DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – For just the fourth time in program history, the ninth-ranked Delaware Valley University football team will be playing in the Division III Playoff national quarterfinals when it travels to Naperville, Illinois to take on the fifth-ranked North Central College Cardinals on Saturday, December 7 at 1 p.m.

If you can't make the trip, you can watch the game from North Central's live stream here: https://northcentralcardinals.com/watch/?Live=84&type=Live
Saturday will mark the first time the Aggies and the Cardinals have met in any sport and it is the first opponent from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin that DelVal will face. The Aggies advanced to the quarterfinal round by way of a 45-10 rout at number 10 Wesley last Saturday that saw the defense force six turnovers including four interceptions. Senior tight end Dan Allen added four touchdowns including three through the air and DelVal ended the game with 21 unanswered points to secure the victory.

The Aggies are now 11-8 all-time in NCAA tournament games and will be looking for its third straight road triumph after winning at Bridgewater in the first round, 30-22, before getting past the Wolverines. It is the ninth NCAA playoff appearance for DelVal football since 2002 and the fourth trip to the quarterfinals (2004, 2005, 2017), but the team has never advanced to the final four.

The Aggies reached the postseason by way of their third-straight Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) championship thanks to a perfect 8-0 mark in conference play as they now sit at 11-1 overall.  
 
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Head coach Duke Greco enters Saturday's game with a 59-10 overall record in six years at the helm and is 4-3 in NCAA Playoff games. He was recently named the MAC Coach of the Year for the third time and now looks to become the first head coach to lead a DelVal team to the national semifinals.

This year's Aggies have been powered by one of the top defenses in Division III as the unit is ranked second in the nation in total defense, allowing just 202.7 yards per game to the opposition. In last week's win at Wesley they picked off six passes and forced a fumble and are now ranked sixth in the country in takeaways with 30 and second with 23 interceptions. After holding the Wolverines to just 10 points, DelVal is now permitting just 11.3 points per game, fourth-best in Division III. In total, the Aggies rank inside the top-25 in 11 categories:
 
 
            Total Defense               2^nd – 202.7 yds/gm
            Rushing Defense           2^nd – 44.5 yds/gm
            Interceptions                2^nd - 23            
            Defensive Touchdowns T-2^nd – 6                        
            Scoring Defense            4^th – 11.3 pts/gm          
            Team Sacks                  T-5^th – 43
            Turnovers Forced          T-6^th - 30
            Passing Defense            8^th – 142.8 yds/gm                    
            3rd Down Defense        13^th – 27.3%
            Team Tackles For Loss 17^th – 8.3/gm       
            4th Down Defense         T-22^nd – 28.6%
           
           
                                   
Returning All-American defensive end Michael Nobile (Brick, Nj./Brick Memorial) has led the country in tackles for loss throughout the entire regular season and currently sits at 30.5, almost 10 more than anybody else in Division III. He leads the team with 71 tackles and is tied for the sixth most sacks in the nation with 12. He had three tackles and one TFL last week.

Junior linebacker Anthony Tedesco (Ocean, Nj./Ocean Twp.) earned first team all-MAC honors this year and is second on the squad with 70 tackles including 10 tackles for loss, a sack, and a fumble recovery. He is joined by fellow first-teamer, senior team-captain, Vincent DiLeo (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt), and seniors Billy Walsh (Brick, Nj./Brick Memorial) and Ryan Barrett (Willow Grove, Pa./Archbishop Wood). Walsh is third on the team with 61 tackles including nine TFL and three sacks, and Barrett follows with 50 tackles.

Michael's twin brother Anthony Nobile (Brick, Nj./Brick Memorial) returned to the defensive line after missing six games with an injury earlier this season and was named to the all-MAC second team, and senior Kenyonn Jones (Burlington, Nj./Glassboro) is another first team all-star that rounds out the defensive line. Jones has 46 tackles this year with nine TFL, and six sacks.  

Sophomore safety Blaine Netterman (Brick, Nj./Brick Memorial) has an interception in each of the two playoff games and leads the team with six this year while junior safety Dontae Mason (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) also notched an interception against Wesley and led the team with 10 tackles in the game including a TFL. They are joined in the defensive backfield by Justin Harris (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter), , and Jamir Prevard (Galloway, Nj./Atlantic City) who each had an interception of their own on Saturday and have combined recorded 10 tackles.  

Offensively, The Aggies average 37.25 points per game and have eclipsed 30 points in each of the two playoff games. They average 393.7 yards per showing with 237.7 yards through the air and 156 on the ground. DelVal has a surplus of weapons as evident by its 15 different offensive players with a touchdown this season.

Senior quarterback Anthony Fontana (Brick, Nj./Brick Memorial) has completed 64% (185-of-289) of his passes for 2,463 yards with 28 touchdowns. He has hit 10 different receivers for touchdowns and has thrown six interceptions. On the ground he has run the ball 91 times for 195 yards and six scores.

Returning All-American tight-end Dan Allen (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Wood) is coming off one of the best games of his career as he caught three touchdown passes and ran one in late in the game for his fourth of the day. Allen was a first team all-MAC honoree this year and has caught 39 passes for 668 yards and nine touchdowns. Senior wide out Aaron Nelson (Hampstead, Md./North Carroll) has just one reception this postseason, but has 29 for the year with five touchdowns and 21.5 yards per catch. Senior Juwan Manigo (Windsor, Md./Perry Hall) had three catches last Saturday and has 31 receptions on the season for 483 yards.

Two running backs have toted the ball over 100 times in seniors Mario Nigro (South River, Nj./South River) and Donte Simmons (Bristol, Pa./Bristol). They had 11 and 12 carries last week, respectively, and each averaged over four yards per attempt. Simmons added five catches for 30 yards in the Saturday's win over Wesley and Nigro's biggest play of the season came off a reception against Bridgewater in round one as he caught a pass and went 49 yards for the score that put DelVal ahead for good.   

Special teams has been a key contributor for DelVal this season and the unit scored another touchdown against the Wolverines as they forced a fumble on kick coverage and Rashiek Harvard (Edison, Nj./John P. Stevens) took it 25 yards the other way for a touchdown. Return men Jamir Prevard and freshman Tahmir Barksdale (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) have been stellar all year. Barksdale ranks 10^th in the country with 15.9 yards per punt and his three touchdowns are the most in Division III. Prevard is sixth in the nation at 29.1 yards per kick return and has taken one to the house this year.

Senior kicker Nick Restaino (Bloomfield, Nj./Bloomfield) became the program's all-time leader in extra points made and points by a kicker this season. He has converted 57-of-60 attempts and is 2-for-2 on field goals this postseason. With his fourth field goal last week he also became the single-season leader for extra points made in a season.
 
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
North Central earned one of the five at-large bids to get in to the 2019 NCAA Playoffs and are currently ranked fifth in all of Division III. The Cardinals finished the regular season 9-1 overall and 8-1 in CCIC play. Their lone loss was to the third-ranked team in the country, conference rival Wheaton, who went on to win the conference and earn the automatic bid. The Thunder will host St. John's (Minn.) in their quarterfinal game this weekend.

North Central is led by senior All-American quarterback and Gagliardi Trophy candidate Broc Rutter. Rutter sits second in passing efficiency (207.5), passing yards (3,872) and passing touchdowns (47) and third in completion percentage (72.0%) among all Division III quarterbacks.

His favorite target is senior Andrew Kamienski who is ranked as the top wide receiver in the country. He leads the nation in receiving yards (1,688) and touchdown receptions (25) while ranking fifth in receptions per game (8.8).

Sophomore Ethan Greenfield is the tailback and another highly touted weapon. He is the national leader in total touchdowns (27) and ranks second in rushing touchdowns (24), third in rushing yards (1,739) and sixth in all-purpose yards (2,109) this season. 

As a unit, the offense ranks first among all programs in total offense (581.9 yards per game) and red-zone offense (92.8%) while ranking second in scoring offense (55.0 points per game) and first downs (315), third in passing efficiency (200.69) and third-down conversion percentage (55.9%) and fourth in passing offense (341.9 ypg).

The defense is surrendering just 17 points per game and 292.3 yards per showing, but last week against Mount Union the Purple Raiders went for 698 yards of total offense and put up 52 points with 549 yards through the air.

For the season, the unit is giving up under 100 yards rushing per game and just over 200 yards passing, and they have forced 21 turnovers including 11 interceptions. The Cardinals have 22 sacks as a team and hold the opposition to 31.8% on third-down conversions.

Junior linebacker Ben Wong leads the way with 68 tackles in 10 games and has eight tackles for loss with two sacks. Talha Ayhan, another junior, plays up front has gotten to the quarterback for a team-high five sacks and he has 9.5 tackles behind the line. Defensive back Jake Beesley leads the squad with four interceptions and 10 pass break-ups and he has 42 tackles, 34 solo. Eight players in total have recorded at least one interception.

Senior linebacker Bryan Beauchamp is another player to watch as he has 58 tackles, nine TFL, one sack, a forced fumble, and a blocked kick.

On special teams, North Central averages just 11.6 yards per punt return and 20.4 yards per kick return with just one return touchdown. Sophomore Milan Dezelich handles the punting and goes for 35.4 yards per boot with four punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

Freshman Magnus Meyer is 6-for-9 on field goal attempts with a long of 35 yards and he has made 47-of-51 extra-point kicks.  

The Aggies and the Cardinals will do battle for the right to go to the 2019 NCAA semi-finals on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Naperville, Illinois.