Boardwalk Bowl
1969
Delaware 31
No. Carolina Central 13
The Boardwalk Bowl was held at the Atlantic City Convention Center in
Atlantic City, New Jersey. The playing surface in the earlier years
consisted of natural grass sod that was grown outside and then moved
indoors for the game. This contest, first held in 1961 and continuing
annually through 1972 (becoming the NCAA College Division Eastern
Championship in 1968), showed the feasibility of playing football
indoors and was one of the events that led the promoters of football
games to look seriously at developing indoor facilities primarily for
this purpose.
In 1966, Tubby Raymond succeeded Dave Nelson and became the head coach
of the University of Delaware. Raymond had come to Delaware as an
assistant under Nelson in 1954. Raymond, a native of Flint, MI, was a
quarterback and linebacker at the University of Michigan. It was there,
playing for coach Fritz Crisler, that he learned the Wing-T offense
which he later installed at Delaware.
In 1968, the Blue Hens posted a 7-3 regular season record, winning the
Middle Atlantic Conference, and won the right to play in the first
Boardwalk Bowl against Indiana, PA. They won the game in a nail-biter.
The following season, the Hens lost only to Villanova and Boston U. en
route to a 7-2 record, another MAC championship, and another birth in
the Atlantic City bowl game.
Their opponent would be North Carolina Central University from the 18
member Central Atlantic Intercollegiate Conference. The Conference was
comprised of Black Colleges from the East Coast. Founded as the North
Carolina College for Negroes, NCCU was the first state-supported
African-American liberal arts college in the United States. The name was
changed to North Carolina Central University, in 1969. The name
"Central" was picked in order to keep the schools initials "NCC". NCC
had finished second to John C. Smith in the CAIC in 1969. The Eagles,
coached by George Quiett, had a massive defensive line that outweighed
that of the NFL’s Baltimore Colts. Stars of the 1969 squad included
future NFL stars Doug Wilkerson (San Diego Chargers) and Jerome Gannt
(Buffalo Bills).
The Second Boardwalk Bowl was played on December 13, 1969. In the first
quarter, the Eagles were forced to punt from their own endzone. Delaware
started from the NCC 34. On the first play from scrimmage, Delaware’s
Dick Kelly broke around right end and rumbled 34 yards to the endzone.
Halfway through the second period, NCC responded when quarterback,
Herman Mathews, hit Ollis Carson with a 17 yard touchdown pass. Late in
the second period, Delaware’s Bruce Fad intercepted a Mathews pass and
returned it 20 yards to the NCC 35 yard line. From there, Tom DiMuzio
led the Hens to the endzone, completing the drive with a 12 yard TD
strike to Pat Walker. The extra point was blocked by Sam Singletary. The
score stood at 13-7 at the half.
With 6:30 to go in the third period, NCC’s Bob Holloway stepped in front
of a DiMuzio pass at his own 39, picked it off a ran 61 yards for the
score. The extra point was blocked by Fad and the score remained tied at
thirteen. On the ensuing drive, Delaware faked a field goal at the NCC
32 yard line with DiMuzio carrying for 12 yards and a first down at the
20. But the drive stalled at the NCC 12 and Delaware settled for a 12
yard Jim Albertson field goal and a 16-13 lead at the end of the third
quarter. When the Hens got the ball back in the fourth quarter, DiMuzio
hit halfback Dick Kelly with a short pass. Kelly caught the pass along
the sideline, sidestepped an Eagle defender and shot 32 yards down the
sideline for a score. The Eagles turned the ball over on a fumble at
their own 42 on their next possession and the Hens went to work. It took
just six plays to get it home from there with DiMuzio scrambling into
the endzone from the 15 yard line. DiMuzio passed to Bill Armstrong for
the two-point conversion and the score stood at 31-13 with 6:17
remaining. That was the way it ended.
The Hens never trailed, although North Carolina Central came back twice
in the early going, threatening to turn the game around. Quarterback Tom
DiMuzio threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, completing 11 of
27 passes for 154 yards. He used his ground game to great advantage,
piling up 373 yards and using six different backs to lug the ball. Dick
Kelley was a major contributor, gaining 124 yards in 14 carries,
including his gallop of 34 yards for the opening touchdown of the game.
Central
used the passing of Herman Mathews and the pass catching of Julian
Martin to keep knocking at the door. Matthews completed 10 of 23 passes
for 129 yards, but was intercepted three times. Martin picked up 107
yards on five receptions. Ollis Carson carried seven times for 50 yards.
Delaware finished the season with a 9-2 record, North Carolina Central
with a 7-2-l mark. Delaware finished #10 in the small college polls.
Delaware was the Boardwalk Bowl in those years. They participated in the
first four bowls and were invited to the 5th in 1972. But, Delaware
chose not to play in the 1972 game which sparked controversy nationally.
Tubby's troops finished 10-0 and were voted National Champions in the
polls. The Boardwalk Bowl wanted a Delaware-UConn match-up, although
Delaware had soundly beaten the Huskies in an earlier meeting, 32-7. The
Hen players, not wanting to risk their unbeaten season on a team they'd
already convincingly beaten, voted the bid down. Raymond stood by his
players, reaffirming their right to autonomy in the matter. “It wasn't
right to play for the Eastern Championship when we'd already won the
National Championship. I got heat for it, but it was a very courageous
bit of accepting responsibility." Delaware won the national championship
in 1971 (destroying C.W. Post, 72-22, in the Boardwalk Bowl) and 1972.
A year later the NCAA introduced the eight-team Division II playoffs.
The Hens won the NCAA Division II title in a playoff format in 1979.
Raymond’s teams won 14 Lambert Cups, symbolic of Eastern supremacy, and
reached the NCAA playoffs 16 times after their 1973 introduction. His
1982 squad was Division I-AA runner-up and his 1992, 1997 and 2000 teams
reached the I-AA semifinals. The Hens continue to be a major force in
Division I-AA football, winning their last national championship in
2003. Today, NCCU competes at the Division II level. In 2005, the Eagles
won the CAIC and competed in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Gilbert Smith carries for NCC
Chuck Hall carries for Delaware against NCC
Herman Mathews and Coach George Quiett of NCC
Atlantic Convention Center during 1969 Boardwalk Bowl
Delaware continues to be a major force in Division I-AA, it's Tubby's legacy
North Carolina Central, Black Colleges' National Champions for 2006
Attendance- 10,585
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
DEL- Kelley 34 run (Albertson kick)
Second Quarter
NCC- Carson 17 pass from Mathews (Eagleson kick)
DEL- Walker 13 pass from DiMuzio (kick failed)
Third Quarter
NCC- Holloway 61 pass interception (kick failed)
DEL- FG Albertson 22
Fourth Quarter
DEL- Kelley 32 pass from DiMuzio (Albertson kick)
DEL- DiMuzio 15 run (Armstrong pass from DiMuzio)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
DEL- Kelly 14-124, Armstrong 16-57, Hall 13-55, DiMuzio 11-53
NCC- Carson 7-50, Mathews 9-29
Passing
DEL- DiMuzio 11-27-154
NCC- Mathews 10-23-129, Stone 3-9-29
Receiving
DEL- Colbert 4-52, Walker 4-47, Witholder 2-23
NCC- Martin 5-107, Carson 5-32, Williams 3-19
