Delaware Downs Tribe, 28-14, in A-10 Action

Mike Potts Passes for 207 Yards and Two Touchdowns

11/11/06 3:45PM

Newark, Del. - Joe Flacco passed for two touchdowns and rushed for a score to lead Delaware past William and Mary, 28-14, Saturday afternoon at Delaware Stadium.

Flacco completed 28 of 39 attempts for 292 yards and threw touchdown passes to Robbie Agnone and Ben Patrick to snap Delaware’s (5-5, 3-4 A-10) two-game losing streak.

Mike Potts (Middletown, Del.) passed for 207 yards and two touchdowns for W&M (3-7, 1-6), but was picked off three times.

The Tribe used true freshman David Caldwell’s (Montclair, N.J.) first career interception to set up the game’s first score. After gaining possession at its 29-yard line after the Caldwell pick, W&M methodically marched 71 yards on 10 plays, converting two fourth down plays on the drive, to take a 7-0 lead on Potts’ 16-yard touchdown pass to Joe Nicholas (Sugarloaf, Pa.). Nicholas finished with five grabs for 50 yards and moved into a tie for sixth place on the W&M career touchdown receptions list with his 18th.

The score came on the first play of the second quarter, and the drive consumed over seven minutes on the game clock. Potts connected with Nicholas on a 6-yard pass to the Tribe’s 35 to convert one fourth down, and Potts’ 2-yard sneak later to the Blue Hens’ 26-yard line moved the chains on fourth down once again.

After turning it over on its first two possessions, Delaware answered on its next series, using a nine-play, 71-yard drive that was capped by an 8-yard touchdown from Flacco to Agnone with 10:54 remaining in the half.

Potts’ second interception of the game ended the Tribe’s next drive at the Delaware 21, and after a short return, the Blue Hens took over at the 32. Delaware then went 68 yards on 10 plays, ending with a 1-yard scoring run by Omar Cuff, to take a 14-7 into the break. Cuff rushed for 93 yards on 17 carries after missing four of the Hens’ last five games with an ankle injury.

After a scoreless third quarter, Flacco’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Patrick with 13:14 remaining in the fourth quarter pushed the Delaware lead to 21-14.

Refusing to go down without a fight, Potts moved the Tribe 80 yards on 12 plays on the ensuing possession and found a wide-open Matt Otey (Hershey, Pa.) in the left corner of the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown pass with 7:47 remaining. It was Otey’s fourth career touchdown reception on only his fifth career catch.

But, the Blue Hens, which totaled 406 yards of offense on the afternoon, put it away with an eight-play, 60-yard drive that ended with Flacco’s 3-yard run at the 3:19 mark of the final period.

R.J. Archer (Earlysville, Va.) led the Tribe receiving corps with 80 yards on five catches, and DeBrian Holmes (Ft. Eustis, Va.) gained 31 yards on three receptions. Elijah Brooks (Largo, Md.) rushed for 54 yards on 14 attempts, and Holmes added 47 yards rushing on seven carries.

W&M will close the 2006 season next weekend in Williamsburg, hosting longtime rival Richmond at 1 p.m. at Zable Stadium. The contest will mark the 116th all-time meeting between the state foes.

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