HOMECOMING

 Robert A. Lipinski Field at James Work Stadium
Doylestown, Pa.

 

DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – Saturday is homecoming at Delaware Valley University and the 7^th/10^th ranked Aggie football team welcomes in Lebanon Valley College for a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) tilt as they look to improve to a perfect 8-0 overall with their 34^th consecutive conference win. Kickoff at Robert A. Lipinski Field at James Work Stadium is slated for 1 p.m.

DelVal is coming off its first shutout of the season, a 35-0 road victory, at Misericorida University last Saturday. The Aggies have won each of their last two games away from home by a combined score of 96-7. In week six, they defeated FDU-Florham, 61-7.

A win over the Flying Dutchmen on Saturday will be the 67^th career victory for Head Coach Duke Greco, the most by any head coach in DelVal football history. Greco, in his seventh year at the helm, owns a 66-11 all-time record with a trip to the postseason each year. His teams have four NCAA appearances, four MAC Championships, two NCAA "Elite Eight" appearances, and two Centennial-MAC Bowl Series Championships. Greco will surpass Jim Clements who he worked under as offensive coordinator from 2006-2013.

DelVal was picked to win the MAC for the fourth straight season in the MAC preseason coaches' poll and have maintained that position all year. The Aggies are the only undefeated team left in the conference with league wins over Stevenson, Lycoming, King's, FDU-Florham, and the Cougars. Additionally, they boast a pair of non-conference victories over NJAC members Kean and Montclair State.

The blemish-free record has DelVal ranked inside the top-10 in a pair of national polls.  It remained seventh in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) coaches' poll, but dropped one spot from ninth to tenth in the D3football.com top-25 despite the convincing win last week.

Lebanon Valley has dropped three of its last five contests including a 30-20 setback at Wilkes a week ago. Its last win was a 31-10 home victory over Alvernia University. The Dutchmen are 2-3 in MAC games with their other win coming in a comfortable 24-6 decision at home against King's. The other in-conference losses came against Widener, 24-3, and FDU-Florham, 33-27, in double overtime.

This will be the 38^th all-time meeting between the Aggies and the Flying Dutchmen. DelVal has won each of the last seven meetings and is 25-12 overall. Lebanon Valley's last win over the Aggies came in an overtime contest in 2013.

SCOUTING THE AGGIES

Through eight weeks, the DelVal defense has been among the best in the country:

 

 

STAT	VALUE	NCAA RANK
Total Defense	118.9 ypg.	1st
Rush Defense	32.6 ypg.	1st
Pass Defense	86.3 ypg.	1st
First Downs Allowed	56	1st
Scoring Defense	7.7 ppg.	4th
3rd Down Defense	.188 opp. pct.	2nd
Red Zone Defense	.333 opp. pct.	1st
Team Tackles For Loss	8.9 per game	5th
Turnovers Gained	20	10th

 The Aggies were without junior All-American defensive end Michael Nobile for the first time last week, but the results were the same. The unit logged its first shutout of the season while holding the Cougars to just 32 yards of total offense including 11 rush yards and 21 pass yards.

Junior defensive end Yusuf Aladinov had a game-high 3.5 tackles for loss, a sack, seven tackles, a forced fumble, a pass breakup, and a fumble recovery in the win. Aladinov leads all players in Division III in fumble recoveries, and has nine tackles for loss in his last four games, and 11 tackles for loss on the year. Defensive tackle Anthony Nobile is third on the team with 30 tackles this season including four TFL, and a team-high nine quarterback hurries.

Senior linebacker Anthony Tedesco leads the defense with 61 tackles including 6.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and an interception. Fellow linebackers Cole Kitchen and Trent Fries have 3.5 tackles for loss each while senior Aaron Mayers has 17 tackles and five pass breakups.

Junior defensive back Baline Netterman made six tackles from his safety position last week including one tackle for loss. The combination of Netterman, Justin Harris, Jamir Prevard, and Dontae Mason have held opposing quarterbacks to 43% (78-of-181) passing this season and less than 87 yards per game. Prevard leads the group with five interceptions and four pass breakups.

The Aggie offense is beginning to find its stride as it has 15 touchdowns in the last two games with a combined 890 yards of offense. For the season, they average 387.3 yards per showing and 43 points per game through six weeks.

On the other side of the ball, senior quarterback DaQuan Bohannan is responsible for 13 touchdowns the last three weeks with eight through the air and another five on the ground. For the season, he is completing nearly 50-percent of his passes for 1,185 yards and 15 touchdowns with five interceptions. On the run, Bohannan goes for 20.4 yards per game and a team-high eight touchdowns.

As a team, the Aggies average 188.1 yards per game passing and they lead the MAC with 210.4 yards per game rushing.

Senior tailback Donte Simmons runs behind a veteran offensive line for a league-best 94.57 yards per game and 5.9 yards per carry. He totals 662 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground this year and one more score through the air. 

First-year Julian White has run the ball 25 times and averages 10.8 yards per carry with two touchdowns.

Tahmir Barksdale leads the receiving corps with 24 catches for 264 yards, 44 yards per game, and two touchdowns. Nahsir Morgan caught his team-leading fifth touchdown last week. He has nine catches this year for 212 yards. Senior Aaron Nelson is coming off his best game of the season with three catches for 99 yards and a touchdown. Fellow senior John Davis had a season-high seven touches last week and is a threat in the run and pass game.

Barksdale, a 2019 All-American punt returner, leads the conference with 21 returns for 321 yards, 15.3 average per return, and one return touchdown.   

Senior Bobby Miller handles the punting duties and is third in the MAC with 26 punts for an average of 39.4 yards per boot, and nine punts inside the 20-yard line.

 

SCOUTING THE FLYING DUTCHMEN

Head Coach Joe Buehler is in his sixth year with Lebanon Valley and his team is 3-4 overall and 2-3 in MAC play. The team was picked seventh in the MAC coaches' preseason poll and that is right where they sit in the current standings.

Buehler orchestrates a run-heavy offense that is fourth in the league with 154.3 yards per game on 274 carries. The Flying Dutchmen have attempted 172 passes and completed 81 of them for 137 yards per game, ninth best in the MAC.

In last week's 30-20 loss at Wilkes University, Lebanon Valley ran the ball 37 times for 157 yards and two touchdowns and threw the ball 29 times with 13 completions for 184 yards and a one score. The Dutchmen trailed 13-0 in the first quarter, but scored the next two touchdowns to go ahead by one, 14-13, early in the second. The game was tied at 20 apiece before the Colonels hit a 28-yard field goal near the end of the third and broke off a 49-yard touchdown run in the fourth to seal the win.

Quarterback Braden Bohannon is a dual threat with 959 yards passing and six touchdowns while also serving as the team's leading rusher with 120 carries for 430 yards and four touchdowns. He averages 61.4 yards per game rushing and 137 yards per game passing.

The tailback is junior Tim Ervey who has 67 carries this year for 287 yards (4.3 ypc) and three touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Cameron Niemeyer leads the pass game with 31 catches for 10.8 yards per reception and one touchdown. Another senior wideout, Andrew Olson, has three catches and averages over 14 yards per reception.

The defense ranks sixth in the league with 319 yards and 21.1 points per game allowed. Against the pass, they rank fifth at 159.7 yards per game against, and facing the run they are eighth with 159.3 yards per game allowed. Against the Colonels, they surrendered 193 rushing yards and 139 passing yards.

Senior defensive end Brandon Brubaker is one of the best in the league with 13.5 tackles for loss and a team-best 60 tackles for the year. Dillon Estes follows with 33 tackles from his inside linebacker position and safety Erik Williams leads the team with three interceptions.