Newark, DE - Senior Jerry Butler's 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter negated a second half Pride rally and gave #23 Delaware a 28-24 victory over Hofstra in a CAA game at Delaware Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Pride, which dropped its second straight game, fall to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the CAA while the Blue Hens improve to 6-3 on the year and 4-3 in the conference.

Butler's scoring run, his second of the game, came three plays after a 72-yard pass from UD junior quarterback Pat Devlin to receiver Phillip Thaxton that moved the ball to the Hofstra 3-yard line and erased a 24-21 Hofstra lead. The Pride, who trailed 21-14 at halftime, scored 10 points in the third quarter on a Henry Greco field goal and a 14-yard scoring pass from senior quarterback Cory Christopher to junior Anthony Nelson to take the lead. Hofstra had a late drive to the Delaware 20 in the final minute that was ended when Christopher was sacked on a fourth-and-one play.

Christopher finished with 157 yards and one touchdown on 16 of 24 passing while sophomore Steve Probst, who passed for one score to junior Aaron Weaver and pitched a second to junior Everette Benjamin, was 5-for-11 for 83 yards and rushed 13 times for 38 yards to lead the Pride. Weaver recorded his second 100-yard receiving game of the season with eight catches for 115 yards. Freshman Miquel Maysonet led the Pride ground game with 41 yards on seven carries. The Pride defense, which held Delaware to 305 yards, was led by sophomore linebacker Basim Hudeen with 13 tackles and senior Luke Bonus with 11 tackles.

The Blue Hens, which posted their third straight victory over the Pride to boost their series record to 13-5-1, were led by Devlin, who completed 14 of 22 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns while Butler led the rushing game with 83 yards and two scores on 18 carries. Senior Mark Duncan hauled in four passes for 36 yards and one score. The Blue Hens' defense was led by junior linebacker Benard Makumbi with nine stops and sophomore end Michael Atunrase with seven tackles.

The Blue Hens took a page out of the Hofstra book in the first quarter, dominating the ball in their two possessions and bolting out to a 14-0 lead. After the Pride went three-and-out in the game's opening possession, giving the Blue Hens the ball on the Hofstra 43 following the Pride punt and personal foul penalty, Devlin engineered a 12-play, 43-yard drive in 5:39 with Jerry Butler ending it with a two-yard scoring run. Jon Striefsky's extra-point gave the Blue Hens a 7-0 lead with 8:18 to play in the first quarter. UD was helped by two fourth-and-one conversions by freshman running back Leon Jackson.

After the Pride was forced to punt again after moving the ball just 13 yards, Delaware took over on their own 21-yard line following a Shane Casciano punt. This time Butler figured in the drive early, ripping off a 50-yard run to the Pride 29-yard line on the first play of the drive. Six plays later Devlin hit junior receiver Tommy Crosby with a 16-yard pass for the touchdown. Striefsky made it 14-0 with 1:30 to play in the period.

The Pride got on the board on their first possession of the second quarter as Probst directed a 13-play, 65-yard drive capped by a three-yard scoring pass to Aaron Weaver.  Henry Greco's point-after closed the deficit to 14-7 with 7:14 to play in the first half. Probst rushed for 23 yards and passed for 15 in the drive while freshman Miguel Maysonet picked up 21 yards on the ground.

After exchanging scoreless possessions, Delaware struck again following a blocked Pride field goal. The Blue Hens drove 57 yards in seven plays with Devlin hitting senior Mark Duncan for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds to play in the half. Striefsky boosted the lead to 21-7 with the extra-point.

But the Pride was not done for the half as Deron Mayon returned Delaware's line drive kickoff 32 yards to the Delaware 37-yard line. With the short field and clock, Christopher hit Weaver for a gain of 18 to the UD 19. After a Hofstra false start penalty, Christopher found Benjamin for a 23-yard completion to the Blue Hens' 1-yard line. On the next play, Benjamin took the pitch from Probst and scored from one yard out with nine seconds to spare before halftime. Greco completed the three-play, 37-yard drive with the extra point to close the halftime deficit to 21-14.

The Pride came out roaring in the third quarter. After Tressor Baptiste sacked Devlin and forced him to fumble on the Blue Hens' first possession, Hofstra junior end Deron Mayo recovered on the UD 24-yard line. Hofstra moved the ball to the 11-yard line where they had to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Greco with 12:09 to play in the third quarter.

The Blue Hens came right back and drove to the Pride 29-yard line before turning the ball over on downs when Chris Thomas made a tackle of Butler on a fourth-down play one yard short of the marker. The Pride offense came right back and drove 78 yards in eight plays with Christopher finding Nelson in the corner of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown. It was Nelson's third TD grab of the season. Greco's point-after gave the Pride a 24-21 lead with 4:55 to play in the third quarter.

Late in the period, Hofstra punter Shane Casciano's 40-yard boot pinned the Blue Hens back on their own 7-yard line to start what would be the game-winning drive. As the drive continued into the final quarter, Delaware dodged a bullet when Devlin was picked off by Pride safety Ray McDonough, who returned it for a touchdown, only to have the play called back by an offside penalty. Devlin then hit sophomore receiver Mark Schenauer for a 10-yard gain on a third-and-five play to the UD 22. Two plays later on a short slant pattern, Devlin found Thaxton in the middle of the field, who turned two Pride defenders and went 72 yards to the Pride 3-yardline. Three plays later Butler scored his second touchdown of the game from one yard out to give the Blue Hens the 28-24 lead after Striefsky's point-after.

Both defense stood tall in the fourth quarter and after Hofstra and UD exchanged possessions, the Pride got the ball back on their own 38 following a Delaware punt with 7:08 to play. Behind some timely rushes and Christopher's passing, Hofstra moved the ball to the Delaware 20-yard line where they faced a fourth-and-one play with no timeouts remaining. On the Pride's final play, Christopher sprinted out to his right looking for a receiver but was met by Makumbi for a five-yard sack and loss of possession on downs with 42 seconds to play. The Blue Hens took a knee and ran out the clock. The Hofstra rushing game which posted 111 of the Pride's 351 total yards was shut down in the fourth quarter, recording minus-7 yards on eight carries with UD posting three sacks for 19 yards in the period.

The Pride play their final road contest of the season next Saturday at Northeastern (1 p.m.) before returning home to Shuart Stadium on Saturday, November 21 for the season finale against Massachusetts.

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