The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page D16

D16 www.philly.com THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Sunday, October 17, 2004 COLLEGE FOOTBALL Down by a dozen, Delaware rallies The Blue Hens blew past Hof stra in the fourth. ASSOCIATED PRESS HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. Joe Bleymaier caught a 6-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 6 minutes, 9 seconds left to help Delaware overcome a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit and defeat Hofstra, 20-19, yesterday. Sonny Riccio completed 18 of 34 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions for the Blue Hens (5-1, 4-0 Atlantic Ten). Niquan Lee scored on two short touchdown runs and finished with 56 yards on 20 carries.

Trailing by 19-7 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Blue Hens cut the deficit to five on Lee's 1-yard plunge. The Pride (3-3, 1-2) almost pulled off the upset without starting quarterback Bob Seek, who left the game with 3:45 left in the first quarter with a leg injury. Anton Clarkson, his replacement, completed 13 of 31 passes for 88 yards and an interception. Chris Onorato's three first-half field goals gave the Pride a 9-0 advantage. Lee's 3-yard TD run got the Blue Hens to within 9-7 at the half.

Hofstra extended its lead to 16-7 in the third when Justin Davis scored after recovering a dropped snap by Delaware punter Mike Weber. Onorato's 30-yard field goal late in the third gave the Pride a 12-point lead entering the fourth. Onorato's four field goals tied a school record. -rar Bv RON CORTES Inquirer Staff Photographer Penn's Gabe Marabella (left) comes up just a tad shy of Pat McDermott's pass in the first half. Columbia's Keenan Shaw covered Marabella on the play as the Quakers struggled early with the Lions.

McDermott did manage 209 yards and two touchdown passes; winless Columbia fought hard on homecoming day for the Quakers. The Quakers overcame their mistakes and held off Columbia. Penn does just enough to win Delaware 20, Hofstra 19 Delaware Hofstra 0 7 0 13 20 3 6 10 0 19 First quarter Hof-FG Onorato 42, 11:18. Second quarter Hof-FG Onorato 37, 13:22. Hof-FG Onorato 18, 5:32.

Del-Lee 3 run (Shushman kick), 4:56. Third quarter Hof-Davis fumble recovery in end zone (Onorato kick), 7:33 Hof-FG Onorato 30, 2:00. Fourth quarter Del-Lee 1 run (Shushman kick), 13:23. Del-Bleymaier6 pass from Riccio (pass failed), 6:09. 7,050.

By Ron Reid INQUIRER STAFF WRITER In a worrisome contest suited to the ugly weather, Penn did enough things right yesterday to defeat Columbia, 14-3, and extend its Ivy League win streak to 17 games. As success stories go, however, the Quakers won't be bragging much about their latest conquest of the Lions, whom they now have beaten 62 times in 84 meetings. The homecoming game that drew 13,422 to Franklin Field evolved into a long defensive struggle in which both teams fought toe to toe without producing any turnovers or a whole lot of scoring. The game also produced another failed field-goal attempt, a sorry trend that the Quakers coaching staff and alumni have been wincing over all season long. The latest one, a 28-yarder, sailed wide left off Evan Nolan's foot early in the second quarter, the eighth miss by a connected with Castles at the goal line.

It was the only red-zone opportunity Penn cashed in on on three trips inside the Lions' 20. While the game may have seemed tougher for the Quakers than it should have been, Columbia played with uncommon heart and did not take a down off. It was a remarkable effort for a team that has yet to be rewarded with a victory. The Penn faithful also had occasions to cheer when they weren't wondering what was wrong with the offense. Josh Appell came through with another marvelous punting exhibition, averaging 41.4 yards on five punts, matching his longest of the season with a 56-yarder, and dropping two inside the 20, including a third-quarter beauty that was downed at the Columbia 1-yard line.

The Quakers defense was led by senior tackle Michael Sangobowale, who had six solo Del 14 40-78 166 18-34-2 12 9-34 1-1 6-60 33:07 Hof 12 27-69 152 20-41-2 107 7-42 1-1 6-63 26:53 First downs Rushes-yards Passing Comp-Att-Int Return Yards Punts-Avg. Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Time of Possession INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Delaware, Lee 20-56, Starks 7-19, Riccio 12-13, Weber 1 -(minus 10). Hofstra, Crenshaw 1 6-65, Irby 2-7, Clarkson 8-1 Seek 1 -(minus 4). Passing: Delaware, Riccio 18-34-2-166. Hofstra, Clarkson 13-31-1 -88, Seek 7-1 0-1 -64.

Receiving: Delaware, Long 5-70, Starks 5-20, Boler 3- 42, Bleymaier 2-14, Crescione 2-10, Lee 1-10. Hofstra, Crenshaw 5-24, Sullivan 4-45, Irby 4-23, Ellis 4- 14, Wolman 3-46. Columbia's Rashad Biggers lunges past Penn's Adam Francks (left) but is met by the Quakers' Luke Hadden (34). Columbia settled for a field goal on the third-quarter drive, their only score of the game. Penn 14, Columbia 3 Columbia Penn 0 0 3 7 0 0 3 14 Mt.

Union's win streak now at 100 after rout First quarter Penn-Castles 2 pass from McDermott (Nolan kick), 7:36. Third quarter Col-FG Rudd 19, 3:06. Fourth quarter Penn-Carre 28 pass from McDermott (Nolan Penn kicker in 12 tries. "It was not a stellar game for us," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "We got through it, but we didn't get better, as we want to, every week." Columbia (0-5 overall, 0-2 Ivy League) also suffered a shanked field goal later in the second quarter when Nick Rudd was wide tackles and two assists.

Penn limited Columbia to 68 rushing yards and probably would have posted a shutout but for a dubious offi-ciating call against Casey Edgar. A sophomore backup safety, Edgar came hard on a third-down blitz to knock down a pass thrown by Columbia quarterback "We're an team. Sometimes you win pretty. Sometimes you win ugly. This was one of the ugly ones." Al Bagnoli Penn head coach kick), 11:14.

13,422. Penn 17 35-1 1 1 209 20-32-0 105 5-41 .4 0-0 4-35 29:27 Col 15 31-68 168 21-35-0 0 1-0 1-10 30:33 First downs Rushes-yards Passing Comp-Att-Int Return Yards Punts-Avg. Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Time of Possession INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Columbia, Biggers 22-64, Radlein 3- 14, Oluwole2-5, Otis4-(minus 15). Penn, Mathews 1 9-46, K.Ambrogi 5-31 McDermott 4- 1 7, DeSmedt 2-1 0, Castles 1 -6, Pisarri 1 -1 Bryant 2-0, Team 1-0. Passing: Columbia, Otis 21 -35-0-1 68.

Penn, McDermott 20-32-0-209. Receiving: Columbia, Bowser 7-37, Fletcher 5- 49, DeFazio 4-35, DeGasperis 3-34, Radlein 1-7, Demko 1-6. Penn, Castles 7-59, Mathews 3-1 8, Carre 2-39, McDonald 1 -20, Pisarri 1 -1 7, Marabella 1 -1 5, Makovsky 1-12, Mizell 1-11, DeSmedt 1-9, Barr 1-6, Bryant 1-3. By Michael Beaven KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE ALLIANCE, Ohio Mount Union extended its regular-season winning streak to 100 games yesterday with another convincing victory. The Purple Raiders, ranked No.

1 in Division III, rolled over Marietta, 57-0, dominating the Ohio Athletic Conference game from start to finish. "This is a great accomplishment, considering the top-notch competition we play," senior quarterback Zac Bruney said. The Raiders (6-0) finished second in Division III last season, falling to St. John's University of Minnesota in the title game. That 24-6 defeat clipped a 55-game winning streak.

Yesterday, Bruney completed 20 of 26 passes for 252 yards and a career-high six touchdowns. The six touchdown passes tied a school record shared by Jim Ballard and Bill Borchert. The offense accumulated 634 yards, just 5 yards shy of Mount Union's season high, against Washington University. The Purple Raiders tallied a season-high 33 first downs. The Raiders scored on nine of their 12 possessions, with two of the drives ending on fumbles and one stopping when the game ended.

Jeff Otis. The momentum seemed to carry Edgar into Otis as both fell to the ground, but Edgar was called for unnecessary roughness. The 15-yard penalty was the longest advance in the Lions' 71-yard march to their field goal. "We're an underclassmen-driven team, and you always worry when that's the case," Bagnoli said. "The learning curve isn't going as smooth as I'd like.

Sometimes you win pretty. Sometimes you win ugly. This was one of the ugly ones." The Quakers will try for something more appealing at Yale on Saturday. Note. Bagnoli said that Ric Sandoval, the senior all-Ivy linebacker who has been out with an off-season knee injury, probably would not play this left from 22 yards.

He did give the Lions a 19-yard field goal late in the third quarter, however. The Quakers (4-1, 2-0) put the game out of reach with a little more than 11 minutes left when Matt Carre, a 5-foot-8, 155-pound sophomore, scored the first touchdown of his college career on a 28-yard pass from quarterback Pat McDermott. "I had to run a hitch-cover pattern," Carre said. "Their guy in man coverage had me one-on-one, and I just broke to the corner." The game hardly started poorly for Penn. Thanks to a 33-yard punt return by Adam Francks, the Quakers' second possession started at the Columbia 47-yard line.

The drive that ensued started with a 6-yard pass to Dan Castles and ended in a 2-yard touchdown catch by the all-Ivy receiver the 25th of his college career. McDermott, who would complete 20 of 32 passes for 209 yards and both touchdowns, Dan Castles (18) of Penn makes a long reception in the second half in front of Justin Nunez (33) to help set up the Quakers' second touchdown of the day. The Quakers (4-1 overall, 2-0 Ivy) put the game out of reach with a little more than 1 1 minutes left in the game when sophomore Matt Carre scored the first touchdown of his college career on a 28-yard pass. Contact staff writer Ron Reid at 21 5-854-4469 or rreidphillynews.com..