Hornets sting Braves
Published 12:00 am Monday, October 27, 2003
WINCHESTER, Va. – The Shenandoah University football team wrapped up its 2003 Shentel Stadium campaign Saturday night with a 54-6 thrashing of USA South opponent Chowan College.
SU (5-2, 3-1) clinched a .500 season for the third straight year with the win as well as setting new school records for most points scored in a game, margin of victory and total offense. The Hornets have also now won eight straight games at Shentel Stadium dating back to the second game of 2002.
The Hornets made quick work of Chowan (2-4, 0-3); junior Chris Delfin (Burke, Va./Lake Braddock) set up the opening score with a 58-yard kickoff return to give SU a 1st and 10 on the Chowan 38. Four plays later, wideout Junior Greene (Aroda, Va./Madison County) took a 4th and 8 pass from quarterback Wayne Hogwood (Arlington, Va./Wakefield) and beat three defender on his way to the end zone. The catch also made Greene the all-time leader in SU receptions with 32.
Chowan answered this touchdown with a 6 play, 22 yard drive that brought the ball to the 50 yardline; unfortunately for the visitors this would be the only first down that the Braves would get until midway through the third quarter and represented one of just three times that the team got the ball to at least midfield.
CC was held to just 33 yards in offense during the first half as the Hornets held the ball for almost double the time that the Braves did and rolled up nearly 250 yards in total offense to Chowan’s 33. Shenandoah set a new school record with 465 yards of offense, including 380 on the ground.
After being held to field goals on consecutive red-zone appearances in the second and third quarters, Shenandoah erased all doubt as to the outcome of the game when junior Kenny Weaver (Ruckersville, Va./William Monroe) picked off a Taylor Furlough pass and raced 36 yards for the touchdown. This made the score 34-0 and after a Hogwood closed out the third with a 14-yard TD run, SU Coach Paul Barnes emptied his bench for the final 15 minutes of play.
Nearly every healthy player on the Shenandoah roster saw action in the game, including five different quarterbacks and 13 people who recorded at least one rushing attempt. A pair of freshmen, Brandon Lacey (King George, Va./Washington-Lee) and Blake Derby (Midlothian, Va./Blessed Sacrement) combined on the Hornets final score of the game when Lacey set up a 1st and goal from the CC 1 with a 48-yard rush on 3rd and 12 from the Chowan 49. One play later, Derby took the quarterback sneak for the score.
Chowan scored its lone touchdown at the 11:10 mark of the fourth when backup quarterback Zach Squires completed a 3 play, 35 yard drive with a 10 yard rush around left end. Squires’ TD was set up by a Ricky Mobley 50 yard kickoff return following the Hornets sixth touchdown.