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2021 Delaware Valley University Football
Game #6 vs. FDU-Florham Devils
Saturday, October 16 - 12 p.m.
Robert T. Shields Field - Madison, New Jersey
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DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – A pair of unbeaten Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) teams hit the gridiron this Saturday as the 7th/9th ranked Delaware Valley University football team visits FDU-Florham for a 12 p.m. kickoff in Madison, New Jersey.
After a convincing 48-15 home victory over King's College in week six, the Aggies improved to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in MAC play, while the Devils are 4-1 overall and 4-0 in league games. They visited Widener last week and held the Pride to three points in a 27-3 win. FDU's lone loss was a 49-27 setback at home against Merchant Marine Academy.
Wilkes University completes the three-way tie atop the MAC with a 4-0 conference record and 5-0 overall.
DelVal is the only MAC team in the national rankings as it remains inside the top-10 at number seven in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) coaches' poll, and ninth in the latest D3football.com poll.
A win over the Devils would extend DelVal's record win-streak against MAC opponents to 32 in a row as it continues its defense of three-straight conference titles (2017, '18, '19). The last time the Aggies lost to a league opponent was week seven of 2016 (October 22, 2016) at Stevenson.
Seventh year head coach Duke Greco and his squad are 5-0 for the first time since 2017. Greco is 64-11 all-time as head coach and three wins away from passing Jim Clements for the most wins by a head coach in DelVal football history.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
After five weeks, the Aggies remain the top-ranked defense in the country with just 132.4 totals yards per game allowed. The pass defense is number one overall with 95 yards per game against, and the run defense is second at just 37.4 yards per game. The squad has forced 15 turnovers this year, tied for eighth most in the nation, and 10 of those are interceptions, which is second most in the MAC behind Wilkes.
Opponents are averaging only 9.4 points per game (5th in NCAA) against DelVal and the Aggies have allowed just six touchdowns (tied-5th in NCAA) but only five to opposing offenses.
Junior defensive end Michael Nobile leads all players in Division III with 8.5 sacks this season, while his 11 tackles for loss is the most in the MAC, and ranks inside the top-10 in the nation. Nobile is the reigning East Region Defensive Player of the Year, a two-time MAC Defensive Player of the Year, and two-time first-team All-American. In addition, with just four more sacks, he will add DelVal football's all-time sack leader to that resume. In the big home win over the Monarchs, he recorded seven tackles and a career-high 3.5 sacks with one quarterback hurry as he was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Week and earned a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week for the second time this year.
Joining Nobile along the defensive line are fellow juniors Anthony Nobile and Yusuf Aladinov, and senior Shymere Vessels. Anthony and Vessels, the defensive tackles, have 22 and 21 tackles respectively, and each have 2.5 tackles for loss this season. Aladinov is on the end opposite Michael Nobile, leads all players in Division III this year with four fumble recoveries, and is second on the team with six tackles for loss.
The linebackers feature senior Anthony Tedesco and his team-high 43 tackles to go with four TFL, a forced fumble and half a sack. Tedesco had his first career interception last week and returned it 19 yards to set up an Aggie touchdown. Aaron Mayers, Trent Fries, and Cole Kitchen fill in the rotation and combined for 40 tackles this year.
Junior cornerback Jamir Prevard leads all players in the MAC with four interceptions this season and one pick-six. Junior safety Blaine Netterman follows with three picks this year to go with three sacks and 12 tackles. Seniors Justin Harris and Dontae Mason round out the ball hawks and have combined for 25 tackles, 1.5 TFL, and an interception.
Senior quarterback DaQuan Bohannan leads the offensive attack and is coming off his first MAC Offensive Player of the Week honor as he accounted for six of the team's seven touchdowns on Saturday. He threw for four scores on 19-of-28 passing with 183 yards, and ran for two more as he racked up 28 yards on the ground.
This season, Bohannan has thrown for 846 yards on 71-of-146 passing with 11 touchdowns to four interceptions. On the ground, he has 25 carries for 68 yards and another five scores.
Per game, the offense goes for 194.2 yards per game through the air, sixth in the MAC, and four passing touchdowns, second. The run game is fourth in the league with 168.6 yards per showing, but leads the conference with 12 rushing touchdowns.
Bohannan's favorite target this year has been Tahmir Barksdale who has 19 catches for 163 yards, 32.6 yards per game, and a touchdown. Nahsir Morgan's four touchdowns and 44.5 receiving yards per game leads the team.
Barksdale, a 2019 All-American punt returner, leads the conference with 14 returns for 253 yards, 18.1 average, and one return touchdown.
Senior Bobby Miller handles the punting duties and is third in the MAC with 20 punts for an average of 40.1 yards per boot, and seven punts inside the 20-yard line.
SCOUTING THE DEVILS
FDU is coming off a thrilling, 33-27, double overtime victory at Lebanon Valley last Saturday to improve to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in the MAC. The Devils led 24-7 early in the fourth quarter, but allowed the Dutchmen to claw back with two fourth quarter touchdowns to tie the game late in regulation. Each team kicked a successful field goal in overtime before FDU drove the length of the field and scored on a one-yard touchdown pass to win the game and extend the Devils win streak to four in a row.
First-year head coach Jimmy Robertson and his team have found success through the air the season. The passing attack leads the league with 290.8 yards per game and 15 touchdowns to just three interceptions.
Senior quarterback Anthony Caserta leads the MAC in passing with a 66.7-percent (116-182) completion percentage and 14 touchdowns. Connor Perez is the top-receiver in the conference with 557 yards and 10 touchdowns on 33 receptions.
The Devils run game is near the bottom of the conference with just 77.4 yards per game and 2.2 yards per attempt. Senior Nicolas Santavicca leads the way with 275 yards on 76 attempts and just one touchdown.
FDU's defense is sixth in the conference with 327 yards per game against and 23.2 points per game allowed. The run defense has been gashed for nearly 200 yards per showing , but against the pass the Devils are second in the MAC with 127.4 yards per game against and just one touchdown allowed. They have forced 11 turnovers this season with five interceptions and six fumbles.
Senior linebacker Matthew Dougherty is sixth in the league with 46 tackles this year and has two tackles for loss and an interception. Defensive lineman and fellow senior Kenny Hands has been effective this year with eight tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks while rookie cornerback Samariy Howard leads the defensive backfield with two interceptions to go with 2.5 tackles for loss.
On special teams, Thomas Ryon leads the MAC with 15 punts for 653 yards, an average of 45.3 yards per kick with six punts inside the 20 and just one touchback. On the other side, Brendan Dannis leads the league with 24.3 yards per return and a long return of 80 yards.
