Blue Hens Top Saint Francis in Home Opener, 27-10

Saturday, September 11

Newark, Del.

6 p.m.

University of Delaware

2-0

Saint Francis (Pa.)

0-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Saint Francis

Delaware

Photo by: Mark Campbell

9/11/2021 9:00:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Photo Gallery (Mark Campbell)

NEWARK, Del. – In front of a packed student section, the No. 6 Delaware football team got the fans up out of their seats as they cheered the Blue Hens on to a 27-10 victory at Raymond Field at Delaware Stadium.

"I'm not surprised that they gave us a good game. We are capable of playing better and we have to play better moving forward," said head coach Danny Rocco. "I think holistically we did some good things, we protected the football and we made ourselves hard to beat."

The game started out a little slow for Delaware (2-0) before the offense began to pick things up in the second half.

A 36-yard field goal, a season-long by Ryan Coe, at the 6:11 mark in the first quarter gave the Blue Hens an early 3-0 lead over visiting Saint Francis.

Saint Francis (0-2) tied it up at 3-All in the second quarter, but it didn't last long, as Braden Brose muscled his way up the middle for a 39-yard catch which led to Coe's second field goal of the day with a 26-yard strike and a 6-3 advantage for the Blue Hens.

The first touchdown of the game came from running back Dejoun Lee, who pushed past the Saint Francis defense for the one-yard score with 15 seconds remaining on the clock, his first touchdown of the season.

Lee high stepped his way down the left side line, but was tripped up at the one-yard line by the Saint Francis defense. Anthony Paoletti completed the drive with a one-yard rush up the middle to extend Delaware's lead to 20-3 after the made PAT.

Jyron Russell responded for the Red Flash with a 66-yard rushing touchdown to make it a 20-10 game heading into the final quarter.

Nolan Henderson, who completed 18 passes for 259 passing yards, found Thyrick Pitts for the second straight game. This time it was a launch to the far left corner that Pitts pulled down for the highlight reel and settled the 27-10 final.

Andrew Pawlowski led the Blue Hen defense with six tackles while Liam Trainer picked up his first career interception in addition to five tackles.

Nine receivers caught at least one pass tonight with Pitts and Brose both registering 61 receiving yards.

Rocco added, "Special team was really solid. Offensively we played in spurts. We did not have a lot of big plays or explosive plays today offensively. We utilized our field goal kicker. I was proud of how we competed in the second half. We are winners of nine of our last 10 games and we are excited about moving forward to next week with the challenge against a Big 10 team."

Russell finished with 165 passing yards and 76 yards on the ground with one rushing touchdown. Gio Vo Sanders tallied nine tackles for the Red Flash.

The Blue Hens will head to New Jersey next weekend to take on a 2-0 Rutgers squad.

For the latest on the Delaware football program, follow the Blue Hens on Twitter @DelawareFB and Instagram @DelawareFootball, and like "Delaware Football" on Facebook.

Gallery: (9-11-2021) Football vs. Saint Francis