The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page D07

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER www, philly. com D7 COLLEGE FOOTBALL Punt return beats Hens Quakers grab victory from jaws of defeat Sunday, November 7, 2004 By Ron Reid INQUIRER STAFF WRITER PRINCETON For the second Saturday in succession, Penn teetered on the brink of defeat before launching a fourth-quarter comeback, this time to beat Princeton, 16-15, and extend its Ivy League winning streak to 20 games. The victory, before a disbelieving Princeton Stadium crowd of 15,891, boosted the Quakers' record to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in Ivy League play. The Quakers thus made amends for a harrowing first-half performance that probably ranked as the worst in a decade Penn's comeback victory over Brown, had one completion in his first eight attempts before the Quakers' offense came to life on a third-and-8 situation at their 13-yard line. That's when McDermott teamed up with Dan Castles, his all-Ivy wide receiver, on a dazzling 32-yard pass, the longest of the game.

Excelling once again in the hurry-up offense, McDermott completed two other passes to Marabella for 21 total yards before slinging a pitchout to Von Bryant, the rarely used sophomore running back. Bryant sprinted wide right for ASSOCIATED PRESS HARRISONBURG, Va. Cortez Thompson returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown with 3 minutes, 4 seconds remaining yesterday to give James Madison a 20-13 victory over Delaware. The victory over the defending Division I-AA national champion gives the Dukes (8-1, 6-0 Atlantic Ten) the inside track to the conference title. The Blue Hens (6-3, 5-1) dominated virtually every statistical category, rolling up 466 yards of offense to only 166 for the Dukes.

However, the Dukes had to drive only 19 yards for their first touchdown and 6 yards for their second, and Delaware twice penetrated the James Madison 5-yard line but had to settle for field goals. Raymond Hines' 2-yard TD run with 4:52 left in the third quarter gave James Madison a 13-10 lead, but the Blue Hens tied it on Brad Shushman's second 20-yard field goal late in the period. The Dukes opened the scoring with an 18-yard pass from Justin Rascati to Ardon Brans-ford in the first quarter, and Delaware responded with a 6-yard TD pass from Sonny Riccio to Justin Long in the second. Riccio completed 27 of 48 passes for 292 yards but threw three interceptions, which the Dukes returned a total of 111 yards. David Boler had 10 receptions for 114 yards for the Blue Hens, and Omar Cuff ran for 162 yards on 34 carries.

Rascati was 9 of 21 for 103 yards. a 12-yard touchdown run that completed a 10-play, 89-yard drive. Zoch kicked the extra point for a 7-6 Quakers lead. Bryant, who rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns in the Quakers' season opener at San Diego, had only 10 other carries before yesterday, for 4 yards. Princeton got the game's first score, thanks to an explosive 49-yard punt return by Greg Fields, the Tigers' 5-foot-9 leader in all-purpose yards.

After catching Josh Appell's 54- it was kick for situation were in. being a freshman, all the seniors was more pressure." freshman kicker, Zoch, kicked the game-winning field goal. James Madison 20, Delaware 13 Delaware 0 7 6 0 13 James Madison 6 0 7 7 20 First quarter JM-Bransford 18 pass from Rascati (kick failed), 11:16. Second quarter Del-Long 6 pass from Riccio (Shushman kick), 9:40. Third quarter Del-FG Shushman 20, 13:36.

JM-Hines 2 run (Rabil kick), 4:52. Del-FG Shushman 20, 1:16. Fourth quarter JM-Thompson 87 punt return (Rabil kick), 3:04. 12,683. Del JM First downs 25 12 Rushes-yards 44-174 34-63 Delaware Valley beats Wilkes for a Penn offense, long before the troublesome contest was decided, so to speak, by a pair of boots.

One was the 27-yard field goal kicked by Derek Zoch, a wide-eyed Penn freshman whose first-ever three-pointer accounted for the one-point margin of victory. The other was the 41-yard try that Princeton's Derek Javarone kicked wide right, with 18 seconds left, after making previous attempts from 27, 32 and 33 yards, in that order. "We've got a lot of confidence in Derek," said Penn coach Al Bag-noli, whose team had made only 5 of 15 field-goal attempts before yesterday. "We've struggled in that area all year. We decided to go with a freshman, and after these last two weeks, he's not a freshman anymore." Zoch's game-winner came with a little less than three minutes to play, at the end of a 13-play, 59-yard drive.

Javarone's miss followed a 56-yard, 212-minute drive by the Tigers (4-4, 2-3) who, like Penn, played with tremendous heart through every minute of their third straight loss. In their march to the game-winning score, the Quakers got a 23-yard pass reception from Gabe Marabella, a senior wide receiver, who made a one-handed catch on a third-down pass thrown to him by junior quarterback Pat McDer-mott. Earlier in the last quarter, Mc-Dermott had thrown an ad-libbed, 19-yard pass on the run that Marabella caught in the end zone. That was the touchdown that put the Quakers within field-goal range, at 15-13. The two-point try failed, however, and set the stage for the Duel of the Dereks.

"I knew it was a big kick for the situation we were in," Zoch said. "And being a freshman, with all the seniors watching, was a little more pressure." Zoch's late heroics hardly seemed possible earlier in the day, when the Quakers needed 35 minutes to record their initial first down. With barely five minutes left before halftime, the Quakers' offense had produced a miserable total of 5 yards and zero first downs. On the only play the Quakers ran on the Princeton side of the 50-yard line, Sam Mathews was dropped on the Penn side of the 50, at a loss of 5 yards. McDermott, who ignited "I knew a big the we And with watching, a little Penn's Derek who 27-yard yard punt at his 39-yard line, Fields darted to his right, sprinted past the first wave of the Quakers' coverage, and sprinted down the right sideline before he finally was tackled at the Penn 12-yard line.

The play set up Javarone's first field goal. Fields also gave the Tigers their lone touchdown midway through the third quarter, blasting the final 8 yards on a left-end sweep that finished off a 53-yard scoring march. Princeton rushed for 196 yards on the Ivy League's No. 1-ranked rush defense, and had nearly an eight-minute advantage in time of possession when the game ended. No cigar.

"For the last couple weeks," Bagnoli said, "we've been on a roller coaster. Our kids have so much heart, somehow they find a way to win. I'm so proud of them." Contact staff writer Ron Reid at 21 5-854-4469 or rreidphillynews.com. Penn 16, Princeton 15 Penn Princeton 16 15 First quarter Pri-FG Javarone 27,7:44. Pri-FG Javarone 32, 1:59.

Second quarter Penn-Bryant 1 2 run (Zoch kick), 2:1 1 Third quarter Pri-Fields 8 run (runfailed), 7:25. Fourth quarter Pri-FG Javarone 33, 14:55. Penn-Marabella 19 pass from McDermott (pass failed), 12:56. Penn-FGZoch 27,2:54. 15,891.

on just 15 carries and Loebig completed 13 of 27 passes for 204 yards as Duquesne (6-2, 4-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) outscored La Salle, 42-7, after spotting the Explorers a 28-14 lead with 8:11 to go in the second quarter. Vernard Abrams threw for 289 yards and four touchdowns of his own and also led La Salle (3-7, 1- 3) with 91 yards on the ground. East Stroudsburg 41, Mansfield 7 Jimmy Terwilliger threw for 373 yards and three TDs to lead East Stroudsburg over Mansfield in Mansfield, Pa. Terwilliger threw a pair of 22-yard touchdown passes in the first quarter, one to Tim Strenfel and the other to Evan Prall. Anthony Carfagno scored on a 2- yard run in the second and added a pair of touchdowns in the third as East Stroudsburg (9-1, 5-1 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East) churned out 579 yards of total offense.

Mansfield (1-9, 1-5) got its only score on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Donnie McDon-ough to Earnest "Poohbear" Mc-Neal, who led Mansfield with 152 yards on 25 carries. Strenfel's six catches for 74 yards set a single-season school Duquesne 56, La Salle 35 Duquesne La Salle 14 7 21 14 14 14 0 7 56 35 WILLIAM BRETZGER Associated Press Delaware receiver David Boler (left) and James Madison's Cortez Thompson battle in the end zone for a pass that neither of them was able to hold on to. Boler pulled in 10 passes for 1 1 4 yards in the Blue Hens' 20-13 defeat in Harrisonburg, Va. Thompson's 87-yard punt return with three minutes left won the game for the Dukes. out with 7:50 to go to give Bloomsburg the win.

Dickinson 27, Gettysburg 6 Keven Williams threw four touchdown passes to lead Dickinson (5-4, 3-2 Centennial Conference) over Gettysburg (1-8, 1-4) in Carlisle, Pa. McDaniel 7, Muhlenberg 6 Chris Martin's 76-yard punt return with less than two minutes left in the game put McDaniel on the board, and Nate Getch-ell's kick clinched a win for McDaniel (6-2, 4-1 Centennial Conference) over Muhlenberg (7-2, 4-2) in Westminster, Md. Lebanon Valley 30, Susquehanna 21 Dan Kelly threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead Lebanon Valley to a comeback victory over Susquehanna (4-5, 3-5 MAC) in Selinsgrove, Pa. Lebanon Valley (4-5, 3-5) trailed by 21-14 in the third quarter, but Jimmy Holzman returned an interception 10 yards for a touchdown to tie the game and Eldin Brodlic kicked a 22-yard field goal to give Lebanon Valley the lead. King's 48, Juniata 10 Richard Jackson ran for four touchdowns and caught another as King's (4-5, 4-4 MAC) beat Juniata (1-8, 1-7) in Huntingdon, Pa.

Jackson ran for 170 yards and four touchdowns and caught a 25-yard pass for another as he tied his own school record of five touchdowns. Jackson also broke his own single season record with 20 touchdowns, beating his 18 touchdowns last season. Albright 45, Moravian 39 John Port completed 25 of 37 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more scores to lead Albright (6-3, 5-3 MAC) over Moravian (7-2, 7-2) in Bethlehem, Pa. Slippery Rock 31, Clarion 14 Josh Kniess ran for three touchdowns to lead Slippery Rock (4-7, 2-4 PSAC West) over Clarion (3-8, 1-5) in Slippery Rock, Pa. Indiana (Pa.) 35, California (Pa.) 23 Kevin Weidl threw two touchdowns and rushed for another to lead Indiana, (7-3, 5-1 PSAC West) over host California, Pa.

(6-4, 2-4). Edinboro 38, Lock Haven 17 Andre Burke and Matt Phillips combined to rush for 210 yards and three touchdowns, and Justin Bouch threw for two more as Edinboro (8-2, 5-1 PSAC West) rolled over Lock Haven (3-8, 1-5) in Edinboro, Pa. Passing Comp-att-int Return yards Punts-avg. Fumbles-lost Penalties-yards 292 103 27-48-3 9-23-1 10 235 4-29 4-48 0-0 2-2 7-43 3-15 37:45 22:15 Time of possession INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Delaware, Cuff 34-1 62, Lee 5-9, Riccio 4-5, Team 1-(minus-2). James Madison, Hines 13-26, Baker 4-25, Rascati 9-1 1 Bolton 3-3, Bradley 3-0, lorio 1-(minus-1).

Passing: Delaware, Riccio 27-48-3-292. James Madison, Rascati 9-21-1-103, Baker 0-1-0-0, Team 0-1-0-0. Receiving: Delaware, Boler 10-114, Bleymaier 6-49, Ingram 5-65, Long 5-54, Mailey 1 -1 0. James Madison, Tolley 4-51 Bransford 2-29, Ridley 1 -1 7, Boxley 1 -4, Hines 1-2. record with 1,220 yards receiving.

Rowan 61, William Paterson 6 Sophomore Mike Orihel threw three TD passes and ran for two more TDs as Rowan clinched the New Jersey Athletic Conference title with a victory over William Paterson (2-7) in Glassboro. Orihel was 10 of 12 for 252 yards in the win, which also gave the Profs (7-2) an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament that starts Nov. 20. SUNY Brockport 43, College of New Jersey 0 In Brockport, N.Y., Bob Darnley threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another 125 yards and a score to lead Brockport over the College of New Jersey (6-2). Brian Wise broke a 49-yard run for Brockport's first touchdown followed by Darnley's 66-yard breakaway to give Brockport (5-4) a 19-0 halftime lead.

Franklin and Marshall 28, Ursinus 21 Defensive lineman Matt Capone recovered a fourth-quarter fumble in the end zone to lift Franklin and Marshall to a comeback win over Ursinus in Lancaster. With the scored tied at 21-21 and Ursinus (1-8, 0-5 Centennial Conference) controlling the ball, quarterback Vince Gallagher rolled right and Joe LoCastro sacked him at the 2, forcing the fumble. Capone pounced on the ball, breaking the tie with 7:54 to go and capping a fourth-quarter rally by the Diplomats. Scott Stephen rushed for 114 yards and scored two touchdowns for Franklin and Marshall (6-3, 3-2). Kutztown 38, Cheyney 13 In Cheyney, Maurice Adams scored on a 72-yard run just 14 seconds into the game and finished with a school-record 259 yards rushing as Kutztown cruised past Cheyney (1-10, 0-6 PSAC East).

Adams added a pair of short touchdown runs and Gabe Maio-cco completed 12 of 17 passes for 124 yards and threw two touchdown passes to Trevor Smith for Kutztown (4-6, 2-4). Bloomsburg 23, Millersville 20 Freshman Jamar Britting-ham rushed for 204 yards and the game-winning touchdown in Millersville, to lead Bloomsburg (7-3, 4-2 PSAC East) over Millersville (5-5, 3-3). Brittingham needed just 14 carries to clear the 200-yard mark and scored from 43 yards COMPILED BY THE INQUIRER STAFF Delaware Valley clinched its first-ever Middle Atlantic Conference championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs with a 12-0 victory over Wilkes University in Doylestown. The win brought the Aggies, ranked ninth in the Division III coaches poll, to 9-0 overall and 8-0 in the MAC. No Delaware Valley team had ever reached the NCAA Division III playoffs in a team-qualifying sport before.

Wilkes (5-4, 5-3) was held to just 116 yards of total offense, with Brett Trichilo getting just 61 yards on 25 carries. Delaware Valley took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards on eight plays, capped by Steve Cook's 2-yard touchdown run. Senior Andrew Erby led the Delaware Valley defense with 10 tackles and a sack and became the Aggies' all-time leader with 347 tackles. Cook finished with 166 yards and two scores on 36 carries. Shippensburg 24, West Chester 21 In West Chester, Jamie Reder kicked a 24-yard field goal and Antonio Williams picked off a pass in overtime to give Shippensburg (10-1) a win over West Chester.

Bob Findora threw his third touchdown pass of the day to Brandon Simmons, this time from 58 yards out, with 5 minutes, 18 seconds left in regulation to tie the game. West Chester (8-3) had a chance to win the game with just over a minute left in regulation, but Cody Collins missed a 28-yard field goal attempt. Widener 7, Lycoming 0 Mike Lomas threw a touchdown pass to Jon Steever and Drew Gardner had a late-game interception to seal the win as Widener (6-3, 5-3 MAC) beat Lycoming (2-7, 2-6) in Chester. Lomas, who finished 27 of 40 for 260 yards but threw a pair of interceptions, capped a 9-play, 57-yard drive with a 15-yard TD pass to Steever in the third quarter that turned out to be all the points Widener needed. Lomas now has 206 completions on the season, a new school record.

Duquesne 56, La Salle 35 James Jacobs ran for three TDs and Niel Loebig passed for four scores to lead Duquesne over La Salle in Philadelphia. Jacobs rushed for 157 yards Penn Pri 18 20 34-91 45-196 198 139 14-27-0 17-30-1 26 90 5-44 4-39 3-2 1-1 7-84 7-55 26:02 33:58 Next for Penn: Harvard (8-0) Crimson pound Columbia First downs Rushes-yards Passing Comp-Att-Int Return Yards Punts-Avg. Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Time of Possession INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Penn, Mathews, 24-73, Bryant 4-18, DeSmedt 1-4, Team 1 -minus 2, McDermott 4-minus 3. Princeton, Veach 1 8-97, Benson 1 6-57, Fields 4-22, Verbit6-20, Mancl1-0. Passing: Penn, McDermott 14-27-0-198.

Princeton, Verb it 17-30-1 -139. Receiving: Penn, Marabella 7-96, Castles 5-81 Carre 1-13, Mizell 1-8. Princeton, Fields 8-63, Mancl 3-23, Walz 2-21 Dekker 2-20, Wu 1 -1 0, McCareins 1 -2. was held to 27 rushing yards. Harvard (8-0, 5-0) avenged last season's loss to Columbia.

Harvard remains the only undefeated team in Division I-AA and has nine consecutive wins. Clifton Dawson, who ran for 82 yards, gave Harvard a 7-0 lead on a 2-yard run with 5 minutes, 57 seconds left in the first quarter. It was his 16th touchdown this season and gave him 96 points, breaking the school record of 94 held by Charlie Brickley. Fitzpatrick's touchdown passes came on a 1-yard toss to Jason O'Neill in the first quarter and a 7-yard throw to Corey Mazza in the third quarter. First quarter Duq-Watfield 6 pass from Loebig (Harris kick), 11:16.

LS-Triboletti 1 3 pass from Abrams (kick failed), 3:20. LS-Vaccaro 9 pass from Abrams (Brumfield run), 2:16. Duq-Warfield 6 pass from Loebig (Harris kick), :02. Second quarter LS-Russo28 pass from Jump (Dempseykick), 12:56. LS-Triboletti 39 pass from Abrams (Dempsey kick), 8:11.

Duq-Jacobs 2 run (Harris kick), 1 :20. Third quarter Duq-Jacobs 63 run (Harris kick), 1 2:09. Duq-Ford 70 interception return (Harris kick), 1 0:54. Duq-Hocker 1 5 pass from Loebig (Harris kick), 4:28. Fourth quarter LS-Zabel 11 pass from Abrams (Dempsey kick), 14:49.

Duq-Jacobs 5 run (Harris kick), 9:32. Duq-McCullough3run (Harris kick), 6:18. 1,011. Duq LS First downs 1 7 27 Rushes-yards 33-215 50-171 Passing 204 321 Comp-att-int 13-27-2 26-38-2 Return yards 162 2 Punts-avg. Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-2 Penalties-yards 5-31 5-50 Time of possession 24:30 35:30 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Duquesne, Jacobs 15-157, McCullough 16-65, Team 1-0, Loebig 1-(minus 7).

La Salle, Abrams 27-91, Brumfield 5-24, Triboletti 12-23, Adelman 1-18, Sullivan 3-13, Stevenson 1-8, Jump 1- (minus6). Passing: Duquesne, Loebig 13-27-2-204. La Salle, Abrams 24-36-2-289, Jump 2-2-0-32. Receiving: Duquesne, Warfield 7-97, Hocker 4-89, Spriggs 2-18. La Salle, Russo 7-65, Triboletti 5-79, Zabel 5-75, Vaccaro 3-33, Barksdale 2-41 Stevenson 2- 15, Sullivan 1-8, Brumfield 1-5.

ASSOCIATED PRESS BOSTON Brian Edwards returned a punt 81 yards for a score and Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdown passes yesterday to lift Harvard to a 38-0 victory over Columbia. The win set up a big matchup next week against Penn, which has a 20-game Ivy League unbeaten streak and is 6-1 overall, 5-0 in the league. Columbia (1-7, 1-4) was held scoreless for the first time since 2000. Columbia had just 203 yards and failed to convert on 13 third-down attempts. Jeff Otis was 9 of 18 for 58 yards passing, and Rashad Biggers.