2021 Delaware Valley University Football
Game #10 vs. Widener University Pride
Saturday, November 13 - 12 p.m.
Robert A. Lipinski Field at James Work Memorial Stadium
Doylestown, Pa.
DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – The seventh and 10th ranked Delaware Valley University football team already clinched its fourth consecutive Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Championship and NCAA Playoff berth and now look to finish its perfect regular season when it welcomes Widener University in the annual Keystone Cup rivalry game this Saturday. Kickoff in Doylestown is set for 12 p.m.
The Aggies remain the only undefeated team in the league at 9-0 overall and 7-0 in conference play after shutting out Wilkes University on the road a week ago. That win, combined with Lycoming's loss at Widener, gave DelVal the conference crown for the fourth year in a row and eighth time in the last 13 seasons. Overall, it was the 13th championship in program history.
The Aggies are seventh in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III poll while holding the number 10 spot in the D3football.com top-25. More importantly, they were ranked number-one in Region I in the second NCAA Regional Rankings released earlier this week. DelVal was the only unbeaten team in the region. Complete Region I rankings are as follows:
Rank School Conf. Record Overall Record
1 Delaware Valley 9-0 9-0
2 Merchant Marine 7-1 7-1
3 Endicott 7-2 7-2
4 Husson 7-2 7-2
5 Salve Regina 8-2 8-2
6 Widener 7-2 7-2
7 Framingham St. 7-2 7-2
8 UMass Dartmouth 7-2 7-2
DelVal's 30-0 shutout of the Colonels was the program's 35th consecutive win over a conference opponent, the longest win-streak by any team in MAC history. The last loss in conference came on October 22, 2016.
Last week's victory also propelled seventh-year head coach Duke Greco to 68-11 overall. Earlier this year, Greco passed Jim Clements for the most wins by a head coach in program history. Greco's staff of defensive coordinator/assistant football coach/linebackers coach Nick Brady, offensive coordinator/recruiting coordinator/running backs coach Mike Isgro, offensive line coach/director of football operations/academic coordinator Greg Fedick, special teams coordinator/defensive backs coach/video coordinator Roger Wright, and strength and conditioning/defensive line coach Famos Wilson have been together for each and every win.
On the other side, Widener is second in the MAC at 7-2 overall, 5-2 in conference play, and winners of three of their last four. The Pride are also coming off a shutout last week as they trumped Lycoming College at home, 17-0. Widener needs a win this weekend to guarantee a spot in one of the three MAC-Centennial bowl games.
Saturday will be the 43rd all-time meeting between the Aggies and the Pride with the Keystone Cup trophy on the line. Widener owns a 28-14 advantage in the series, but DelVal has won 13 of the last 17 contests and five-in-a-row since 2015.
Before the game, DelVal will honor its 29 seniors and the two seniors from the cheerleading squad with a special senior day ceremony beginning at 11:30 a.m.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Through ten weeks of college football, the DelVal defense has earned its reputation as the best in the country. The unit ranks inside the top-10 in all of Division III in 13 statistical categories:
| STAT |
VALUE |
NCAA RANK |
| Total Defense |
102.3 ypg. |
1st |
| Rush Defense |
24.3 ypg. |
1st |
| Pass Defense |
78.0 ypg. |
1st |
| First Downs Allowed |
74 |
1st |
| Passing Efficiency Def. |
61.64 |
1st |
| Scoring Defense |
6.3 ppg. |
1st |
| Defensive Touchdowns |
5 |
2nd |
| 3rd Down Defense |
.165 opp. pct. |
2nd |
| Red Zone Defense |
.333 opp. pct. |
2nd |
| 4th Down Defense |
.100 opp. pct |
2nd |
| Turnovers Gained |
28 |
4th |
| Team Tackles for Loss |
8.7 per game |
8th |
| Fumbles Recovered |
11 |
8th |
Last week, the Aggies held the Colonels' top-ranked offense in the MAC to 66 yards of total offense on 46 plays, including -9 rushing yards. It was only the fifth time an opponent went over 60 yards of offense this year and it was the fourth time in nine games DelVal held a team to negative rushing yards. No team has rushed for more than 83 yards against the defense all season and per carry, opposing offenses go for less than one yard.
Through the air, Wilkes gained 75 yards last week, the most against the Aggies in three games. No team this year has gone over 190 passing yards against DelVal as it holds quarterbacks to less than eight yards per completion.
The Aggies have not allowed a touchdown in three games and the shutout of the Colonels was the second in the last three games.
Teams have only entered the red zone nine times against the Aggies with two touchdowns and one field goal to show. DelVal has outscored its opponents 182-36 in the first half of games, 84-6 in the third quarter, and 88-15 in the fourth quarter.
Individually, junior defensive tackle Anthony Nobile is coming off his back-to-back national weekly honor as he was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week after each of the past two victories. The two-time all-conference honoree and east region all-star has seven tackles, 3.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, and a touchdown in the last two games combined. He ranks third on the team with 36 tackles and 3.5 sacks and leads the way with 10 quarterback hurries.
Another junior standout along the defensive line is Yusuf Aladinov who leads all of Division III with five fumble recoveries to go with a team-high 15 tackles for loss. He is second on the team with 40 tackles and 7.5 sacks and recorded a safety against the Colonels last week.
Senior linebacker Anthony Tedesco leads the team with 72 tackles to go with 8.5 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and an interception. Tedesco will miss the first half of this week's game due to a targeting penalty in the second half of last week's game.
Cornerback Jamir Prevard grabbed his team-leading sixth interception of the season last week. He took that pick 87 yards the other way for his second pick-six of the year. That return lifted him to 201 return yards for the year, the most in all of Division III, and a new DelVal football single-season record.
After last week's performance, the Aggie offense jumped to number-one in the MAC with 39.3 points per game, 388.3 yards per game, and 217.1 rushing yards per game. The pass offense is sixth at 171.2 yards per showing.
The Aggies operate at an 80% clip (37-46) in the red zone with 35 touchdowns and two field goals and convert 41.2% of third downs (49-of-119).
Senior tailback Donte Simmons ranks inside the top-40 rushers in all of Division III with 919 yards (28th), 102.1 yards per game (33rd), and 6.05 yards per carry (37th). Simmons needs 81 yards to become the first 1,000 yard rusher since Devauntay Ellis in 2017. Last week, Simmons set a career-high with 141 rushing yards as he went over the 100-yard mark for the fourth game in a row.
Bohannan, the senior play-caller, has completed exactly half of his pass attempts this season (105-210) for 1,290 yards with 16 touchdowns and five interceptions. He has another 193 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground for 1,483 yards of total offense.
Senior Casey Decker made his first career start in last week's win and went 15-for-25 for 105 yards and a touchdown with another 23 yards on the ground.
The diverse receiving corps has seen 18 different players catch a pass this season. Sophomore Tahmir Barksdale leads the receiving corps with 35 catches for 311 yards, 34.6 yards per game, and two touchdowns. Nahsir Morgan leads the group with five touchdowns and has 11 catches for 248 yards on the year.
Senior Bobby Miller handles the punting duties and averages 38.6 yards per boot with 11 punts inside the 20 and two boots over 50 yards.
SCOUTING THE PRIDE
Head Football Coach Mike Barianyak, a 2010 graduate of DelVal, spent three years on the Aggies coaching staff as an assistant coach. He is in his second full season with the Pride and coming off a .500 2019 campaign where they finished 5-5 overall and 4-4 in MAC play. He has his team in a tie for second place this year after being picked fourth in the MAC coaches' preseason poll.
The Pride offense ranks among the top-5 in the conference with 24.1 points per game (5th), 365.7 yards per game (4th), 157 rushing yards per game (3rd), and 208.7 passing yards per showing (4th).
Widener is coming off an impressive 17-0 home shutout of Lycoming a week ago and have won three of their last four. They fell at Stevenson two weeks ago, 29-24, and defeated Wilkes the week prior, 30-13, at home.
Senior wide receiver James Gillespie led the way last week with six receptions for 147 yards and two touchdowns. He is seventh in the MAC with 511 receiving yards this year on 34 receptions with eight touchdowns.
Transfer quarterback Triston Harris has played eight games and is third in the league with 1,683 passing yards. His 59.6% completion rate is second in the conference and he has thrown 14 touchdowns to eight interceptions. Harris has completed a pass to 16 different receivers and Ty Holbert is the second favorite target behind Gillespie with 21 receptions for 308 yards and two touchdowns.
Junior tailback Shawn Thompson handles the bulk of the run duties with 137 attempts for 604 yards and three touchdowns. He averages 4.4 yards per carry and 67.1 yards per game.
Widener has the second most first downs in the MAC and is also second on third down with 57 conversions on 127 attempts (44.9%). The Pride are converting 78.8% of their red zone chances with 17 touchdowns and nine field goals on 33 visits. Larry Eimer handles field goal duties and is third in the league with a 10-for-13 mark and a long of 36 yards.
The Widener defense is stout and ranks just behind DelVal among MAC teams in nearly every category. It allows just 14.8 points per game, 247.3 yards per game, and 76.9 rushing yards per game. The weakness may be the pass defense that surrenders 170.4 yards per showing.
Senior lineman Mario Scotese is the conference leader with 10 sacks and ranks second with 15.5 tackles for loss this year. His 37 tackles ranks fourth on the team this year. Junior linebacker Terence Thompson paces the defense with 50 tackles including 6.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Brayden Strouse, another junior linebacker, is a player to watch as he has 9.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks this season. As a whole, Widener has forced just nine turnovers in nine games with six interceptions and three fumbles recovered.
On special teams, the Pride have not found pay dirt all season. Jordan Baxter has handled a majority of the returns with just 3.63 yards per punt return attempt and 20.9 yards per kickoff return.
