A new start, a perfect ending for ODU football

NORFOLK

Old Dominion's first football game in 69 years played out Saturday night like a Frank Capra movie.

Packed house, perfect night. Even a full moon to illuminate the evening sky in the second half. All that was missing was Jimmy Stewart lassoing it. Then the title of this production could have been "It's A Wonderful Night."

With their defense turning in big play after big play and their placekicker cleaning up the mess whenever the offense stalled, the Monarchs beat Chowan 36-21 in front of a packed house of 19,782 at Foreman Field.

ODU picked off three C.J. Westler passes, and Drew Hareza booted five first-half field goals to fuel a frenzied crowd that arrived early and stayed late. ODU forced five turnovers overall, and while Chowan had 341 yards of total offense, ODU's persistent rush kept the Hawks (0-2) from ever really finding a rhythm.

Meanwhile, the Monarchs played turnover-free football.

"When it comes right down to it, the turnovers were the difference in the game," ODU coach Bobby Wilder said. "I don't know if ODU is that much better than Chowan otherwise."

The starting front line of Chad King, Edmon McClam, Chris Burnette and Andrew Turner harassed Westler throughout, and the pressure made Chowan's offensive line wilt. The Hawks committed three false starts in the second half alone.

Wilder gave some of the credit to the crowd, which linebacker Mateus Porter said was deafening at times.

"I was trying to call out defensive signals, and there were times when my linemen couldn't hear anything I was saying," he said. "After a while, I figured out I had to scream to be heard, and even then, it sometimes didn't work."

The Monarchs took a quick 10-0 lead. T.J. Cowart returned the opening kickoff 45 yards to the Chowan 49. When the ensuing drive stalled, Hareza began his busy night by nailing a 39-yard field goal.

Chowan's opening series was short-lived, and a 30-yard punt by Kevin Robledo went out of bounds at midfield, setting up possibly the biggest offensive play of the night. With Chowan's defensive backs choosing to jam ODU's receivers throughout, quarterback Thomas DeMarco thought it was a perfect opportunity to show off Marquel Thomas' breakaway speed. Thomas badly beat his defender and hauled in a 50-yard touchdown pass down the right side.

"The first three weeks, I underthrew Marquel every time," DeMarco said. "I learned my lesson. The guy is fast. I think this was a hint of what's to come."

Hareza's second field goal gave ODU a 13-0 lead.

Chowan bounced back, however, and took a bit of the energy out of the Foreman Field throng, when Westler hit Eric Benton on an inside slant route for a 37-yard touchdown.

The extra point was blocked by McClam - one of three point-after attempts he blocked.

"Eddie, I thought, brought the most energy of anyone tonight," Wilder said. "We were much too robotic as a whole, and we've got to get that out of our systems."

Chowan would score again in the first half on a 35-yard field goal by Corey Cline and a 6-yard run by JJ Spates.

The outcome seemed to be sealed with the final seconds of the first half. From their own 24 with 12 seconds remaining, a Westler pass over the middle sailed long and into the hands of safety Devon Simmons, who was pushed out of bounds with two seconds remaining at the Chowan 31. Hareza then booted his 48-yarder to give the Monarchs a 29-15 halftime advantage.

The teams traded touchdowns in the second half, with Jamar Parham scoring on a 43-yard run - he finished with a game-high 105 yards on 13 carries - and Chowan finding the end zone on a 1-yard dive by Westler with 5:12 remaining.

B y then, it had become obvious the Monarchs had this one in hand, a nd the home field advantage that Wilder had envisioned had become reality.

"Chowan couldn't hear out there," Wilder said. "And if you can't hear what your quarterback is checking off or trying to check to, then you can't communicate. And if you can't check off, you become predictable."

Rich Radford, 446-2463 rich.radford@pilotonline.com