Brookline, MA - Running back John Griffin tallied 83 of his game-high 140 yards and a touchdown in the Huskies 14-point third quarter as Northeastern defeated the Hofstra Pride, 14-13, in a CAA game at Parsons Field Saturday afternoon. The Huskies improved to 2-8 overall and 2-5 in the CAA while Hofstra, which dropped its third consecutive game, falls to 4-6 on the year and 2-5 in conference play.

Griffin rushed for 140 yards on 28 carries including a 49-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that gave the Huskies a 14-3 advantage. Red-shirt freshman quarterback Matt Carroll, who relieved starter Alex Dulski (3-5, four passing yards) at halftime, completed three of seven passes for 45 yards with the one touchdown. Freshman receiver Jordan Batts had two catches for two yards to lead Northeastern's receiving corps in receptions but junior Greg Abelli had a 24-yard scoring catch from Carroll that gave the Huskies the lead. Northeastern accumulated 175 yards of offense including just 49 passing. Senior linebacker Jason Vega led the Northeastern defense with a game-high 12 tackles including a key stop on a fourth-down play late in the game.

The Pride, who tallied 269 yards on the day, was led by sophomore backup quarterback Steve Probst, who finished 12-23 for 161 yards and one touchdown while leading the team in rushing with 38 yards on 20 carries. Junior receiver Anthony Nelson caught seven passes for 97 yards while freshman Billy Morgan added three receptions for 53 yards. Freshman Nick Talbert recorded his first collegiate catch for a four-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. The linebacker corps of senior Luke Bonus (9 tackles), and sophomores Greg Melendez (8 stops) and Basim Hudeen (7 tackles) led the Hofstra defensive charge.

With a steady rain that flooded parts of the Parsons Field artificial turf at times, neither team moved the ball well in the first half. Hofstra only moved the ball the ball past the midfield line once in the opening quarter, cracking the 50-yard line in large part due to a Griffin fumble on the Pride 48. Hofstra only moved the ball to the Huskies 45-yard line before being forced to punt the ball away.

Hofstra got on the board early in the second quarter following a 12-yard punt by Northeastern'a Ron Conway that gave the Pride the ball on the Huskies 30-yard line. Probst moved the Pride to the 14 before Henry Greco kicked his eighth field goal of the season-a 31-yarder-to give Hofstra a 3-0 lead with 11:54 left in the half.

After Hofstra held the Huskies to three-and-out on its next possession, the Pride took over on their own 25-yard line following a punt. On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Cory Christopher was picked off by freshman linebacker Kyle Hunte at the 23. But Hofstra's defense again stood tall, pushing Northeastern back 13 yards and forcing a punt.

Hofstra took over on its own 1-foot line but marched 95 yards on 16 plays before being stopped on a fourth-and goal play at the Northeastern 4-yard line with 45 seconds to play in the half. Probst hooked up with Nelson twice in the drive for gains of 18 and 32 yards. The Pride outgained Northeastern, 140-38, in the first two quarters and held the Huskies to just four yards passing.

Carroll marched Northeastern 83 yards on 10 plays on its first possession of the second half, culminating with Carroll finding Greg Abelli in the corner of the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown. Mat Johnson's extra-point gave the Huskies a 7-3 lead with 7:41 to play in the quarter.

The Northeastern defense became inspired and forced the Pride to punt on its next possession as the Huskies took over on their own 47-yard line. Griffin then boosted the lead, breaking away for a 49-yard scoring run on the third play from scrimmage with 4:08 to play in the third quarter. Johnson's point-after bumped the Northeastern lead to 14-3.

Hofstra came right back and mounted a 55-yard drive in seven plays before Probst found Talbert, who leaped over his defender to record his first career touchdown catch. Talbert's four-yard grab came with 13:45 to play in the fourth quarter. The Pride  then went for the two-point conversion, with Probst handing off to running back Everette Benjamin, who ran right then cut back left and ran up the middle into the end zone to cut the deficit to 14-11.

Later in the quarter, Probst directed a drive from his own 24-yard line to the Northeastern 36-yard line. Included in the drive were a 24-yard completion to Morgan and a five yard completion to Nelson, both on a third-down play. But Probst was stopped by Vega for no gain on a fourth-and-one play to end the Pride's last threat. The Huskies held on to the ball before Northeastern punter Ron Conway ran out the clock on a fourth down with five seconds to play by running the ball out of the end zone for a Hofstra safety.

The Pride close out their 2009 season next Saturday, November 21 when they host the Minutemen of Massachusetts at James M. Shuart Stadium at 1 p.m.