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Freshman Chris Haupt (Bloomsburg, PA) had a hand in all four first-half touchdowns and Widener left no doubt early in a 41-14 Middle Atlantic Conference victory over FDU-Florham in Madison, NJ.
In a reversal from last week's 35-16 victory over Frostburg State in which long scoring drives were the story, Widener (3-1, 1-0 MAC) took advantage of short fields in notching its 12th straight victory over FDU and sixth consecutive in Morris County.
The first break went Widener's way with junior Fred Ferro (Clifton Heights, NJ) recovering running back Bayshawn Wells' fumble at the FDU 34 yard line. On the drive's seventh play, senior Ian Decker (Phillipsburg, NJ) took a screen pass from Haupt and dove inside the pylon for a 10-yard touchdown. The extra point from sophomore Matt Breslin (Sugarloaf, PA) with 8:54 left in the first made it 7-0.
Another turnover worked to the Pride's benefit with junior Joe Favinger (Mohnton, PA) forcing a fumble and junior Jon Natter (North Hills, PA) recovering at the Devils 23. Haupt punctuated the drive on a one-yard sneak with 10:46 remaining in the first half for a 14-0 contest.
Another short Widener march began at the FDU 39 yard line thanks to a poor punt and required only four plays. It ended on a 28-yard scoring pass from Haupt to sophomore Cedrick Clayton (Cinnaminson, NJ) with 5:33 to play in the half for a 20-0 lead.
Widener's bag of tricks made its way to North Jersey late in the first half. On fourth and short, Favinger took a fake punt and sprinted 25 yards up the middle to the Devils 30 yard line. Sophomore Justin Horning (Red Hill, PA) made the gamble pay off, diving at the goal line for an eight-yard touchdown catch with six seconds left for a 27-0 cushion.
Haupt in the opening half completed 14-of-19 passes for 124 yards and three touchdowns. Clayton paced the receivers with four catches for 53 yards.
The defense more than did its job against the number one rated offense and passing offense in the MAC entering the contest. FDU (1-3, 0-1) was limited to a mere 81 yards rushing on 26 carries and was just 5-of-14 on third-down conversions.
Haupt completed 18-of-32 passes for 196 yards. Clayton and Horning each notched five receptions and Favinger had seven tackles, including three for a loss.
Bill Winters completed 17-of-34 passes for 250 yards with Kyle Bukowiec posting nine catches for 70 yards for the Devils. Ian Moore ended with 13 tackles.
The Devils got on the board with 1:35 left in the third, getting a 59-yard touchdown pass from Winters to Andrew Scamporino for a 27-7 contest. The Pride got it back with 4:33 to go when freshman Kenny Anderson (Middletown, DE) scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak for a 34-7 margin.
Winters scored on a one-yard sneak with 1:58 remaining for a 34-14 game and junior Adam Smith (Littlestown, PA) increased the margin to 41-14 on a 17-yard touchdown run with 23 seconds to play.
Widener next Saturday hosts King's at 1:00 pm.
