Monarchs make it seven and counting

NORFOLK

For its halftime entertainment Saturday night, Old Dominion's marching band did its rendition of the Michael Jackson mega-hit "Thriller" beneath a Halloween-appropriate full moon.

Thomas DeMarco should have come out of the locker room and joined them, because he was basically a thrill a minute for the Monarchs in the first half.

ODU's sophomore quarterback ran for 144 yards and three touchdowns, then added a touchdown pass for good measure as ODU sprinted to a four-touchdown halftime advantage.

After that, the Monarchs parked their race-car offense in the garage, and DeMarco on the sidelines, electing to cruise to a 31-10 victory over winless, and utterly outclassed, Georgetown in front of yet another sellout crowd of 19,782 at Foreman Field.

ODU, playing its first season of football, improved to 7-2 with its fourth consecutive win. The victory total matches that of the 1994 Robert Morris squad, which went 7-1-1 in its first season, but against a much weaker schedule.

ODU will go for win No. 8 this coming Saturday when it hosts N.C. Central in its first homecoming football game at 2 p.m.

DeMarco came out guns blazing, hitting his first five passes as he marched the Monarchs down the field.

He then dived into the end zone at the end of a 15-yard run that marked the seventh time in nine games ODU has scored on its opening drive.

After quickly forcing the Hoyas to punt, the Monarchs benefited from Georgetown's ineptitude when Zach Barbiasz snapped the ball over punter Brian Josephs' head, with Josephs falling on the ball at Georgetown's 5. ODU turned that into a 20-yard field goal by Drew Hareza.

DeMarco had a momentary hiccup, throwing just his third interception of the season as he tried to hit Nick Mayers on a deep ball down the left sideline. But the Monarchs were again on track with their following possession, which ended with DeMarco scampering 6 yards around left end.

After a 40-yard field goal by Georgetown's Jose-Pablo Buerba cut ODU's lead to 17-3, DeMarco had his most shining moment, breaking off a 51-yard touchdown run around left tackle. He benefited from a lockdown block by wide receiver Alex Arain that freed him up.

The TD run came one play after DeMarco came out on the short end of a crushing head-on collision with Georgetown linebacker Nick Parrish.

DeMarco appeared to get up a bit woozy from the pile.

"I knew where to line up, behind Jeremy (Hensley), the guy with the ball," joked DeMarco.

ODU coach Bobby Wilder, however, sensed something wasn't quite right.

"I pulled him to the side after that long run and said, 'Thomas, you weren't quite as fast on that one as the 46-yarder at Jacksonville. Everything OK?' " Wilder said. "I was evaluating him to see how he was."

He was good enough for Wilder to stick with him on ODU's next possession, which ended on a 16-yard fade route from DeMarco to Reid Evans in the right corner of the end zone. DeMarco has thrown at least one touchdown pass in each of ODU's nine games.

But he wouldn't throw, or run, any more on this night, not with the Monarchs leading 31-3.

After evaluating him in the locker room, the coaching staff actually took his helmet from him in the second half. It left him 1 yard shy of the team record for rushing yards in a game, set by D.D. Williams two weeks ago.

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Notes Starting defensive back T.J. Cowart missed Saturday's game because of a death in his family.... Defensive tackle Eddie McClam appeared to injure his left knee while making a tackle and left the game early in the third quarter. He was carted from the sidelines to the locker room for further evaluation. Preliminary indications are that it's a strained medial collateral ligament.... Offensive tackle Ryan Jensen played the first half, but watched the second half in street clothes with a back strain.... Linebacker A.T. Aoelua sat out Saturday with an ankle sprain. Jake Sweedyk, filling in for Aoelua, finished with a game-high nine tackles.

Rich Radford, (757) 446-2463, rich.radford@pilotonline.com