MADISON, NJ - The College at Florham Devils turned the ball over on three of their first possessions leading to 14 points as Widener knocked off FDU, 41-14, in the conference opener for both teams on Friday evening.

With the loss, the Devils dropped to 1-3 (0-1 MAC) while the Pride improved to 3-1 (1-0 MAC).

Each team went three-and-out on their first possession of the game before the Devils took over on their own 28 yard line.  On the first play of the drive, Widener forced and recovered a fumble that led to a 10-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Chris Haupt (Bloomsburg, PA/Central Columbia) to senior running back Ian Decker (Phillipsburg, NJ/Phillipsburg) to put the Pride up 7-0 with 8:54 left in the first quarter.  The Devils marched right back down the field and were at the Widener 15 yard line but the Pride intercepted a pass in the end zone to halt FDU.

The Devils got the ball back but Widener forced and recovered another fumble, this time at the FDU 23, to set themselves up for more points.  Seven plays later, Haupt plunged in from a yard out to give Widener a 14-0 lead with 10:46 to go in the half.  FDU was stopped by penalties on their next series and a shanked punt gave the Pride the ball on the FDU 39 yard line.  Four plays into the drive, Haupt found sophomore wide receiver Cedrick Clayton (Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson) for a 28-yard touchdown pass to give Widener a 20-0 advantage with 5:33 remaining.  The Pride got the ball back on their own 36 yard line with 3:06 to go before intermission and faced a fourth-and-one from their own 45 when they called for a fake punt and got a 25-yard gain all the way down to the FDU 30.  The drive ended when Haupt hit sophomore wide receiver Justin Horning (Red Hill, PA/Upper Perkiomen) for an eight-yard touchdown to give Widener a 27-0 lead heading into halftime.

After a missed 25-yard Widener field goal with 4:31 left in the third quarter, the Devils went 80 yards in six plays capped by a 59-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Bill Winters (Brick, NJ/Brick) to junior wide receiver Andrew Scamporino (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) to pull FDU to within 27-7 with 1:35 left in the third.  The big play of the drive came when Winters scrambled for a 17-yard first down on third-and-fifteen.  Senior cornerback Mike Franchino (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) picked Haupt off on the next Widener series to set the Devils up at the Widener 32 yard line but the Pride defense held and FDU turned the ball over on downs to start the fourth quarter.

Widener made it 34-7 on a one-yard touchdown run by freshman quarterback Kenny Anderson (Middletown, DE/Middletown) with 4:33 left in the game.  FDU cut it to 34-14 on their next series when Winters scored from a yard out after he connected with senior wide receiver Kyle Bukowiec (Howell, NJ/Howell) four times for 34 yards on the drive.  The Devils tried an onsides-kick but Widener recovered and went on to make it 41-14 thanks to a 17-yard touchdown run by junior running back Adam Smith (Littlestown, PA/East Stroudsburg) with 0:23 to play in the game.

Winters finished the game 17-of-34 for 250 yard with a touchdown and an interception through the air while gaining 70 yards on 15 carries with a score on the ground.  Bukowiec caught nine passes for 70 yards and senior wide receiver Lou Pietrangelo (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) grabbed three passes for 64 yards.  On defense, junior linebacker Ian Moore (Haddon Heights, NJ/Haddon Heights) had a game-high 13 tackles while junior safety Gino Abbate (Port Reading, NJ/Woodbridge) made 12 stops, 0.5 for loss.

The Devils return to action on Saturday, October 10, 2009, at Delaware Valley beginning at 1 pm.