to Delaware, was held to just 66 yards. Findora completed 17 of 29 passes for 181 yards and was intercepted twice.

“We got beat by a very good Delaware football team,” said first-year West Chester head coach Bill Zwaan, a standout quarterback for the Blue Hens in 1973-75. “We came back and played hard in the second half and I was proud of that. It was really exciting coming back to Delaware. It brought back a lot of memories.”


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