NEWARK, Del. ? After dominating the first half of its Colonial Athletic Association game against Towson University on Saturday, the University of Delaware may have had thoughts of finishing off a relatively easy one-sided win over the Tigers. But, the Blue Hens were forced to survive a furious second half rally by Towson before escaping with a 31-21 victory before a crowd of 20,720 at Delaware Stadium.

      The Blue Hens, who built a 14-0 halftime lead, withstood a rally which saw their lead trimmed to 24-21 with 11:51 remaining in the game. Delaware (4-6, 2-4) clinched the win with a time-consuming 75-yard, 12-play drive that resulted in a 4-yard touchdown run by Junior Jabbie with 5:43 remaining. Jabbie's second touchdown of the game gave the Blue Hens a 31-21 advantage.

      “Big plays continue to hurt us,” lamented Towson Coach Gordy Combs. “Allowing a 98-yard kickoff return while we were trying to come back was huge. We had just scored and we were excited. Then, Butler made a great play and brought it all the way back. Even though we responded with another touchdown drive, it was still a disappointment for our team.”

      The Tigers (3-7, 1-5), who were dominated in the first half, were fortunate to be trailing by just 14-0 at intermission. In the first half, the Blue Hens piled up 250 total yards and held Towson to just three first downs and 29 total yards. But, the Blue Hens had squandered several opportunities to increase their first half lead and put the game out of reach.

      On the Tigers' second possession of the third quarter, senior quarterback Sean Schaefer gave his team an emotional lift when he fired an 84-yard touchdown pass to 6-8 senior Tommy Breaux. The 84-yard TD play matched the fourth-longest pass play in school history. It was also the second time in his career that Schaefer had thrown an 84-yard TD pass. In 2005, he completed an 84-yard TD play to Marcus Lee in a win over Villanova.

      Schaefer, who was held to 56 passing yards in the first half, lofted a perfect pass down the Towson sideline to Breaux, who caught the ball at the 40-yard line and ran away from the Blue Hens and into the end zone. It was Breaux's third TD reception in the last four games.

      “Tommy is a freakish athlete,” praised Schaefer. “He is 6-8, has great hands and he runs like a horse. Tommy's been playing very well the last few weeks. He understands football better and he has become much more passionate about the game. He used to be very quiet ? but now he is excited on the field.”

      After the 84-yard TD pass cut their lead to 14-6, the Blue Hens blocked Mark Bencivengo's conversion kick, holding the score at 14-6.

      Moments later, junior Jerry Butler sprinted 98 yards with the ensuing kickoff for his second kickoff return for a TD this season. The conversion kick by junior Jon Striefsky gave Delaware a 21-6 lead with 11:06 remaining in the third quarter.

      The Tigers responded with another efficient scoring drive. With Schaefer completing six-of-six passes for 73 yards, the Tigers marched 73 yards in six plays for another TD. A 15-yard touchdown pass from Schaefer to junior Casey Cegles with 8:24 left in the third quarter cut the Tigers' deficit to 21-13 after Bencivengo's conversion kick.

      On their next possession, the Blue Hens drove to the Tigers' 16-yard line where the Tiger defense held, forcing Delaware to settle for another field goal attempt by Striefsky. When he connected on the 28-yard field goal, the Blue Hens owned a 24-13 advantage with 3:27 remaining in the third quarter.

      After Schaefer was sacked and fumbled at the Delaware 45-yard line, defensive tackle Brandon Gilbeaux recovered and returned the ball to the Towson 27-yard line.

      But, the Tiger defense came up with a big play when junior linebacker Alex Butt intercepted a pass at the Towson 18-yard line to get the ball back for the offense.

      Once again, Schaefer directed an impressive drive. After a 13-yard scramble to the Delaware 24-yard line, Schaefer fired his third touchdown pass of the game when he threw a 24-yard scoring strike to junior David Newsom, finishing off an 82-yard, 11-play drive. The touchdown pass cut the Tigers' deficit to 24-19 with 11:51 left in the game.

      When Schaefer completed a pass to sophomore Hakeem Moore for the two-point conversion, the Tigers' deficit was only 24-21 with plenty of time remaining in the game.

      Needing a time-consuming drive to re-acquire the momentum, the Blue Hens responded. On their first offensive play, Jabbie ran for 14 yards to the Delaware 39-yard line. A 23-yard pass from freshman quarterback Lou Ritacco to Martwain Johnston moved the ball into Towson territory at the 38-yard line. Facing fourth down-and-one at the Towson 29-yard, Jabbie kept the drive going with a six-yard run for the first down. Jabbie also ran for a first down when the Blue Hens faced a third-and-one at the 14-yard line. With 5:43 left in the game, Jabbie scored on a four-yard TD run to give Delaware a 31-21 lead.

      On the time-consuming drive, Jabbie ran for 34 yards on six carries.

      “We came in here knowing that Delaware was very effective running the ball,” added Combs. “They probably threw the ball better than we thought they would. On that last drive, it was frustrating for us because we were confident we could score again if we could get a stop.”

      With the Tigers trailing by 31-21, the Blue Hen defense responded and forced a punt with 4:08 remaining. Led by Jabbie, the Blue Hens ran out the clock. In the final four minutes, Jabbie rushed for 43 more yards on five carries.

      Jabbie ran for 141 yards on 22 carries to lead the Blue Hens' ground game. As a team, Delaware ran for 210 yards on 46 carries.

      Delaware came into the game with a very unsettled quarterback situation but it was obvious that Coach K.C. Keeler made the right choice. Making the first start of his career, Ritacco moved the Blue Hens' offense impressively on the opening drive of the game.

      After a 48-yard pass play from Ritacco to Aaron Love, the Blue Hens were deep in Towson territory. However, the Tiger defense stopped the Blue Hens at the 20-yard line as linebacker Paul Stefanik and safety Jeff Snow broke up passes on back-to-back plays. Then, the Tigers got a break when Striefsky, an All-American kicker, missed a 37-yard field goal, keeping the game scoreless.

      On their second possession, the Tigers drove to the Delaware 36-yard line. However, the drive stalled when Schaefer was sacked by free safety Chris Graves. With junior Bill Shears in the game to punt, the Blue Hens received a huge break when the center snap went over his head and Shears had to fall on the ball at the Towson 30-yard line.

      Delaware took advantage of the excellent field position and took a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter. A 12-yard touchdown run by Jabbie snapped the scoreless tie.

      Midway through the second quarter, it appeared that the Blue Hens had extended their lead to 14-0 when Ritacco threw a three-yard touchdown pass to tight end Robbie Agnone. However, Agnone was penalized 15 yards for offensive pass interference and the TD was nullified. Two plays later, Striefsky missed a 35-yard field goal and the Blue Hens came away with no points.

      After the Blue Hen defense forced another three-and-out, the offense put together another impressive drive in the final minutes of the first half. Led by Ritacco, the Blue Hens marched 68 yards in 11 plays and took a 14-0 lead when Ritacco threw a 15-yard TD pass to Love with 36 seconds left in the half. It was the first touchdown pass of his career.

      “We had a very hard time moving the ball in the first half,” admitted Coach Combs. “But we knew if we could give Sean more time to throw in the second half, we could move the ball and score some points. In the second half, we executed much better.

      “But, we need to play well for four quarters if we want to win.”

      Despite being sacked six times, Schaefer completed 22 of 33 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns. It marked the tenth time in his career that he threw three TD passes in a game. His fourth quarter touchdown pass to Newsome was the 70th TD pass of his career.

      After being held to 56 passing yards in the first half, he completed 15 of 23 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns in the second half.

      With his 297 passing yards, Schaefer became the 11th player in NCAA FCS history with 11,000 career passing yards. Schaefer has now thrown for 11,003 yards in his college career.

      Senior Marcus Lee, the second-leading receiver in school history, led the Tigers with six receptions for 56 yards. Lee extended his pass catching streak to 43 games in a row. With 211 career catches, he is only eight catches shy of the school record for receptions in a career (219), a mark held by Jamal White, '02.

      Breaux caught five passes for 126 yards and one touchdown while Moore caught four passes for 25 yards.

      Mack led the Tiger defense with 11 tackles, including two tackles for lost yardage. Freshman safety Danny Collins added a career high 10 tackles while senior linebacker Jordan Manning made eight stops.

      The Tigers will try and get back on the winning track next week when they travel to Villanova University to face the Wildcats, the sixth-ranked team in NCAA FCS.