DePaul football turns it on in second half, blows by Pope John

WAYNE − The lower the sun sank, the brighter the DePaul stars shone.

College football commits Nolan James Jr. (Boston College) and Elijah Burress (Notre Dame) scored three touchdowns apiece to help the Spartans run away from Pope John XXIII in Friday’s season opener, 47-15.

Burress caught three of Derek Zammit’s four TD passes, including the go-ahead 32-yard score late in the first half. That put DePaul up, 12-7, as twilight started to set in.

James found the end zone three times in the second half, twice on runs and again on a 15-yard screen pass from Zammit.

“You see what they do on the field… but what I’m most proud of is what kind of people they are,” Spartans coach Nick Campanile said. “They could easily be divas or guys that put themselves above the team, but they are the complete antithesis of that.

“And when your best players are your hardest workers and your best people, it makes your job very easy.”

What it means

DePaul (1-0) jumped on top early in the SFC United White Division race. Compared to last season, when the team opened 3-5 before its run to the Non-Public B final, Campanile and Co. are in better shape already.

“I think we’re just more of a mature team this year,” Campanile said. “We weren’t playing our best ball in the first half, but last year, we were in those situations a lot, and we kind of let those games slip away.”

Pope John (0-1) moved the ball well in the first half and held a 7-6 lead in the second quarter, when a 41-yard touchdown run was nullified by penalty. The DePaul defense responded by making two fourth-down stops late in the half.

Play of the game

Burress’ third TD came after the Spartans forced a three-and-out on Pope John’s first drive of the second half.

From the Lions 43, Zammit dropped back and threw a deep post on which Burress had to turn his body to make the catch.

“I was looking over my left shoulder, but when I figured out how the ball was coming in, I turned around just in time,” Burress said.

The 6-foot-1 receiver also had to shield the ball from a defender on the way to the ground in the end zone, helping DePaul take a 26-7 lead.

Game balls

► Burress made four catches for 105 yards, while James totaled 185 yards (19 rushes for 127, four catches for 58).

► Zammit completed 15-of-22 passes for 260 yards and four TDs.

► The Spartan defense allowed just 44 yards in the second half, including 1-of-6 passing for minus-1 yard and two interceptions.

► Pope John senior Tylik Hill gained 140 all-purpose yards (14 carries for 74, 1 TD) and could have gone over 200 if the opening kick return and a touchdown run had not been nullified by penalty.

They said it

“We started off a little slow, but no one panicked. We went into the half knowing what it was… we just had to slow it down, get to running the ball, and we did that.” — James

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: DePaul football turns it on in second half, blows by Pope John