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Sept.. 25, 2002--Senior running back Keith Burnell ran for 170 yards and a touchdown, freshman wide receiver Justin Long caught two touchdown passes and the University of Delaware defense had four interceptions as the Blue Hens turned back West Chester 31-10 on Saturday night, Sept. 21, at Delaware Stadium.
The Blue Hens (2-2), coming off two straight last minute losses, looked sluggish and led just 14-10 heading into the final quarter before scoring twice in a two-minute span to put the NCAA Division II Rams (1-2) away.
Delaware, which downed West Chester 84-0 when the teams last met in 2000, won for the ninth straight time in the series and for the 12th time in the last 13 meetings.
The Hens now prepare to meet Atlantic 10 foe William & Mary on Saturday, Sept. 28, in Williamsburg, Va. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. The Tribe is ranked No. 17 in NCAA Division I-AA.
The loss ruined an outstanding performance by West Chester junior halfback Mike Eckmeyer who rushed 29 times for 170 yards, surpassing the 100-yard mark for the ninth straight time since last season.
"We'll enjoy this win," Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler said. "We did some good things and were a little more aggressive on offense. We dropped some passes, fumbled going in a few times, and didn't execute nearly as good as we need to. But we got ourselves together in the second half and played hard."
West Chester held nearly a 15-minute advantage in time of possession, but quarterback Bob Findora was intercepted four times, the final time by Delaware All-American linebacker candidate Dan Mulhern, who raced 56 yards for a touchdown to give Delaware a 28-10 lead with 9:16 left to play.
Burnell, a senior transfer from Virginia Tech, where he was a starter last year, carried 20 times for 170 yards and scored the first touchdown of the night on a nine-yard sweep with 18 seconds left in the opening quarter. Burnell's 170 yards were the most by a UD runner since Daryl Brown rushed for a school record 272 yards against Northeastern in 1994.
After losing three fumbles in the first half, the Hens led just 7-3 at halftime as West Chester's Dan Wilbourne connected on a 30-yard field goal with 42 seconds left in the half.
Long caught an 18-yard scoring pass from Andy Hall just three minutes into the second half, but West Chester came back to cut the lead to 14-10 when Findora hit Ryan Koch on a three-yard pass play with 1:18 remaining in the third quarter.
But Delaware pulled away from there as Hall and Long hooked up again, this time on a 16-yard scoring pass with 11:09 left to play, to give UD a 21-10 lead.
Just two minutes later, Findora was hit by defensive end Mondoe Davis while throwing a pass and Mulhern picked it off, racing 56 yards down the right sideline for the score. Delaware's Scott Collins added a 43-yard field goal with 35 seconds left to cap the scoring.
"We played well, just not well enough," said West Chester head coach Rick Daniels. "We played hard and with urgency. We made mistakes, but we stayed in the game. Against a team like Delaware, it's hard to overcome them."
Delaware senior cornerback Ricardo Walker intercepted two passes while sophomore cornerback Sidney Haugabrook intercepted one pass in the end zone and recorded 12 tackles.
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