Boxscore

Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware got some unexpected, but much-needed, contributions Saturday afternoon and the Blue Hens returned to winning ways with a 31-21 Colonial Athletic Association football victory over Towson at Delaware Stadium.

Redshirt freshman Lou Ritacco (bottom right) made his first career start and threw for 225 yards and a touchdown, Junior Jabbie (top right) ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns, Kervin Michaud returned from what was thought to be a season-ending clavicle injury back in September and added 58 yards on the ground, and Jerry Butler returned a kickoff for a touchdown for the second straight week as the Blue Hens (4-6, 2-4 CAA) snapped a two-game home losing streak.

Towson (3-7, 1-5 CAA) lost its third straight game as the Tigers managed just 282 total yards, allowed six sacks, and were hurt by several special teams miscues. Quarterback Sean Schaefer recovered from a tough opening half and hit on 22 of 33 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns and became just the 11th player in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision history to surpass 11,000 career yards passing.

“It was nice for us to find a way to get a win today,” said Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler, whose team avoided its first three-game home losing streak since 1983 and avoided tying the school record for losses in a season. “Any time you can get a win in this league, it’s a nice thing. It’s the first time this season that we felt that we had our quarterbacks and running backs all healthy and it added a nice compliment. We knew that if our running backs played better, our quarterback would play better. It was great to see Lou have success. He made good decisions and the running game helped him out. He showed great poise, he gained confidence as the game went on, and put in a solid performance.”

The Hens held Towson to just 29 total yards on the way to a 14-0 lead at halftime and Butler’s 98-yard kickoff return, the second longest in school history behind a 99-yarder by Buck Thompson in 1946, sparked the Delaware early in the second half. Jabbie’s four-yard scoring run with 5:43 left to play and Hens leading by just three points, capped a 75-yard drive and sealed the victory, Delaware’s second straight over the Tigers.

Schaefer’s passing put the Tigers in striking range of the lead three times in the second half, but Towson could never pull ahead. The senior hit Tommy Breaux on an 84-yard scoring toss, the sixth-longest passing play in school history, four minutes into the second half to narrow the margin to 14-6 and his 15-yard strike to Casey Cegles with 8:24 remaining in the period cut the UD lead to 21-13.

Towson pulled to within 24-21 with 11:51 left to play on a 21-yard scoring toss from Schaefer to David Newsom and a two-point conversion completion to Hakeem Moore, but the Hens buckled down from there and picked up the victory.

Delaware has struggled offensively most of the season due to some spotty play at quarterback, ranking last in the CAA in scoring offense and total offenses. The lack of production had forced Keeler to play wide receiver Aaron Love and tight end Robbie Agnone at the position the last two weeks. And Ritacco, who entered the season as the backup to first-year Ohio State transfer Robby Schoenhoft, was not available the last four games due to an orbital fracture of his eye that was expected to be a season-ending injury.

Ritacco was finally cleared to play early in the week and he responded, hitting on 19 of 30 passes for 225 yards and hitting Love on a 15-yard scoring pass with 36 seconds left in the first half that sent the Hens into halftime up 14-0. Ritacco led an offense that produced 435 yards and committed just one turnover. The 435 yards was the second highest offensive output of the season for the Hens.

“I was a little nervous going in,” said Ritacco, who had seen spot duty in just three games earlier this season. “But I know that if I’m not nervous, I’m not ready to play. My injury healed faster than expected and I jumped on this opportunity when I had the chance. It wasn’t easy coming back from the injury but today I was feeling good. My offensive line told me that no one was going to touch me today and they did a great job.”

After a scoreless first quarter, the Hens got on the board first early in the second quarter as they took advantage of a bad snap on a punt that resulted in a 26-yard loss to the Towson. Delaware moved 30 yard on five plays with Jabbie slicing up the middle for a 12-yard scoring run just six minutes into the stanza.

The Hens had the chance to up the lead to 14-0 when Ritacco hit Agnone on a three-yard scoring pass in the end zone, but Agnone was called for offensive pass interference and Jon Striefsky then missed on a 35-yard field goals.

But the Hens did get the points back later in the half to take the 14-0 halftime lead as they drove 68 yards on 11 plays with Ritacco hitting Love in the back of the end zone from 15 yards out. Love, who had caught just three passes the last three weeks due to the move to quarterback duties, caught seven for 90 yards and upped his career reception total to 190, just two shy of the school record of 192 by Eddie Conti in 1994-98.

Towson finally got on the board early in the third quarter when Schaefer hit a wide-open Breaux down the left sideline and the 6-8 senior raced untouched for the score with 11:19 remaining to cut the lead to 14-6. Breaux finished the day with five receptions for 126 yards.

The Hens struck back immediately as Butler, who returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown last week vs. James Madison, did it again as he raced up the middle for the 98-yard score. He became the first player in UD history to run back a kickoff for a touchdown in consecutive games and tied the single season and career records for kickoff returns for touchdowns with two. Bill Hopkins also returned two for touchdowns in 1964 for the Blue Hens and had two for his career in 1962-64.

The teams traded scores and turnovers the remainder of the stanza as Schaefer’s 15-yard scoring toss to Cegles capped a 73-yard drive and cut the Hen lead to 21-13 with 8:24 left in the quarter and Striefsky redeemed himself after two earlier misses by booting a 28-yard field goal with 3:27 remaining for a 24-13 Delaware lead.

Schaefer fumbled after being sacked by Delaware’s John Higginson and Brandon Gilbeaux recovered and advanced the ball to the Towson 27-yard line with 1:16 left. But the Hens gave the ball right back on the next play when Towson linebacker Alex Butt intercepted Ritacco. The Tigers then drove 82 yards on 11 plays with Schaefer hitting Newsom from 24 yards out with 11:51 left to play to narrow the lead to 24-21.

Delaware put the game away from there, responding with a 75-yard drive in just over six minutes with Jabbie capping things with a four-yard run with 5:43 left. Jabbie picked up 77 of his 141 yards on the ground in the final stanza as the Hens controlled the clock for the victory.