The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 46

D8 SUNDAY NEWS JOURNAL OCT. 24, 1999 Shipp to mates: Just give me the ball' SUM 'X SS-- 4 'l 1 i i I4 fJlr -x A UMass RB runs through, around, and over Hens By MARTIN FRANK Staff reporter NEWARK The play that lost the game for Delaware was a two-yard gain up the middle near mid-field. There was nothing fancy about it, just UMass running back Marcel Shipp escaping a tackle in the backfield, then spinning away from another tackier, then diving forward, extending every inch of his body until he was past the first-down marker. The two-yard run was Shipp's 44th carry of the game, and it devastated the Hens. Here they were, thinking they had Shipp stopped in the backfield, thinking that UMass' fourth-down gamble was going to fail, thinking that they would get the ball back with 1:40 left with a chance to at least tie the game.

But Shipp wouldn't let it happen. He broke free of Brian McKenna's grasp and got the first down that preserved the Minutemen's 26-19 win Saturday. "That was the thrill of it," Shipp said. "Delaware knew what was coming, but we knew we would dom-inate the game at the end. I always want the ball, no matter what.

I knew I had to come through." So he did, helping UMass win a game it absolutely had to win. He did it by taking the Minutemen on his back and gaining every single tough yard possible. The 44 carries were the most ever at Delaware Stadium. And Shipp, a junior, had to fight for every single one of his 176 yards. There was no secret that Shipp was getting the ball, especially once UMass grabbed its 26-19 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The Delaware defenders knew it, and as UMass coach Mark Whipple said: "Everyone in the house knew we were giving the ball to No. 5. That's why he's a great player." Hens coach Tubby Raymond certainly would agree, saying Shipp is better than James Madison running back Curtis Keaton, whom Delaware held to 93 yards earlier this season. Massachusetts 26, UD 19 Massachusetts (4-3, 4-1) 7 10 0 9-26 Delaware (4-3, 2-2) 7 12 0 0- 19 Mass Bankhead 1 run (Cherry kick) UD Elliott 9 run (Sizemore kick) UD Ricco 11 run (kick failed) UD Pressey 20 run (pass failed) Mass Shipp 1 run (White kick) Mass White 34 FG Mass Cherry 21 FG Mass Shipp 23 run (Cherry kick failed) How they scored First quarter UMASS: QB Todd Bankhead 1-yard run with 7:53 left. Jason Cherry PAT.

DRIVE: 11 plays, 63 yards, 3:49 elapsed. KEY PLAYS: Bankhead passes of 12 yards to Steve Ley and 24 yards to Adrian Zullo. UMASS 7, DELAWARE 0. DELAWARE: WR Jamin Elliott 9-yard run with 4:56 left. Garon Sizemore PAT.

DRIVE: 3 plays, 45 yards, 1:09 elapsed. KEY PLAYS: Dan Mulhern's interception and 22-yard return that gave Delaware the ball and Matt Nagy's 37-yard pass to Brett Veach. UMASS 7, DELAWARE 7. Second quarter DELAWARE: FB Steve Ricco 11 -yard run with 10:24 left. Sizemore's extra-point try was wide left.

DRIVE: 1 play, 11 yards, :05 elapsed. KEY PLAY: Brian McKenna's interception. DELAWARE 13, UMASS 7. DELAWARE: HB Butter Pressey 20-yard run with 6:19 left. Nagy's 2-point pass was incomplete after Delaware was penalized 15 yards for excessive celebration.

DRIVE: 4 plays, 29 yards, 1:30 elapsed. KEY PLAY: Mel Steele's blocked punt. DELAWARE 19, UMASS 7. UMASS: TB Marcel Shipp 1-yard run with 2:41 left. Doug White PAT.

DRIVE: 12 plays, 86 yards, 3:38 elapsed. KEY PLAY: Bankhead's 18-yard pass to Zullo on a third-and-9 at the Delaware 23 and earlier 16- and 13-yard passes to Sean Higgins. DELAWARE 19, UMASS 14. UMASS: Doug White 34-yard field goal with no time remaining. DRIVE: 6 plays, 31 yards, :54 elapsed.

KEY PLAYS: 12-yard Bankhead-to-Shipp pass and Shipp's 8-yard run on third-and-6. DELAWARE 19, UMASS 17. Third quarter No scoring. Fourth quarter UMASS: Jason Cherry 21 -yard field goal with 14:53 left. DRIVE: 4 plays, 3 yards, 1 :06.

KEY PLAY: Kole Ayi's interception and 36-yard return. UMASS 20, DELAWARE 19. UMASS: Shipp 23-yard run with 8:02 left. Cherry's kick was wide right. DRIVE: 9 plays, 67 yards, 4:35 elapsed.

KEY PLAYS: Bankhead's third-down passes to Zullo of 10 and eight yards. UMASS 26, DELAWARE 19. Team statistics The News JoumalWILLIAM BRETZGER Massachusetts running back Marcel Shipp is surrounded by Delaware linebackers Robert Lum (58) and Dave Neubeiser (56). Shipp set a Delaware Stadium record with 44 carries against the Hens in Saturday's win by the Minutemen. carried more than 30 times in a game.

Last week, he had 256 yards on 30 carries in UMass' 38-17 win over Maine. On Saturday, Shipp's longest run was his 23-yard touchdown with 8:02 left in the fourth quarter, when he broke free and sprinted down the left sideline. No one could catch him. "I hate saying this, but everybody knows I get stronger as the game goes along," Shipp said. "I don't mind 44 carries.

It seemed with 153.3 yards per game heading into Saturday's game. He has 19 straight games of rushing for 100 or more yards. This after rushing for 2,542 yards last year in UMass' national championship season. He has 1,096 yards this season, and he has practically carried UMass on his stocky 6-foot, 212-pound frame. Which is just the way Shipp likes it.

He has carried at least 22 times in every game this year, and this marks the fourth time he has like only 20, anyway. I just love getting the ball." The Hens found that out on fourth down late in the fourth quarter, when they had Shipp stopped, only to see him get the first down that cost Delaware the game. "We held the best back in the league," UD defensive tackle Mike Cecere said. "But we missed a lot of tackles, and that cost us in the end." Shipp made sure of that. Ankle sprain sidelines Nagy at least two weeks Mass UD First downs 22 13 Rushes-yards 53-200 38-165 Passing 191 140 Comp-Att-Int 20-34-3 7-21-2 Return Yards 7 9 Punts-Avg.

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 4-1 Penalties-Yards 5-55 8-77 Time of Possession 33:12 26:48 String of 15 straight starts will be broken as Ginn takes over at QB A i I -TI-Bf lid iitiW By KEVIN TRESOLINI and MARTIN FRANK Staff reporters NEWARK It wasn't broken, but it was a bad break nonetheless for Matt Nagy. Delaware's junior quarterback, in the midst of a frustrating season and an equally difficult game, suffered a high ankle sprain in Saturday's 26-19 loss to Massachusetts. While the lower leg wasn't broken, as Nagy first feared when he was Blue Hen Notebook sacked from behind by freshman linebacker Corey Potter, the injury will knock him out for two weeks and maybe more. "I'd sprained both my ankles before but I'd never felt such tremendous pain," Nagy said. "I was praying it wasn't broken." X-rays revealed afterward it was not, but Nagy still left wearing a supportive boot and on crutches.

That means Nagy's string of 15 straight starts will end next week at Northeastern. He'll be replaced by senior Brian Ginn, who relieved The News JoumalWILLIAM BRETZGER Delaware's Mike Cecere weighs 270 pounds, and as a defensive tackle, he is not the fastest runner on the field by any means. So when Tyrone Bow-den, who intercepted UMass quarterback Todd Bankhead in the end zone, fumbled the ball at the 34, it went right into Cecere's hands and he seemingly had a clear path to the end zone. But he never made it, getting tackled from behind by Marcel Shipp, at UMass' 17 yard line. "I saw the ball, picked it up and ran as far and as fast as I could," Cecere said.

"When I hit the 30, 1 kind of lost it." Cecere catches his breath on the sideline. That's why Raymond said he wasn't surprised when on fourth-and-1, with the game on the line, when UMass could've easily punted and made Delaware start deep in its zone, Whipple decided to go for the first down, and take the game away from the Blue Hens. "If I had Shipp, I'd go for it, too," Raymond said. "If I had Shipp, I don't think I'd ever kick a field goal." After all, Shipp leads the Atlantic-10 in rushing this season, Nagy for the fifth time this season Saturday. Delaware's senior captain, Ginn was the starter for 11 games his sophomore year before injuring his shoulder and three last year before breaking his leg.

STILL IN THE HUNT: Since the I-AA tourney field was expanded to 16 teams in 1986, Delaware has gone 8-3 in three regular seasons and received a playoff bid each time (1986, 1993 and 1996). All the Hens (4-3) can do now is win their final four games and hope that's enough to get them in again. "We signed on for 11 games and we're going to play 11 games," coach Tubby Raymond said. "I'm not the one to say the whole season's gone because we've lost three games. Too many things have happened.

"You don't have to look any further than last year." Massachusetts received an at-large bid as an 8-3 team in 1998, got hot and won the national title. "I'm not saying we're going to win the national championship," Raymond added. "But I am saying there certainly is a lot more that "I was really surprised. because I thought we had some things squared away. We weren't as productive in the second half and I can't tell you why." Tubby Raymond, UD coach pulled the Minutemen within 19-17 just before halftime.

Nagy completed just six of 18 passes for 122 yards. Pressey's 50 yards on 10 carries were the pinnacle of Delaware's ground effort. "I was really surprised by that because I thought we had some things squared away," Raymond said of Delaware's offensive trouble. "We weren't as productive in the second half and I can't tell you why. We didn't play defense as well in the second half, either." UMass took the leacAfor good Northeastern, New Hampshire and Rhode Island plus a season-ending visit to archrival Villanova.

"We're not going to throw away the season," Cecere said. "That's not the type of team we are. We just have to come out next week and play harder than we played this week. Right now, it's just a team effort, especially for these seniors. "If anyone has a good shot at losing three games and getting in the playoffs, it's us." HEN SCRATCHINGS: UMass junior Kole Ayi, the brother of UD freshman Femi Ayi, had a key interception near the end of the third quarter.

He returned the ball to the Delaware 7, and the Minutemen got a field goal out of it to start the fourth quarter, giving them a 20-19 lead. When asked after the game who his parents were rooting for, Ayi responded: "I think they're wearing maroon," he said with a laugh UD's offense struggled in the second half, gaining only 80 net yards. Matt Nagy went l-for-6 for 20 yards before leaving in the fourth quarter with his ankle injury. The Hens' 247 yards of total offense was more than 100 yards less than their previous low this season Delaware fell to 2-2 when playing defending national champions. Nr 'XJ i this football team can do.

It wasn't like we lost this important game, therefore, we're going to shut down and quit." Delaware junior defensive end Individual statistics RUSHING Mass, Shipp 186-10, Zullo 9-0, Bankhead 5-25, UD, Pressey 54-4, Ricco 40-2, Cummings 38-2, Elliott 9-0, Downs 4-0, O'Neal 3-0, Nagy 6-16, Ginn 11-34. PASSING-Mass, Bankhead 20-33-3-191, Bowman 0-1-0-0, UD, Nagy 6-18-2-122, Ginn 1-3-0-18. RECEIVING-Mass, Zullo 7-83, Higgins 5-55, Shipp 4-27, Ley 2-20, Kozikowski 2-6, UD, Elliott 3-70, Veach 1-37, Pressey 1-18, Cummings 1-12, Ricco 1-3. 1999 UD OPPONENTS William and Mary 3-4: (34-27) Beat VMI 35-1 4. Corey Nesmith rushed for 83 yards and two touchdowns and William Mary finished with 473 offensive yards.

Citadel 1-5 (26-16): Lost to l-AA power Georgia Southern 34-17, despite taking a 17-10 lead early in the third quarter. West Chester 3-3 (29-10): Beat Bloomsburg 35-13 to go to 3-0 in the PSAC East. Mike Mitros completed 23 of 32 passes for 276 James Madison 6-1 (7-21): Beat Connecticut 48-14 to remain undefeated in A-10 play. Richmond 4-3 (41-33): Idle. Lehigh 7-0 (35-42): Beat Holy Cross 62-8.

Phil Stambaugh threw for four touchdowns, and Jamal Burcher and Ronald Jean each rushed for over 100 yards and two scores. Northeastern 1-5 (Oct. 30): Lost to Villanova 45-14, its fourth straight loss. New Hampshire 3-4 (Nov. 6): Lost to South Florida in overtime, 42-41.

Rhode Island 0-6 (Nov. 13): Beat Maine 23-14 for its first win. Ken Mast-role threw two touchdown passes and Matt Birkett caught eight passes for 175 yards. Villanova 5-3 (Nov. 20): Beat Northeastern 45-14.

Ducarmel Augustin ran for 133 of his career-high 147 yards in the second half, and scored three touchdowns as Villanova won its second straight game. Chris Boden was 22-for-26 passing and threw a touchdown pass for the 32nd consecutive game. A-10 Standings Conference All James Madison Massachusetts Villanova William Mary Connecticut Delaware Richmond Maine New Hampshire Rhode Island Northeastern ens: Loss deals huge blow to playoff hopes Mike Cecere said a shot at the playoffs will keep the Hens motivated the final month of the season, which includes games against the A-10's bottom three teams VV 20-19 on Jason Cherry's 21-yard field goal with 14:53 left in the game. After Shipp's final touchdown run, two subsequent Delaware possessions with Brian Ginn at the helm in place of Nagy netted one first down and resulted in punts. "Those two series I was in there they were just bringing everybody," Ginn said.

"I couldn't see anything but white coming at me." UMass clinched it when Shipp broke a tackle in the backfield and picked up the first down on a fourth-and-1 at the Delaware 43 with 1:34 left. While UMass quarterback Todd Bankhead struggled early, he still finished 20-for-33 for 191 yards. Adrian Zullo, a 5-foot-7, 171-pound pest, caught seven balls for 83 yards. "Both teams played their tails off and laid it on the line," second-year UMass coach Mark Whipple said. "We were just fortunate enough to come out with the win at the end.

"We really could have self-destructed in the first half Jvhen Todd threw those shree FROM PAGE D1 "The defense stopped them a lot, gave us turnovers. They couldn't do anymore. We had a touchdown and some big plays called back. We did the things that, all week, we talked about we couldn't do, and it cost us." No. 18-ranked Delaware fell to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the Atlantic 10.

To be considered for an NCAA at-large playoff berth, Delaware must win its final four games and then cross its fingers. The 24th-ranked Minutemen (4-3, 4-1) won their third straight and stayed on course for a return to the NCAA Tournament. Delaware could have taken charge had it not been for a holding infraction. It wiped out a 29-yard touchdown pass from Nagy to Craig Cummings with 5:23 left in the third quarter and would have padded a 19-17 Delaware lead. Earlier, a 23-yard hookup from Nagy to Jason VanKerkhoven put Delaware at the UMass 8-yard line.

An illegal shift brought it back, however. Three plays later Jeremy Robinson's interception and 38-yard return set up a try ass field goal that The News JoumalWILLIAM BRETZGER Hens' quarterback Brian Ginn is sacked by UMass' Paul Bolden. Ginn and the Blue Hen offense struggled in the second half. interceptions and we had the punt thought our offense made a crucial blocked. They had the momentum drive covering 86 yards in 12 and the crowd got into it.

hen I plays." IS,.