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Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, Del. -- Senior running back Jerry Butler highlighted Senior Day by scoring two touchdowns, including the game-winner early in the fourth quarter, and linebacker Benard Makumbi came up with a big stop on a fourth down play inside Delaware territory in the final minute as the No. 23 ranked Blue Hens got by Hofstra for an important 28-24 Colonial Athletic Association football win Saturday afternoon at sunny Delaware Stadium.

Playing their final regular season game of the season, the Blue Hens (6-3, 4-3 CAA) bounced back from last week's tough 20-8 loss to James Madison and kept their post-season hopes alive as they jumped out to a 21-7 lead, fell behind in the second half, and rallied to down the Pride (4-5, 2-4 CAA) for the third straight time.

The win gave Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler his 150th career college coaching victory as he became only the 11th active NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision coach to reach the milestone.

Butler, a third-year transfer from Wisconsin and Delaware's third leading rusher on the season, took over the running chores and led the Hens to the victory. He rushed 18 times for a season-high 83 yards and scored two touchdowns, the second with 11:48 left in the fourth quarter that proved to be the game-winner.

"In this league, every win is a great win," said Keeler, who improved to 150-57-1 all-time, including an eight-year mark of 62-36 at Delaware. "I was proud of the way we hung in there today and didn't panic. We managed the moment. It was Senior Day so it was an emotional day and it was rewarding to send those seniors out with a win in their final game here. I know Jerry fed off that emotion today."

The Hens came up with one of their biggest stops of the season in the final minute on Hofstra's final drive of the day. On a fourth and one play at the Delaware 20-yard line with just 42 seconds left in the game, Hofstra quarterback Cory Christopher rolled to his right but was met hard by Makumbi, who drove him back five yards for a loss to preserve the win.

"I saw a window and I just took it," said Makumbi, who posted a team-high nine tackles including two for loss. "We expect our defense to make a stop like that. We know someone is going to get it done and that is our mindset."

Delaware, which clinched a .500 or better record for the 19th time in the last 23 years with the victory, overcame three turnovers and a sluggish second half to win for the fourth time in the last five outings. The Hens will need to close out the regular season with road wins over Navy next week and at long-time rival Villanova Nov. 21 to keep its hopes alive for one of 16 berths in the NCAA Division I playoffs.

Blue Hen junior quarterback Pat Devlin connected on 14 of 22 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns and was intercepted once. Hofstra’s Christopher hit on 16 of 24 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown while backup Steve Probst was 5 of 11 for 83 yards and a touchdown. Aaron Weaver caught eight passes for a game-high 115 yards.

The tide turned in a big way in the fourth quarter when Hofstra had appeared to take a 31-21 lead on the second play of the stanza when safety Ray McDonough intercepted a tipped pass by Devlin and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown. But the score was nullified due to an offsides penalty against Hofstra and the Blue Hens retained possession. Delaware then drove 93 yards on nine plays in 3:29 and scored what proved to be the game-winner when Butler bulled his way into the end zone from one-yard out on third down.

The big play of the drive was a 72-yard pass and catch from Devlin to Phillip Thaxton down to the Hofstra three-yard line. Three plays later Butler scored his second touchdown of the day.

"Unfortunately, its not the first loss like this that we've had this year," said Hofstra head coach Dave Cohen, a former defensive coordinator at Delaware and now in his fourth season with the Pride. "Losing like this hurts. We work too hard to give away wins."

Hofstra outgained Delaware 351-305 and did not have a turnover during the game but committed 12 penalties for 90 yards.

Delaware jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter as Butler capped the Hens’ first drive of the day with a two-yard burst with 8:18 remaining and Devlin hit Tommy Crosby on a 16-yard scoring pass with 1:30 left with Crosby going high in the back of the end zone to pull down the ball. The 79-yard drive was highlighted by Butler’s career-long 50 yard run on the first play. The running play was the longest of the season for the Hens.

Hofstra got on the board with 7:14 left in the second quarter when Probst hit Weaver on a three-yard pass play to cut the lead to 14-7, but the Hens came right back to go up 21-7 when Devlin hit senior Mark Duncan on a 10-yard scoring pass with just 31 seconds left before halftime. The touchdown catch was the team-high sixth for Duncan.

But the Pride wasn’t finished. Hofstra defensive end Deron Mayo took the short kickoff by Delaware’s Ed Wagner and returned it 32 yards to the Delaware 37-yard line. Christopher hit Weaver on an 18-yard pass play and later connected with Everette Benjamin on a 23-yarder down to the one. Benjamin then scored on a one-yard dive on the next play to narrow the gap to 21-14 at the break.

Delaware suffered through a sluggish third quarter that allowed Hofstra to gain the lead. Devlin was sacked by Tressor Baptiste and fumbled at Delaware’s own 24-yard line on the opening drive of the second half. Mayo recovered for the Pride and six plays later Henry Greco converted a 29-yard field goal to cut the gap to 21-17.

Hofstra then took a 24-21 lead on its next drive when the Pride drove 78 yards and finished things off with Christopher hitting Anthony Nelson on a 14-yard scoring play with 4:55 left in the third stanza.

After Butler’s second touchdown with 11:48 left to play gave the Hens the 28-24 lead, Hofstra had two more chance to win the game. The Pride gained just 10 yards on its next drive and had to punt, but got possession again with 7:08 left at its own 38-yard line. Hofstra drove down to the the Delaware 20-yard line on 10 plays, but couldn’t finish things off as Makumbi stuffed Christopher on the pivotal fourth down play.