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Delaware football team falls to Maine, 25-15

Danny Jones

9:35 a.m., Oct. 31, 2005--The University of Delaware football team fell 25-15 to the University of Maine in an Atlantic 10 Conference game played Saturday afternoon at Alfond Stadium in Orono, Maine.

With the loss, the Fightin’ Blue Hens fell to 4-4 overall and 1-4 in the Atlantic 10’s South Division, where they are in last place.

The Hens will return to Tubby Raymond Field at Delaware Stadium to face the North Division-leading University of Massachusetts at 1 p.m., Saturday. Massachusetts is 6-2 overall and 5-1 in the conference.

Against Maine, which earned its first conference victory of the season, UD fell behind 13-0 before mounting a 19-play, 55-yard drive that consumed more than 10 minutes and ended with a one-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Omar Cuff.

The Hens tied the game 13-13 early in the fourth quarter following a pair of field goals by freshman kicker Zach Hobby and appeared to have taken control on a subsequent drive deep into Maine territory when freshman running back Danny Jones suffered a shoulder injury and fumbled the ball.

Maine responded with an 88-yard drive to take the lead 19-13. The Black Bears got the ball back quickly when senior quarterback Sonny Riccio was sacked and fumbled on the first play of the Hens’ next possession and again drove for a score to make it 25-13.

UD tried to make a game of it late but Cuff was stopped short of the Maine goal line on a fourth down carry.

Cuff, who suffered a turf toe injury and was unable to play much of the game, finished with 18 carries for 33 yards. Jones ran 19 times for 108 yards before he was injured.

Riccio completed 15 of 23 passes for 158 yards.

UD linebacker KeiAndre Hepburn made a team-high nine tackles and had a half a sack. Linebacker John Mulhern had eight tackles and defensive lineman Stephen Purkey had seven tackles and a sack.

“We thought in the second half we had started to take control of the game, and we felt good where we were,” UD Head Coach K.C. Keeler said. “We had the ball on their 12-yard line and the clock was ticking away but they came up with a huge play and that was the turning point of the game. It’s a game of making plays and we didn’t make enough of them today. Too many times we were just an inch or two away from making a big play.”

The game against Massachusetts is the final home game of the season for UD. The Hens, who have yet to win on the road, will finish at the College of William & Mary on Nov. 12 and at Villanova University on Nov. 19.

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