FOOTBALL After a 9-3 finish the year be- the defensive stars for their inter- fore, advancement to the NCAA ceptions, while John Merklinger 1 -AA Quarterfinals, and a ranking and Kevin Phelan led the offensive of seventh overall in the final 1 - AA squad for the day. The win placed 1981 poll, what did Coach "Tub- Delaware 13th in the 1-AA poll by" Raymond expect from his and served as a warm-up for the 1982 Fightin' Blue Hens who lost next contest — against hated Le- only five starters from the 1981 high. squad? An "average to minimal The Lehigh "jinx" was put to season" were his expectations. On rest the next week as Delaware the other hand, the pre-season 1- pulled out a stunning 20-19 victory AA poll ranked Delaware third be- in the last second of the game. hind Eastern Kentucky and Boise K.C. Knobloch's 24-yard field goal State. No matter who one listened on the last play made up for the to, the 1982 Delaware football sea- two attempts he had missed earli- son looked promising. Almost ev- er. What was even more remark- eryone agreed the toughest games able was that the Hen's last drive would be against Western Ken- started with only 1:32 left in the tucky, Temple, and Lehigh. game, on their own two-yard line, At the end of the home opener and down by a score of 19-17. against Western Kentucky, how- They marched the ball all the way ever, only Temple and Lehigh re- to the Lehigh seven with nine sec- mained as tough games. Delaware onds left in the game. The field easily beat WKU while Captain goal attempt was hindered by a Paul Brown's defense recorded bad snap, and Lehigh thought they their first shutout since 1979. had won. However, one second re- Quarterback Rick Scully passed mained on the clock and it had for 201 yards and two TD's to help been a first down play, so Dela- the Blue Hens extend their open- ware got a second chance. This ing day record under Coach Ray- time, the play was executed per- mond to 15-2 while recording their fectly. seventh straight hope opener win. Deserving game recognition Against Temple one week later, were receiver Paul Hammond who the Hens again found themselves caught eight passes for 126 yards, involved in a shutout. Unfortu- and Kevin Phelan who had a 45- nately, this time it was Delaware yard kickoff return and a 48-yard who was held scoreless for the first run from scrimmage. Defensively, time in seven years. The Owls de- cornerback George Schmitt and fense held the Hens to only five linebacker Shawn Riley each first downs and 139 total yards picked off their third interceptions while the Delaware offense pene- for the season. According to Coach trated the Temple 48 only once. Raymond, this game was the turn- Instead of a third straight win ing point of the season. against Temple, Delaware suf- The 11th ranked Blue Hens fered a humiliating defeat. Asked pushed their season record to 4-1 later, Coach Raymond felt the in- by squeaking out a 14-13 win over juries and the loss at Temple were host Massachusetts, one week lat- the low point of the season. The er. The difference in the score re- only bright spot of the game was sulted from Delaware cornerback that the tough Delaware defense Owen Brand's interruption of a allowed only one touchdown. The Mass. two-point conversion at- Owls kicked five field goals for the tempt with only 2:32 left in the remainder of the points. game. Massachusetts star runner Delaware raised it's record to 2- Garry Pearson was held to only 58 1 by topping Princeton at Dela- yards — 75 yards below his game ware Stadium. However, it took average. On the other hand, Blue three crucial interceptions and a Hen receiver Tim Sager emerged pair of late Rick Scully touchdown as a strong offensive threat with 84 passes to rally from a 17-14 deficit yards receiving including a 42- for the 35-17 win. Lou Reda, Bill yard pass that set up the game — Maley, and Ali Witherspoon were cont'd on page 155 154 Football F/rsf /tow; Bill Maley, Mark Steimer, Rick Scully, Peter Mill, Kevin Ferguson, Joe Valentino, Captain Paul Brown, Head Coach Tubby Raymond, Chris Wagner, Rick Titus, B.J. Osevala, George Schmitt, Owen Brand, Allen Figg, Ron Rossi. Second Row: Tom Pescherine, John Dardes, John Cason, Lou Reda, Cliff Clement, K.C. Knobloch, Dave MacGarva, Kevin Phelan, Mark Melillo, Stan Wiggins, Jim Pawloski, Ken Pawloski, Tony Munafo. Third Row: Danny Reeder, John Merklinger, Jim Newfrock, Joe Quigg, Blair Pierce, Garry Kasaczun, BobSzabo, Matt Conboy, John Gannon, Pat McKee, Mike Lane. Fourth Row: Mike Baeurle, Bob Boulden, Doug Martin, Jeff Haudenschield, Dave Wallace, Ron James, Chris Heier, Jim Badgley, Shawn Riley, Randy Smith, Tom Gibbons, Paul Hammond. Fifth Row: Steve Schelling, Tim Slagle, Dom Perfetti, Joe Esposito, Bob Wetzelberger, Jed Powell, Tim Sager, Orlando Whaley, Jeff Hynoski, John Laub, Joe O'Neill, Mike Harris, Ed Finney, Sixth Row: Gary Johanson, Eric Leaks, Ken Barnhard, Brian Farrell, John Fritz, Jay Curcio, Todd Gerber, Rick Scheetz, Guy Darienzo, Paul Chikotas, Greg Robertosn, Ali Witherspoon, Russ Snyder. Seventh Row: Joe McHale, Ken Murphy, Brad Taylor, Vaughn Dickinson, Randy Fink, Mike Anderson, Steve Pontiakos, John Spahr, B.J. Webster, Bob Uffelman, Charles Clark, Ray Wolak, Don Mazur, Chris Brown. Eighth Row: Manager Karen Reichert, Head Trainer, Dr. C. Roy Rylander, Assistant Trainer Joan Molaison, Assistant Trainer Keith Handling, Head Freshman Coach Tom Coder, Offensive Coordinator Ted Kempski, Defensive Tackle Coach Paul Billy, Defensive Coordinator Ed Maley, Defensive End Coach Paul Toth, Offensive Line Coach Gregg Perry, Offensive End Coach Bob Sabol, Defensive Backfield Coach Steve Verbit, Assistant Freshman Coach Bill Muehleisen, Manager Tim Palley. winning touchdown. By most ac- counts, Delaware was now past the toughest part of its schedule. The team was ranked fourth in the NCAA 1-AA poll behind Eastern Kentucky, Miami (Ohio), and Colgate. Week five saw the Hens crush C.W. Post in front of a Parent's Day crowd of 18,868 at Delaware Stadium. Most of the regulars played only the first half since the score was 34-0 at halftime. Dela- ware's defense lost its shutout with only 42 seconds left in the game. The Hens first three scores were a Ricky Scully to John Cason six- yard pass, a Scully 14-yard con- nection to Phelan, and a Schmitt 45-yard interception return. The win boosted Delaware's ranking to third in the NCAA 1-AA poll as the team prepared for its Home- coming game against Towson State. The Tigers from Towson be- came the Hens fifth straight vic- tim as the Hens defense picked off five interceptions — all leading to cont'd on page 156 Football 155 touchdowns. This was before a was averaging 36.2 points per Homecoming crowd of 20,232 game and 425 yards of total of- which included White House Press fense per game. Secretary James Brandy. George In their regular season finale at Schmitt's two interceptions tied Delaware Stadium, the 9-1 Hens him for the all-time Delaware ca- were shocked back to reality as reer high of 15. Punter/fullback they had to hold off a hard-charg- Rick Titus had two fine coffin-cor- ing Connecticut team for a close ner punts in addition to his 88 win. The winning score was a Scul- yards rushing (including a 32-yard ly to Phelan TD pass in the fourth TD run from scrimmage). With quarter. With the win, the Hens help from a decisive defeat of Col- clinched their 13th Lambert Cup gate by Rutgers, Delaware moved and became only the fourth team into first place in the Lambert Cup in Delaware history to post ten reg- balloting. ular season wins. The team could Almost boring in their consis- now afford to look to the playoffs tency, the Blue Hens destroyed yet for the seventh time in ten years. another opponent the next week Their first opponent would be Col- for their seventh victory of the sea- gate, at Delaware Stadium. son. William & Mary could hardly The prospects of a national compete at all as Delaware ground championship seemed more possi- out 646 yards in total offense while ble a week later when Delaware the defense had a school-record stopped Colgate twice in the clos- seven interceptions. Fullback Dan ing minutes of play to hold on to Reeder and quarterback Scully their seven-point lead for the win. both rushed for over 100 yards (for Once again, Ail-American corner- the first 100-yard efforts of the back Schmitt came through with season). In defense, the trio of Lou two key interceptions (a record 12 Reda, George Schmitt, and Bill for the season) and a crucial pass Maley each pulled down two inter- deflection on the Delaware two- ceptions. Delaware had now yard line as the final gun sounded. blitzed its last three opponents by Other highlights included Phelan's the score of 161-35 and remained 56-yard punt return and halfback ranked third in the NCAA 1-AA Cliff Clement's game-winning poll. touchdown and two-point conver- After a week off, the Hens sion. The game was the last one at picked up where they left off and Delaware Stadium for the 23 sen- mauled West Chester 55-13.