DUKES DOMINATE IN 65-7 FOOTBALL WIN OVER DELAWARE STATE

Saturday, September 17

Harrisonburg, Va.

James Madison University

2-1

Delaware State

2-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Delaware State

James Madison

9/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Sept. 17, 2005 – Junior quarterback Justin Rascati (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz) threw for a career-high 281 yards and three touchdowns, and James Madison scored on its first six possessions in rolling to a 65-7 non-conference football victory over Delaware State Saturday at Bridgeforth Stadium/Zane Showker Field.

Seven Dukes scored touchdowns, and JMU compiled 599 yards of total offense (307 rushing, 292 passing) while raising its record to 2-1. The Dukes limited Delaware State to 88 total yards (19 rushing, 69 passing) – the fewest yards a Division I team ever has had in a game against JMU – in handing the Hornets their first loss after two wins in 2005.

JMU scored touchdowns on each of its first six possessions, threw an interception on its initial series of the final half and then had two touchdowns and a field goal during its next three possessions. The Dukes led 20-0 after one quarter, 41-0 at halftime and 55-7 after three quarters.

JMU's 65 points are the fourth-most the Dukes have scored in a game and their second-best effort against a Division I foe. JMU defeated Morgan State 76-7 in its 1995 opener – the most points it has scored in a game and its best effort against a Division I foe. JMU beat Galluadet 75-15 in 1974 and Lock Haven 72-0 in 2000.

The Dukes have had more than 41 points during a first half only in the 1995 game with Morgan State when they led 49-7 at halftime.

The previous record-low defensive effort for the Dukes against a Division I team was 91 yards that they allowed Villanova last season.

Rascati completed 18 of 25 passes overall and surpassed his previous career-high passing yardage total while throwing for 249 first-half yards. He scored on a one-yard run to give JMU a 13-0 lead with 3:59 left in the first quarter and connected with junior wide receiver Ardon Bransford (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) on two scoring passes and junior tailback Alvin Banks (Hampton, Va./Hampton) on one.

Bransford had touchdown receptions of 28 yards in the second quarter and 32 yards in the third period and finished with career highs of six catches for 123 yards.

Banks caught an eight-yard touchdown pass in the second period and ran 10 times for 67 yards.

The Dukes' second quarterback, red-shirt freshman Rodney Landers (Virginia Beach, Va./Tallwood), also had an impressive evening, rushing eight times for a game-high 106 yards and a touchdown and throwing an 11-yard scoring pass to red-shirt freshman wide receiver Dexter Manley (Chesapeake, Va./Oscar Smith).

Landers scored on an 81-yard run in the fourth quarter, matching the sixth-longest run in the team history. Landers' scoring carry was the second-longest ever for a JMU quarterback, surpassed only by Stan Jones' (1974-78) 82-yarder in 1976 against Emory & Henry.

Also scoring touchdowns for the Dukes were junior tailback Maurice Fenner (Virginia Beach, Va./Bayside) on a four-yard run and senior tailback Raymond Hines (Hyattsville, Md./High Point) on runs of 18 and two yards.

Sophomore placekicker Joe Kluesner (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) had his first JMU field goal, a 23-yarder, and was successful on eight of nine conversion kicks.

Delaware State averaged only 1.8 yards on 48 plays from scrimmage, and JMU's defense recorded four sacks and recovered two Hornet fumbles. Red-shirt freshman safety Marcus Haywood (Williamsburg, Va./Bruton) took part in seven tackles and had a sack and a fumble recovery, and sophomore safety Tony LeZotte (Augusta, Ga./Westside) was involved in seven stops.

After an off week, JMU returns to action Oct. 1 in a 3:30 p.m. game at Hofstra. The game's starting time has been moved to accommodate a telecast by the Madison Square Garden Network.