Longtime West Chester-Delaware rivalry coming to an end
THE WEST Chester-Delaware football series began in 1941 and has been played every year since 1968 except 2001, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The finale will be Thursday night.
THE WEST Chester-Delaware football series began in 1941 and has been played every year since 1968 except 2001, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The finale will be Thursday night.
Delaware's 46-6-1 dominance isn't the reason the series is ending. Since West Chester is Division II, Delaware victories over the Golden Rams don't count for Division I-AA playoff consideration.
"It doesn't do them any good from a playoff standpoint: It can only have a negative effect on them," West Chester coach Bill Zwaan, a former Delaware quarterback, said Tuesday.
The game always draws a crowd of about 20,000 in Delaware Stadium. West Chester has funded its 10 scholarships from its proceeds from the games.
"For our players, the game always means a lot. If they could pull that win off, it would make their season," Zwaan said. "The approach for 40 years around here was, Delaware was the game. For quarterbacks like Dave McDonald and Mike Horrocks, it's their legacy that they beat Delaware."
West Chester's last win in the series was in 1992. Last year, the Blue Hens prevailed, 28-17. The previous 2 years, Delaware won, 35-0 and 31-0.
Blue Hens coach K.C. Keeler is 10-0 vs. the Golden Rams. He also was on the winning side three times when he was a linebacker for the Hens.
Keeler told the Wilmington News Journal that he will not miss facing West Chester.
"In all honesty, there was so much pressure on that game," he said. "Even when you win, if you don't win impressively, it was almost like a downer. The reality is, [the NCAA] put that magical number out there of seven I-AA wins [qualifying for the playoffs]. So you really have to make sure you don't [schedule] Division II games."
Zwaan, a Monsigner Bonner High graduate, will take an experienced team to Newark, led by quarterback Sean McCartney (Archbishop Wood), running back Rondell White, receiver Tim Keyser, free safety John O'Donnell and cornerback Bob Sabol.
