DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – The top-ranked defense in the nation held Misericordia University to just 32 yards of total offense, seven first downs, and no points to lead the 7th / 9th ranked Delaware Valley University football team to a 35-0 road shutout over the Cougars on Saturday afternoon.
COIN TOSS
- DelVal won the toss and elected to receive going right to left.
WHERE THEY STAND
- The Aggies came into today ranked 7th in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) poll and 9th in the D3football.com top-25. The win improved DeVal to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in MAC play while the Cougars fell to 2-5 overall and 1-5 in league.
FIRST QUARTER
- DelVal got the ball first and Tavian Dorsey returned the opening kickoff 30 yards to the Aggie 34-yard line.
- On 3rd-&-3, first-year Julian White broke off a 20-yard run to the Misericordia 27. Later in the drive, DaQuan Bohannan found Aaron Nelson for 13 yards, and two plays later, Bohannan got DelVal on the board with a 1-yard touchdown run. Jack Hughes PAT was good at the Aggies led, 7-0.
- Misericordia's first drive went for five yards on five plays.
- DelVal's second drive went for 8 plays and 60 yards and Bohannan scored his second of the day on a 7-yard keeper. Aggies led, 14-0. A 31-yard pass from Bohannan to Nelson highlighted the drive.
- Senior linebacker Anthony Tedesco forced a fumble near midfield and defensive end Yusuf Aladinov recovered to give the ball back to DelVal just before the end of the stanza.
- Aggies ran 24 plays for 137 yards in the first while the Cougars ran 7 plays for 14 yards.
SECOND QUARTER
- DelVal drove 40 yards on 11 plays and had 4th-&-goal from the 4-yard line, but a 5-yard false start penalty forced a field goal attempt. Hughes' 26-yard kick was no good, wide right and Misericordia took over.
- Linebacker Cole Kitchen got a 3rd down sack and forced the Cougars to punt.
- Misericordia got its first turnover of the game when Eric Glass put a hit on Bohannan on a 4th-&-5 run and knocked the ball out. The Cougars recovered at their own 20-yard line.
- On 3rd-&-5, Aladinov got to the quarterback for his first sack of the game to force another Misericordia punt.
- On the first play of the ensuing drive, Nelson blew by his defender and Bohannan found him for a 55-yard touchdown strike. Aggies led, 21-0, with 3:40 left in the first half.
- Facing 2nd-and-long with under 10 seconds left in the half, Bohannan heaved a deep pass that was intercepted by Misericordia's Alex Hafner, and the half expired.
- The Aggies had 289 yards on 42 plays in the half and the defense held the Cougars to 5 yards on 18 plays.
THIRD QUARTER
- Misericordia got the ball to start the second half and on its second play, Mitchel Micale's pass attempt was tipped in the air near the line of scrimmage and Anthony Nobile intercepted the pass.
- A few plays later, Bohannan lofted a pass to the corner of the end zone where Nahsir Morgan jumped over a defender for a 25-yard touchdown reception. DelVal led, 28-0, with 12:08 left in the third.
- The Cougars next drive was their most successful as it drove 46 yards on 13 plays and into Aggie territory. But on 4th-&-7, Aladinov knocked down a pass attempt and forced the turnover on downs.
- Tailback Donte Simmons did all the work for DelVal on its next drive. He got the ball three times and ran for 72 yards, including a 53-yard burst and a 5-yard leap into the end zone to give the Aggies a 35-0 lead with 3:20 remaining in the third.
- Misericordia held the ball for over 10 minutes in the third quarter, but mustered just 30 yards on 18 plays. DelVal gained 127 yards on 11 plays, including 102 rush yards in the third.
FOURTH QUARTER
- The Aggies ran the ball 15 times and threw just twice as it had 8:04 time of possession in the fourth quarter and gained 50 yards on 17 plays.
- The Cougars were held to negative yards as it ran just nine plays in the final stanza.
- Early in the quarter, Aladinov forced a fumble when he put a hit on Misericordia tailback David Cromwell, but the ball rolled out of bounds and the Cougars maintained possession.
- With under five minutes to play and the DelVal offense in the red zone, quarterback Casey Decker fumbled and Misericordia recovered.
- Neither team scored in the fourth and the Aggies cruised to their first shutout of the season, 35-0.
KEY STATS
(MIS) TEAM – 46 plays, 32 yards, 11 rush yards, 21 pass yards
(DVU) TEAM – 70 plays, 466 yards, 273 rush yards, 193 pass yards
(DVU) Simmons – 17 carries, 129 yards, 7.6 ypc., 1 TD
(DVU) Bohannan – 14-of-24, 193 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 7 carries, 40 yards, 2 TD
(DVU) Nelson – 3 rec, 99 yards, 1 TD
(DVU) Davis – 5 rec, 40 yards
(DVU) Morgan – 2 rec, 34 yards, 1 TD
(DVU) Aladinov – 7 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 1 pass breakup
(DVU) Tedesco – 8 tackles, 1 forced fumble
(DVU) Kitchen – 5 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1 sack
(DVU) A. Nobile – 4 tackles, 1 INT, .5 TFL
(MIS) Micale – 8-of-16, 21 yards, 1 INT, 10 car, -14 yards
(MIS) Cromwell – 13 car, 18 yards
Takeaways
DVU - 2 takeaways – 1 fumble, 1 interception
MIS - 3 takeaways – 2 fumbles,1 interception
Time of Possession
DVU - 33:08
MIS – 25:35
Notables
- Simmons ran for a carrier-high 129 yards. It is his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the year and second in a row.
- Bohannan ran for a season-high 40 yards and two touchdowns. He has at least one rushing touchdown in each of the last six games.
- Aladinov now leads the team with 11 TFL and leads all of Division III with five fumble recoveries.
- Anthony Nobile recorded his first career interception.
- Kitchen had a career-best 3.5 TFL.
- Nelsons 3 receptions and 99 yards were a season-high.
- Head Coach Duke Greco earned his 66th career win, tying Jim Clements for most wins by a coach in program history.
UP NEXT
DelVal returns home next week to take on Lebanon Valley College as part of Homecoming Weekend. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
