DOVER, Del. (Sept. 9, 2006) – The big play, mistakes and turnovers hurt the Saint Francis football team in its first-ever game against a full scholarship Division I-AA opponent as Delaware State cruised to a 63-28 victory over the Red Flash on Saturday night, at Alumni Stadium in Dover, Del.
The Hornets scored on the first play from scrimmage on a 73-yard run from Emmanuel Marc, and never looked back en route to taking a 49-7 lead at halftime.
But the game wasn’t without a few positives for Saint Francis as head coach Dave Opfar’s squad outscored Delaware State 21-14 in the second half, and racked up 416 yards of total offense against the MEAC squad.
Senior running back Todd Harris (Duquesne, Pa. / Duquesne) became the school’s all-time leading rusher with 79 yards on 28 carries. He needed 44 yards coming into the ballgame to break the record, formerly held by Michael Hall (2000-03). Harris has 492 (second in school history) rushing attempts for 2,366 yards during his standout career.
Junior running back Anthony Richards (Parlin, N.J. / Cardinal McCarrick) had his first career 100-yard game, gaining 105 yards on just nine carries. He sprinted for a 79-yard touchdown to start the fourth quarter. It goes in the books as the second longest touchdown run in school history, two yards shy of the school record. It is also the longest touchdown run from scrimmage for Saint Francis Nov. 11, 1978.
Junior kicker Adam Sciulli (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Central Catholic) made all four of his PAT attempts, extending his career-long, school-record streak to 61-for-61.
Senior wide receiver Michael Caputo (Bethel Park, Pa. / Seton LaSalle) pulled in 6 catches for 108 yards and a touchdown. It was Caputo’s 25th career total touchdown, his 24th career receiving touchdown and his 154th career point, setting the Saint Francis all-time records in all three categories on the same play.
Redshirt freshman quarterback George Little (Duquesne, Pa. / Duquesne) completed the first two passes of his career, finishing 2-for-2 for 38 yards and a 32-yard scoring strike to junior wide receiver Lemar Williams (Baltimore, Md. / Calvert Hall) to complete the scoring in the game with 4:57 remaining.
In the game, the Red Flash ran 67 total plays for 416 yards of total offense, but the Hornets ran 40 plays for 562 yards of total offense. The 40 plays are the least ever run against Saint Francis in a game, breaking the previous record of 44, by Duquesne, on Oct. 26, 1991. The Red Flash owned time of possession 37:45 to 22:15.
Saint Francis lost three fumbles in the game.
In the end, it was the big plays that hurt the Red Flash. Overall, Delaware State (2-0) had eight offensive scoring drives, with the other touchdown being scored on a blocked punt return. The Hornets scoring drives averaged 3.6 plays and 1 minute, 45 seconds. Wide receiver Shaheer McBride had 9 catches for 206 yards and 4 touchdown receptions. His 206 yards receiving are the most ever for a receiver against Saint Francis.
Delaware State jumped out 21-0 behind a 73-yard run by Marc, another TD run of 30 yards by Marc and a 21-yard Vashon Winton touchdown pass to McBride, respectively, with the last score coming with 5:39 left on the clock in the first quarter.
The Red Flash mounted a 6-play, 65-yard drive, capped off by 7-yard touchdown pass to Caputo, from former high school teammate Anthony Doria (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Seton LaSalle). Saint Francis controlled much of the next six minutes, but couldn’t come up with any points.
The Hornets blocked a punt and ran it back 37 yards for a touchdown with 11:25 remaining in the first half to make it 28-7. Delaware State would tack on 21 more unanswered points before the end of the half to put the game out of reach.
Doria finished 12-of-22 on the night for 160 yards and a 1-yard rushing touchdown. He surpassed 600 career completions with his second one on the night.
Saint Francis will try to rebound with a 1 p.m. Saturday tilt at in-state rival Duquesne. The Red Flash will try to avenge a 44-17 loss against the Dukes in both teams season finales last season.
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