The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 45

Sunday News Journal, Wilmington, Del. GcodlGPtii3 hunt Delaware hunters should find waterfowl in good to excellent supply for the final round of the season D16 Nov. 21, 1999 Section DELAWARE AT PLAY: UD student aims at race walking berth in the Olympics D11 Have a news tip for Sports? Call 324-2801 For questions about coverage in this section, call Sports Editor Ron Fritz at 324-291 9 or Public Editor John Sweeney at 324-2906 Trif-Niii High School Championships irii nli in ii-ii irt'r- il Tiiniifc.lvh ii 'in nir'trfrniTrVir'-iMfr rfV'iwiiiit ijiii i. Mniwri iinVir it- ftiiiiifi iiiinnr.i itt irifrfgw iitntrinii.r ivtiiiniH.M 3 Soccer: St. Mark's wins in OT fry '10 if l(i' i i Field hockey: Warriors rule Danae Chambers (left) scores one of her two second-half goals to break open a tight match and give Wilmington Christian a 3-0 win for the title.

Stories, D7. f- i -v -W -T Nolan Dzielak (10) was denied on this shot by Salesianum goalie Philip Szczerba, but Dzielak scored the game-winner in overtime as the Spartans won their fourth consecutive state title 3-2. Stories, D7. The News Journal ROBERT CRAIG The News Journal GINGER WALL jf II I II I 1 1 Hornets rally for win in last game End streak of losses against Howard Playoff hopes dashed by Wildcats' late rally Jk I uT By KEVIN TRESOLINI Staff reporter MW "1 1 Vrt VILLANOVA, Pa. A University of Delaware football season on the brink of a fantastic finish instead concluded with an epic, almost instantaneous, collapse Saturday at Villanova Stadium.

Twenty-one points ahead with nine minutes to play, the Blue Hens saw rv i APle 3 Villanova rally for an improbable 5145 overtime win that crushed Delaware's hope for an NCAA Division I-AA playoff bid. Oddly, the 22nd-ranked Hens had seemed worthy of a postseason invitation as they ran off 38 consecutive points to take charge of the At Villanova Delaware 51 45 By JOY SPENCER Staff reporter DOVER Four years ago, Delaware State ended its football season with a 20-13 win over Howard. Since then, the Hornets haven't had a .500 season and had lost to Howard three times by a total score of 134-87. That's history. On Saturday, in front of 4,187 onlookers at Alumni Stadium, Delaware State took down its traditional season-ending opponent.

The Hornets rebounded from an early 10-0 deficit and beat the Bison 42-25, snapping a three-game losing streak. Punt blocks a killer D9 Bringing up a QB Donovan McNabb (above) has been brought along slowly as the Eagles' signal caller. The Colts' Peyton Manning, on the other hand, was tossed into the fire last season. The two QBs meet on the field today. D1 2-1 3 Flyers get a win With rookie Brian Boucher in the nets, tit 'iJj Lmdrosand -isr Paymond Langkow pace the Flyers past Tampa Bay.

D3 Playoff madness The DSSAA football playoff picture still isn't clear, even though the regular season has ended. At issue: the enrollment figures for a Pennsylvania school. D6 College crunch No. 2 Virginia Tech romps past Temple, firming up its run toward a berth in the national title game. D8 Cal on the bench John Calipari gets back in charge on the bench Saturday The win gave DSU a 4-4 record in the Mid-Eastern Athletic the Hornets' best conference finish since they went DSU Howard 42 25 Backup backs come up big DIO lantic 10 showdown against their traditional adversary.

When Matt Nagy, briefly replacing the injured Brian Ginn, floated a 22-yard touchdown pass to Butter Pressey with 14:29 remaining, the resulting 45-24 lead encouraged widespread delirium among the many Delaware fans in a crowd of 12,550. "Up 21 points," center Jeff Fiss said later, "who wouldn't think we were going to the playoffs? We blew it, simple as that. It's unbelievable." Delaware's 45-24 cushion seemed too much even for Villanova to overcome, though the Wildcats had erased 11- and 14-point fourth-quarter deficits to beat Delaware the past two years. But Villanova's third blocked punt of the day and three more touchdown passes by Chris Boden, who had six in his final collegiate game, did the trick. Villanova tied it with 2:07 left, missed a field goal that would have won it in regulation, then prevailed when Ducarmel Au-gustin rumbled 25 yards for a touchdown on Villanova's first play of overtime.

Delaware's overtime possession had resulted in a missed 40-yard field goal. The turn of events was sudden and sad for the Hens, who finished 7-4 for the second year in a row. This will be the first time since 1989 and '90 that Delaware failed to qualify for the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. It was the largest fourth-quarter lead the Hens had failed to hold since who else? Villanova rallied from 33-7 down in the final 10 minutes to stun Delaware 36-33 on Sept. 27, 1969.

"To make 566 yards to If JV 4," ywi'T 1 v1 ''r --ii-- i.MiiMmnTm.i-ii.riiiiiii it mitiVr- mi, JVAiiTtf night in New itU-KU Jersev.The former Nets' coach was The News JoumalFRED C0MEGYS Delaware quarterback Brian Ginn has his head down on the sideline after throwing an interception late in the game with the score tied and can't look as Villanova tries a game-winning field goal. The kick missed, but the Blue Hens See HENS D9 couldn't score in overtime and Villanova did to win the game. Hens hang on to top Duquesne Seminoles chop up Gators 5-1 in 1995, the last year they beat Howard. DSU finished 4-7 after going 0-11 in 1998. "We had a great feeling on Monday that our kids really wanted to win for our seniors," said DSU coach John McKenzie.

"I'm thankful for the six seniors who went through a lot of adversity. They'll always have a special place in my heart for what they've gone through. "They left here on a great note. The last time they suited up, they walked away with a victory." It was not an auspicious start for the Hornets, though. They turned the ball over twice in the first quarter and once in the second.

The Bison converted those turnovers into 17 points. The first miscue came when DSU punt returner Tommie Mims misjudged a Howard punt. The ball bounced off his fingers, and Howard recovered. Nine seconds later, Bison quarterback Bobby Townsend connected on a 36-yard pass to Jevonte Philpot and the Bison had a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The Hornets then gave the ball right back.

Running back Maurice Foster, filling in for the injured Grayland King, fumbled on the Hornets 14-yard line. That led to a 35-yard field goal by Howard's Charles Card and a 10-0 lead late in the first quarter. The Hornets got back into the game with six minutes to go in the second quarter. Quarterback Rahsaan Matthews connected on a 54-yard pass to Albert Horsey, setting up a Foster TD plunge from three yards out. On DSU's next possession, See HENS D9 By DOUG LESMERISES Staff reporter BINGHAMTON, N.Y.

If the Delaware Blue Hens' season ends as they hope, with a victory in the NCAA Tournament, their season to remem there because 76ers' coach Larry Brown was ejected. D4 Disappointing debut Delaware State's women open the season with a loss to Bucknell. D10 No disappointment Kenny Satterfield and DerMarr Johnson don't look like first-game freshmen for Cincinnati. D16 Parting Shot Thomas Bonk writes in the Los Angeles Times: In Philadelphia, there are plans under way for a new baseball park for the Phillies. It would be a retro-style, Camden Yards-type job with about 45,000 seats.

The price tag may be in the range of $370 million. But that figure includes the demolition of Veterans Stadium. Here's a suggestion: Why not let Phillie fans have a go at the stadium for a night? Either that, or simply do nothing. The place would probably fall down on its own. I Greg Miller's sweet stroke and Mike Pegues' old moves for Delaware to hang on for an 86-81 victory over Duquesne in the Binghamton Hoopfest.

"We are certainly not a finished product," said Delaware coach Mike Brey after it took two Pegues free throws with four seconds left to finally seal the victory. "The talk in Newark would have you think that we're ready for the Final Four. We're good, but we're not there yet." Saturday was a mix and match process for Brey. Transfer Wells was playing his first game for the Blue Hens and forward Darryl Presley was returning after missing last season. With John Gordon and Madou Diouf out with injuries, freshman point guard Austen Rowland played 19 minutes and 7-foot-l center Ndiaye played a career-high 27 minutes.

"I thought we got a good feel for each other," said senior Pegues, who led the Blue Hens with 25 points. "We know we're very comfortable with Austen handling the ball, and we know Ndongo will be there on defense to block or change someone's shot." Ndiaye had four blocks, six rebounds and four points and looked good except when he went to set a screen and took a bounce pass in the butt. "Tonight he was a college basketball player for the first See HENS D4 ber will have had an appropriately humble beginning. In a musty hockey arena in a 86 81 UD Duquesne gray New York city, against a team that won five games last season, Delaware almost lost Saturday night. But there was just enough of Billy Wells' quick hands, Ndongo Ndiaye's long arms, APCHRIS O'MEARA Florida State's Michael Hamilton does the tomahawk chop as he carries an alligator skull following the No.

1 Seminoles' 30-23 win over Florida Saturday. College Football, D8..