UD falls to S.D. State in semifinals 33-3: Even Henderson’s heroics not enough to lift Hens

By Andy Walter
Posted 5/8/21

Two things were clear on Saturday afternoon.

Nolan Henderson is a pretty tough football player and South Dakota State is a pretty tough football team.

Henderson shook off another injury — …

You must be a member to read this story.

Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.


Already a member? Log in to continue.   Otherwise, follow the link below to join.

Please log in to continue

Log in

UD falls to S.D. State in semifinals 33-3: Even Henderson’s heroics not enough to lift Hens

Posted

Two things were clear on Saturday afternoon.

Nolan Henderson is a pretty tough football player and South Dakota State is a pretty tough football team.

Henderson shook off another injury — this time to his right knee — but the Delaware quarterback’s return wasn’t nearly enough as the top-seeded Jackrabbits dominated the fifth-ranked Blue Hens, 33-3, in the spring NCAA FCS Division I semifinals at Dykehouse Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Rather than having the Hens (7-1) heading to the program’s seventh national championship game, it’s South Dakota State (8-1) that’s going to its first FCS title game.

The Jackrabbits will face former Blue Hen coach K.C. Keeler’s Sam Houston State squad next Sunday in Frisco, Texas, for the FCS crown. The Bearkats rallied from a 21-point halftime deficit to shock James Madison, 38-35, in Saturday’s second semifinal.

Delaware coach Danny Rocco didn’t mince any words, saying “we got our (butts) kicked today by a really good football team.”

“I really, really felt we’d be able to go toe-to-toe with these guys,” said Rocco, whose team was in the semifinals for the first time since 2010. “We obviously couldn’t — at least not today. I kind of feel like we got their best shot today.

“I told our players after the game, I certainly don’t have the right to be angry at anybody or to be angry about anything. I’m disappointed in the result. I’m disappointed we didn’t perform better out here on this stage and in this moment, against this team.”

Delaware, which had won its last three semifinal appearances, actually led 3-0 on Ryan Coe’s 29-yard field goal with 3:44 left in the first quarter. But, on the play before the field goal, Henderson was sacked and lay on the ground holding his right knee.

The Smyrna High grad later slowly limped back to the locker room with no indication he would return. But Henderson ended up missing only one series.

All told, Henderson completed 18-for-21 passes for 142 yards with no interceptions. And, despite the knee injury, the junior also ran for a team-high 65 yards — before losing 51 yards on the seven times he was sacked.

“Our quarterback is rare,” said Rocco. “He’s a rare human being. ... There’s something else about this guy that you guys have got to get. I’m sure if you hadn’t gotten it yet, you got it today.

“This guy is rare when it comes to just being tough and team-oriented and selfless. I’m really proud of Nolan and what he’s been able to do this season.”

“If I’m able to do enough to play, I’m going to do it,” said Henderson, who was already playing with a left shoulder injury. “Obviously I was in pain throughout the game but you hope that adrenaline can kind of take some of that away.

“It’s a semifinal game so there is no tomorrow. My focus was just getting back out there and trying to play for my guys.

“It wasn’t the most comfortable thing but I don’t think it affected how I played.”

The real problem was that the Jackrabbits completely controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

On offense, they reeled off 27 straight points — including 20 in the second quarter — to go up 27-3 at halftime. On defense, they sacked Henderson a school playoff-record seven times, had a total of 12 tackles for loss and limited the Hens to only 68 rushing yards.

South Dakota State finished with a 354-216 edge in yards but only a 17-16 advantage in first downs. Delaware also held a 15-minute edge in time of possession.

The Jackrabbits’ standout freshman quarterback, Mark Gronowski, completed 10-of-16 passes for 162 yards with a pair of touchdowns. He also caught a scoring pass on a throwback.

Rocco thought Henderson’s injury seemed to knock the Hens back.

“I did think it took a little air out of our sails,” he said. “There was a lot of uncertainty about whether he’d be able to get back. In that little time frame, we just seemed to lose our way a little bit.”

While Delaware was out-scored only 6-0 in the second half, the Hens also never threatened the Jackrabbits.

In the end, Rocco thought the fact that South Dakota State had reached the NCAA playoffs nine straight years without getting to the finals made a difference in how motivated the Jackrabbits were.

He also said Delaware’s offensive line, which has a number of players dealing with injuries, also seemed out of sorts on Saturday. On defense, the Hens didn’t cause any turnovers and didn’t have any sacks.

Those things, and others, added up to Delaware not being ready to get back in the national championship game.

“You could say it this way, we weren’t ready to take the next step,” said Rocco. “‘What do you have to do to take that next step, Coach?’ Well, we’ve got to be able to perform better, more efficiently, on the road, late in the season in a playoff run. That’s why home field is such an advantage.

“There’s another step for us to take. Sometimes the best way to learn that lesson is 33-3.”

Usually when a season like this ends, Delaware would be losing a bunch of seniors and knowing it will have a long off-season to rebuild. But, of course, the pandemic changed all that.

This time, every player is eligible to return in the fall. The Hens also have less than four months before they go to Maine on Sept. 4 for their season opener.

Rocco said there was still a sense of optimism after Saturday’s loss.

“I had a lot of guys coming up to me saying, ‘Coach, we’re going to be back, Coach we’re going to be back,’” said Rocco. “We had a very tearful locker room, a very emotional locker room. These young men care a lot — about each other and about this team. Today we just came up short.”

“Obviously we made great improvements this year,” said Henderson. “It was a special year. But South Dakota State is a great program. They’ve been here year-in and year-out.

“Pain is a big teacher. Seeing those guys celebrate and the disappointment of coming out and playing the way we did today, I think that is something we can use to push through those hard workouts or practices. Just remembering that feeling is something we can use to take the next step.”

Extra points

Khory Spruill was the Hens’ leading rusher with just 16 yards on six carries. Dejoun Lee netted only nine yards on 11 carries. ... Gene Coleman had a team-high six catches for 43 yards. ... Along with everything else, Delaware gave up a 55-yard punt return to set up a South Dakota State touchdown and had a 53-yard field-goal attempt blocked. ... Safety Noah Plack had a team-leading six tackles.

Members and subscribers make this story possible.
You can help support non-partisan, community journalism.

x
X