Del Valley 21 Shore 6

	1	2	3	4	F
Shore	0	0	6	0	6
Delaware Valley	7	7	0	7	21

filed by: QB Club Correspondent

The Blue Devils lost a hard fought road game to the Terriers Friday night 21-6. The outcome was up for grabs until Del Valley pulled away by scoring a touchdown with five minutes remaining on the clock.

The Blue Devils started the game by pinning the Terriers deep in their own territory. After a "3 and out" series Del Valley was forced to punt from their 10 yard line. Shore's offense marched down the field behind a physical Offensive Line and some hard nosed running by Erik Chiarella (19-133 on the night) & Shawn Metz (11-46). Shore's drive was blunted when a 30 yard run by Metz to inside the one was called back on a holding call.

A Senior laden squad of Terriers took over on downs and on the second play of the possession their Quarterback took it to the house with a 64 yard TD run. This gave Del Valley a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Midway thru the second quarter Del Valley extended their advantage to two touchdowns on a QB sneak that was setup by a 60 yard run by a Terrier halfback. Shore had an opportunity to cut the lead in half going into the locker room but was again undone by errors. After a 6 minute, 11 play drive put them 1st and goal at the Del Valley 7 yard line, the Blue Devils kept themselves off the board by botching an exchange with the center & then fumbling away the ball on second down.

Looking to get back in the game Shore received the second half kickoff and after a nice return by Gerard Carnevale, the Blue Devils went on an 8 minute 14 play scoring drive. The drive was highlighted by a 33 yard pass between a couple of Sophomores starting their first Varsity games as  Blue Devils. WR Richie Vivian made a spectacular catch of a pass thrown by fellow Sophomore QB Chris Riley.

For awhile after the Blue Devil score, the teams settled into a field position battle. The Terriers finally put the game away by driving for a third score in the 4th quarter. With just over 5 minutes to play a 1 yard run restored their two touchdown advantage.

The Blue Devils 2007 opener was a hard hitting, well played game by both squads. Delaware Valley's experience showed as they avoided the errors Shore made that proved to be the difference in the game. Shore's two critical offensive errors while driving into the red zone in the first half played a large role in the outcome. The Blue Devils also need to eliminate big plays such as the two 60+ yard runs the Defense allowed. This will be critical next week as Shore hosts Asbury Park Friday night in the 2007 home opener.

Blue Devil's Head Coach Mark Costantino although disappointed in the outcome was pleased with his team's effort. "We played with a lot of heart and determination against an experienced, well coached Del Valley squad. Our boys never quit & there are many positives we can take from this game."