Photos Courtesy of Bob Burleigh

NEWARK, DE -- The Blue Hen offense piled up over 400 yards of offense through the air to highlight the annual University of Delaware Blue-White Spring Football Game Saturday afternoon at sunny Delaware Stadium.

Senior quarterback Joe Flacco (Audubon/Audubon, NJ) threw for 234 yards and one touchdown and redshirt freshman Tommy Crosby (Hammonton/Hammonton, NJ) caught six passes for 118 yards to highlight the day.

The annual game, which matches the Blue (offense) vs. the White (defense), lasted just over 90 minutes and consisted of nearly 100 plays broken up into five different segments. The offense began drives from each 40-yard line, its own 15-yard line, and the White’s 25-yard line. The Blue Hens also worked on field goals and punt protection during the scrimmage, which was played before a crowd of approximately 1,200 fans.

“The spring is about getting better and thought we did that,” said sixth-year Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler, whose squad hopes to bounce back from last year’s 5-6 record as the Blue Hens enter their first season in the new Colonial Athletic Association. “Defensively, I thought we got a lot better. I feel very good about where we are on offense and I like how we competed on defense. We’ve had some injuries on that side of the ball but we’ve competed hard and gotten better and I’m happy about that. Today’s game was as good a spring game as we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

The Delaware offense piled up 540 total yards on 96 plays (5.6 yards per play) as Blue Hen quarterbacks Flacco, redshirt freshman Sean Scanlon (Camden Catholic/Cherry Hill, NJ), and sophomore Brad Casalvieri (Lawrenceville/Monmouth Junction, NJ) connected on 28 of 41 passes for 445 yards and one touchdown without an interception. Flacco, who threw for 2,783 yards and 18 touchdowns in his first year as a starter last fall, hit on 14 of 20 passes for 234 yards and one touchdown, a 35-yard screen pass to senior All-American running back Omar Cuff (Flowers/Landover, MD) on the second drive of the day.

Scanlon, who sat out last season as a freshman and is expected to be Flacco’s top backup this fall, completed 9 of 15 passes for 159 yards and Casalvieri connected on 5 of 6 passes for 52 yards.

Crosby had a game-high 59-yard reception midway through the scrimmage and also had a 27-yard catch and two 16-yard receptions. Junior Kervin Michaud (Pennsbury/Levittown, PA) added five catches for 67 yards and redshirt freshman Martwain Johnston (Trinity-Pawling/Pawling, NY) caught three passes for 73 yards.

The Blue team scored three other touchdowns during the game as sophomore Jared Bradley (Strath-Haven/Swarthmore, PA - top right), who led all rushers with 81 yards on 29 carries, scored on short dives from one and two yards. Sophomore Jerry Butler (George Washington/Philadelphia, PA), a first-year transfer from the University of Wisconsin, also scored on a 14-yard burst up the middle.

Delaware’s kicking game was also strong as junior Jon Striefsky (North Penn/Lansdale, PA - bottom right), who will battle to take over the placement duties this fall after the departure of two-year starter Zach Hobby, converted both of his extra point attempts and was good on six of seven field goal attempts, including kicks from 43 and 42 yards.

The Delaware defense recorded six sacks on the day and was led by junior Johnathon Smith (Trinity/Camp Hill, PA), a first-year transfer from Connecticut who recorded 13 tackles. Senior linebacker J.T. Laws (William Penn/St. George’s, DE) added eight tackles, including two sacks, redshirt freshman Anthony Walters (Cardinal O’Hara/Philadelphia, PA) added seven tackles and three pass breakup, and junior defensive end Ronald Talley (Renaissance/Oak Park, MI), a first-year transfer from Notre Dame, had four tackles, including two sacks.

AGATE:

Scoring From Scrimmage
Blue - Omar Cuff 35 pass from Joe Flacco (Jon Striefsky kick)
Blue - Jared Bradley 1 run (Striefsky kick)
Blue - Jerry Butler 14 run (no kick)
Blue - Bradley 1 run (no kick)
Attendance: 1,200

Team Statistics: First Downs - 18 (5 run/12 pass/1 penalty); Rushing - 55 for 95 yards; Passing - 28 of 41 for 445 yards, 0 Interceptions; Punting - 6 for 30.1 avg.; Fumbles - 0 for 0; Penalties: 1 for 5 (White).

Individual Statistics -

Rushing - Jared Bradley, 29 carries for 81 yards; Jerry Butler, 6-17; Matt Ruggiero, 6-15; Omar Cuff, 3-7; Tommy Crosby, 2-5; Joe Flacco, 4-(-10); Sean Scanlon, 5-(-20)

Passing - Flacco, 14 of 20 for 234 yards, 0 Interceptions, 1 TD; Scanlon, 9-15-159-0-0; Brad Casalvieri, 5-6-52-0-0

Receiving - Crosby, 6 for 118 yards; Kervin Michaud, 5-67; Martwain Johnston, 3-73; Mark Duncan, 2-48; Cuff, 2-35; Blair Newman, 2-25; Robbie Agnone, 2-21; Mark Mackey, 2-8; Ben Everett, 1-19; Jon Heydt, 1-9; Mike Purzycki, 1-5

Punting - Stuart Kenworthy, 6 for 181 yards, 30.1 avg.

Field Goals - Jon Striefsky, 6 for 7 (Long 43), Matt Calio, 1 for 2 (Long 22);

Tackle Leaders: Johnathon Smith, 13 (5 solo); J.T. Laws, 8 (4) Aaron Hicks, 7 (5); Anthony Walters, 7 (6); Charles Graves, 6 (3); Anthony Bratton, 6 (1); Walter Blair, 6 (2); Alex Widener, 6 (3); Charles Burton, 5 (0); Brian Void, 5 (3); Manny Marshall, 5 (2)

Quarterback Sacks: Laws, 2; Ronald Talley, 2; Justin Johnson

Pass Breakups: Walters, 3, Erik Johnson.