Former UR Coach Returns to lead Delaware to a 43-28 victory at Richmond
By: Drew Willingham
Headline Photo Credit: Darrell Owens-LMS Network
RICHMOND,VA-A familiar face returned to Robins Stadium on Saturday afternoon, He lead the Spiders to three straight Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearances along with two conference titles. Danny Rocco, former Richmond Head Coach, now in his second season at Delaware, came into this game with a (2-2) season record.
Richmond backup QB Joe Mancuso, started in place of the injured Kevin Johnson, lead the Spiders to 560 total offense yards in a 43-28 loss to the Delaware Blue Hens. Mancuso completed 27 passes on 37 attempts for 489 yards and added 79 rushing yards including a rushing touchdown. Despite his incredible offensive attack, the 5 interceptions he threw made the biggest impact in this game.
Delaware LB Colby Reeder with 34 yd Fumble Recovery for a touchdown (Video Credit:Darrell Owens-LMS Network)
Delaware QB Pat Kehoe threw for 291 yards and a pair of touchdowns, leading his offense to five red zone scores out of five attempts. The Blue Hens were off to a great start after Richmond WR Tyler Wilkins attempted to return a punt and was tackled in the end zone for a safety.
Minutes later, Kehoe slung a 11-yard pass to TE Charles Scarff for a touchdown, followed by Colby Reeder intercepting Joe Mancuso for a 30 yard touchdown to take a 16-0 lead.
WR Vinny Papale, son of Philadelphia Eagles legend Vince Papale, caught a 58-yard touchdown pass from Kehoe to take a 33-10 lead at Halftime.
Richmond WR Cortrelle Simpson caught 2 touchdowns in the second half and ended the game with a career high 220 receiving yards. Wilkins added another 175 receiving yards and a touchdown, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Delaware.
The Spiders were in this game, but the turnovers along with 6 penalties helped the visiting team pick up their first Colonial Athletic Association victory of the season. The Delaware Blue Hens improve to (3-2) and the Richmond Spiders fall to (2-4).
Richmond has now given up 40 or more points in half of their games this season including two of them being home games. The secondary really needs to find a rhythm and help out their offense in order to get over the hump.
Next Week The Spiders travel to New York to take on the Albany Great Danes (2-3) at Bob Ford Field on Saturday Night. Game starts at 7:00pm.
