DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Head coach Jim Clements and the Delaware Valley College football team have announced their schedule for the upcoming 2010 season – a slate that includes five opponents who reached the postseason in '09.

The Aggies were a playoff squad themselves in 2009 as they captured the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) championship outright to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. They opened the postseason with a school-record for points in a game as they notched a 66-7 rout of Susquehanna University before dropping a 27-3 decision to MAC rival Albright College in the second round. Delaware Valley finished with a 10-2 overall record (7-0 MAC), its second straight conference crown and the fourth in the last six years, and its third overall NCAA appearance.

Delaware Valley will kick off the 2010 campaign on Saturday night, September 4 when it travels to Muhlenberg College for a 7:00 p.m. start. The Mules captured the 2007 and 2008 Centennial Conference titles and received the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA playoffs each year. They slipped to 3-7 last season.

The following Saturday, the Aggies will take part in the first “MAC-PAC Challenge Series” by hosting Presidents' Athletic Conference champion Washington & Jefferson College for Hall of Fame Day (all MAC schools will host the 2010 contests between the two conferences and will hit the road in 2011). Washington & Jefferson has posted 26 consecutive winning seasons with six straight trips to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Last year, the Presidents went 9-2 and were eliminated in the first round of the postseason by Mount Union College.

The third and final non-conference game on the Delaware Valley schedule is slated for Saturday, September 18 when the Aggies travel to Dover, Delaware to take on perennial national power Wesley College for the fourth consecutive year. The Wolverines went 14-1 a year ago, including a win over Delaware Valley in Doylestown, and reached the semifinals before falling to Mount Union. It was Wesley's fifth straight trip to the national playoffs, including three semifinal showings.

The Aggies will have an off week before entering the seven-game MAC portion of their schedule. The first conference game will take place at home on Saturday, October 2 when they host Lebanon Valley College for Family Day. The Flying Dutchmen went 9-2 overall and hosted the ECAC Southwest Bowl where they posted a 37-21 victory over Salisbury University.

Delaware Valley will then hit the road on back-to-back Saturdays with trips to FDU-Florham (October 9) and Wilkes University (October 16). The Devils finished the '09 campaign with a 2-8 record, while the Colonels went 6-5 including a 29-24 loss to Franklin & Marshall College in the ECAC South Atlantic Bowl.

Homecoming will provide the setting for the first of two straight home games as the Aggies host Lycoming College on October 23. The Warriors slipped to 4-6 after capturing a share of the MAC crown and the automatic berth to the NCAA playoffs in 2008.

Delaware Valley will then welcome King's College and new head coach Jeff Knarr to town on Saturday, October 30 for Athletic Recognition Day (conference, regional and national award winners from the previous winter and spring seasons will be honored at a halftime ceremony). The Monarchs notched a 3-7 record a year ago. 

Delaware Valley will hit the road for the final time in the regular season on Saturday, November 6 as it meets Albright College in what has quickly become a big rivalry between two of the top teams in the MAC. The Aggies won five straight meetings from 2004 to 2008, including a 34-9 decision in the '08 season finale that gave them a share of the conference crown and cost the Lions the outright title and a trip to the NCAA playoffs.

The two battled again in week nine in Doylestown last year and Delaware Valley posted a sixth consecutive win over  the Lions with a 45-16 triumph that clinched the MAC crown and a NCAA berth. Albright eventually received an at-large berth to the national playoffs and faced the Aggies on the road again in the second round. The Lions turned the tables and snapped the long losing streak to Delaware Valley with a 27-3 stunner. Albright fell at Mount Union in the quarterfinals the following week to finish with an 11-2 record.

Delaware Valley will conclude the regular season on Saturday, November 13 when it hosts Widener University for Senior Day. The Keystone Cup will be on the line in the meeting of archrivals and the Aggies will look to capture the Cup for the sixth time in the last seven years, including last year's 28-16 triumph. The Pride, who finished the '09 campaign with a 3-7 record, will have a new leader on the sidelines in Isaac Collins.

Clements is expecting 18 starters back from last year, including eight on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Two of the returnees earned All-American honors in 2009 in senior linebacker Kyle Gesswein and senior offensive lineman Mike Long. Gesswein, who was named the MAC and the D3football.com East Region Defensive Player of the Year in addition to first-team All-American accolades, notched 98 tackles and 11 sacks a season ago. He is already the school's career leader in sacks with 27. Long, a 6-foot-2, 270-pound tackle, was named an honorable mention All-American as he helped pave the way for an offense that averaged 30.7 points and 382.5 yards per game.

2010 Delaware Valley College Football Schedule
September 4 at Muhlenberg College, 7 p.m.
September 11 vs Washington & Jefferson College (Hall of Fame Day), 1 p.m.
September 18 at Wesley College, 1 p.m.
September 25 Bye Week
October 2 vs Lebanon Valley College (Family Day), 1 p.m.*
October 9 at FDU-Florham, 1 p.m.*
October 16 at Wilkes University, 1 p.m.*
October 23 vs Lycoming College (Homecoming), 1 p.m.*
October 30 vs King's College (Athletic Recognition Day), 1 p.m.*
November 6 at Albright College, 1 p.m.*
November 13 vs Widener University (Senior Day & Keystone Cup Game), 1 p.m.*

* Middle Atlantic Conference Game
Game times subject to change