The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 23

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS DIVISION Middletown 19, Salesianum 0 DIVISION II: Caravel 21, Concord 6 Complete coverage, C7 SportsOnline delawareonline.comsports Watch the latest high school video highlights Participate in News Journal sports blogs Find the latest local and national sports news Flickr users tag photos with "delawareonline" INSIDE LSU FALLS: Arkansas slams title hopes. C9 Delaware at Play. C8 Scoreboard. C9 NBA, NHL CIO Sfwfe SATURDAY NOV. 24, 2007 TheNewsJounal WILMINGTON, DEL Updates and latest news www.delawareonline.com News tips: 324-2539 or sportsdelawareonline.com 44 7 NCAA DIVISION I-AA CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND Mm A Cuff leads Blue Hens past Delaware State in first meeting -J, By KEVIN TRESOUNI The News Journal NEWARK The much-anticipated inaugural football matchup between the state's only NCAA Division I schools made Friday afternoon at Delaware Stadium a grand and memorable occasion.

The spectacle, however, turned out to be the University of Delaware's role in that show. Delaware put on an epic performance that the first-time visitors from Delaware State could neither subdue nor match but, afterward, were quick to laud. The Blue Hens' 44-7 victory in the first round of the NCAA Football Championship, formerly Division I-AA, came before a vocal throng of 19,765, the largest to ever see a playoff game at cold and wind-lashed Delaware Stadium. a tr- A I mm 1 1 rvH j- Knowing the passions present on the historic day "An instant rivalry," UD coach K.C. Keeler termed it Delaware was determined to undermine whatever emotional edge the Hornets might possess in playing then-first game against a school never willing to schedule them in football.

A 20-0 first-quarter Delaware lead put DSU in a drastic situation. A 30-0 halftime The News Journal GINGER WALL Reggie McCoy scores DSU's only touchdown on a fumble return. ff X. 4 -A I cushion practically sealed the deal. "We knew these guys had a good team," Delaware quarterback Joe Flacco said.

"We knew it was going to be a very emotionally charged football game. We were coming off a tough loss 16-10 at Villanova and I also knew that, with the kind of guys we have in our locker room, that wasn't going to affect us at all. "It kind of proved all of us right, that we do have those kind of guys in the locker room and to do that feels really good, to come out and get a pretty convincing win over a good football team. It gives you a lot of confidence going into next week. No.

13-ranked Delaware (9-3) advanced to next Saturday's quarterfinals of the 16-team tournament. It will play the winner of tonight's game at Cedar Falls, Iowa, between top-seeded Northern Iowa (11-0) and Colonial Athletic Association rival New Hampshire (7-4). The quarterfinal game would be at Northern Iowa if UNI wins but at Delaware if New Hampshire advances. No. 10-ranked Delaware State, making its first I-AA tournament appearance, finished 10-2.

See HENS C6 7 The News JoumalGARY EMEIGH Omar Cuff of Delaware runs away from Delaware State's Josh Pope in the second quarter Friday afternoon at Delaware Stadium. Cuff rushed for 288 yards and four TDs. With the flip of a coin, Blue Hens' rout is on Despite rout, UD-DSU game makes sense nside THE SCENE NEWARK Delaware has this playoff thing pretty much down to a science. Win the opening coin toss, pin the other team in deep against the wind and then score often enough early NEWARK Maybe you're thinking: We waited 80-some years for this? Maybe you're even gloating a little now. Maybe you've been telling people for years that Delaware State doesn't And now it appears there will be a next time.

After the game, Delaware coach K.C. Keeler revealed that he and Delaware State coach Al Lavan have agreed the series will resume in the future (Delaware's The score, and Cuffs rushing total, could have easily been much greater. It all started with a simple flip of the coin. Delaware State had trouble passing all season. So UD won the toss and made sure the Hornets had to throw into the wind in the first quar- THE GAME Division I-AA playoff schedule.

C2 Delaware defense plays large part in Blue Hens' dominance. C3 Hornets' offense stutters and stalls. C3 Game statistics. C3 fiawtiw ha rnme a long way literally and figuratively. C4 Game has special meaning for in-state players.

C4 Play and player of the game. C4 More photos. C5 Tailgaters skip the trash talk while enough to take its will away. We saw this in 2003 when UD stormed through the rIpvnff to the national championship. There were the lopsided wins over Southern Illinois on a cold, windy day; Northern Iowa in a schedule is booked through 2011) and-Keeler even said he'd meet with UD athletic director Edear Johnson to discuss 2012 and beyond.

"Lavan and I both agree this is a game we should continue to play," Keeler said. "It'd belong on the same field as Delaware, that any football game between the two would he a farce, that even though the two schools are close in distance they're still far apart in talent and there's nothing to be gained from this. Wi tti refuse to take MARTIN They couldn't. By the time the teams switched sides for the second quarter, Delaware already led 20-0. They played the KEVIN NOONAN COMMENTARY FRANK COMMENTARY sides, but many fans are vocal about their allegiances to the Hens or Hornets.

C2 be great for both our schools and both our programs. It would be great to have that game and we look forward to playing them again sometime." As far as Keeler is concerned, playing Delaware State is a win-win situation, and that's not even counting the win the Hens would almost always get on the scoreboard. As Keeler sees it, it doesn't make sense for the Hens to play See NOON AN C2 snowstorm; and an overmatched Wofford team before the coronation against Colgate. All of those games were over shortly after they started. We saw it again Friday, when the Hens took the game away from Delaware State on a cold and windy day.

It was over so quickly that the Hornets had no idea what had hit them. UD settled for a 44-7 win behind a school-record 288 yards rushing by Omar Cuff. Friday's 44-7 blowout in the I-AA playoffs proved you right. But it also proved you wrong. Anyone who saw the two teams play this season wasn't surprised Delaware won easily, although hopefully most people, no matter their loyalties, were rooting for a good, competitive game that would show both programs in a positive light.

They didn't get it, not this time. But that doesn't mean they won't get it the next time. hnal three quarters mostly for posterity because the outcome was pretty much decided. "In 2003, we blew out some very good teams," UD coach K.C. Keeler said.

"We were fortunate against DSU that we got the wind, and we took the wind out of their sails." In more ways than one. Delaware State couldn't score with the 18 mph wind or See FRANK C3 Online For stories, photo galleries, video and more from the Hens and Hornets, visit www.delawareonline.comud-dsu..