Jo Silver stars as Delaware tops Louisiana at 68 Ventures Bowl

Senior running back Jo Silver rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries to lead Delaware to a 20-13 victory over Louisiana on Wednesday at the 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile, Ala.Louisiana

Jo Silver stars as Delaware tops Louisiana at 68 Ventures Bowl

Senior running back Jo Silver rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries to lead Delaware to a 20-13 victory over Louisiana on Wednesday at the 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

Louisiana (6-7) trailed by seven when it took possession on its own 7-yard line with 1:41 to play. The Rajin’ Cajuns moved the ball to the Delaware 7-yard line, but the game ended when Lunch Winfield’s third-down pass into the end zone was incomplete.

Delaware (7-6) quarterback Nick Minicucci was limited to 50 passing yards in the first half, but completed 19 of 30 passes for 176 yards and a TD. Sean Wilson led Blue Hens receivers with eight catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. Kyre Duplessis added five receptions for 69 yards.

Winfield completed 21 of 36 passes for 231 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for a team-high 40 yards on 14 carries as Louisiana’s four-game winning streak was snapped.

Delaware led 7-0 after one quarter, 10-3 at halftime and 20-6 entering the fourth.

The Blue Hens opened the scoring on Silver’s 61-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Louisiana made it 7-3 on Tony Sterner’s 22-yard field goal with 7:05 left in the second quarter, but Delaware regained a seven-point lead when Nate Reed kicked a 33-yard field goal with 28 seconds remaining in the first half.

Delaware was up 17-3 after Miniccucci tossed a 35-yard TD pass to Wilson and Reed added the point-after kick with 12:40 remaining in the third. Reed’s second field goal, a 27-yard kick, extended Delaware’s lead to 20-3 with 6:59 left in the third.

The Rajin’ Cajuns trimmed their deficit to 20-6 on Sterner’s 39-yard field goal with 2:31 to go in the third, and were within seven after Shelton Sampson Jr. caught an 8-yard TD pass from Winfield and Sterner made the PAT with 7:49 to play. The TD came after Louisiana blocked a field goal.