Police: Only one arrested for rushing football field

NCAA regulations and a heavy police presence prevented most Hens fans from rushing the field after Saturday's semifinal win, but one middle-aged man was arrested after jumping onto the field from the visitors-side stands, police said Tuesday.

University police Chief Patrick Ogden said the man, a Delaware fan in his mid-40s, was verbally harassing Georgia Southern players and cheerleaders before he jumped onto the field.

"He had a few buddies who were going to jump, but he hurt himself, so they didn't," Ogden said.

The man was arrested and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct, he said.

Ogden said NCAA regulations require the home team to provide adequate security to keep fans off the field. Announcements made over the stadium PA system warned that fans entering the field would be subject to arrest and could prevent the university from hosting another home playoff game.

As the game came to a close, university police officers formed a line in front of the student section with staff members from a private security company hired by the university. Newark police officers wearing riot helmets guarded the North End Zone.

A few officers from the Delaware State Police and New Castle County police were also on the field, Ogden said.

He said police were concentrated at the end zones because the lower stands there made the areas a more likely location for people to jump.

No one besides the man arrested entered the field, Ogden said, attributing this partly to the fact that several Hens players jumped into the student section themselves immediately after the game ended.

"As I was watching that, I was like, ‘Don't do that,'" he said. "But then the fans came around them, and there was no reason to jump, so that helped in some respects."

The scene was much different than in 2003, the last time the Hens won a semifinal game at home.

That year, hundreds of students rushed the field. They went past several police officers on horseback who were guarding the goalpost closest to the student section, ran down the length of the field and brought down the unguarded goalpost in front of the North End Zone.

This year, Ogden said, the athletics department requested that no horses be used, for fear the horses' hooves would damage the artificial turf installed in Delaware Stadium last year.