DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – The 10^th ranked Delaware Valley University football team will look to continue its undefeated campaign, and extend its 28-game conference win-streak, when it welcomes the Stevenson University Mustangs for the 2021 Middle Atlantic Conference opener on Saturday, September 18 at 1 p.m.

The Aggies are 8-1 all-time against the Mustangs, and winners of the last three. The last time the two teams met, in 2019 in Doylestown, Aaron Nelson scored on a 68-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter to give DelVal a 28-21 win. The lone loss in the series came in a 19-0 shutout at Mustang Stadium on October 22, 2016, week seven of the 2016 season. That is also the last time DelVal lost a conference game. Since then, the Aggies have won 27 MAC games in a row and set the record for longest conference win-streak with their 26^th consecutive victory, a 51-3 rout of Lebanon Valley in week eight. Lycoming College held the previous record of 25-straight conference wins in 1991.  

Stevenson is 0-2 this season with losses to #20 Johns Hopkins and another team receiving votes in the D3football.com top-25, RPI. The Mustangs fell to the Blue Jays at home, 53-18, and dropped a road contest at the Engineers, 14-10, last Saturday.

Seventh year head coach Duke Greco and his squad are 2-0 for the first time since 2017 after dominating a pair of New Jersey Athletic Conference teams to start the season. In week one, the Aggies traveled to Kean University and allowed 56 yards of total offense on their way to a 57-6 rout. The next week, in the home opener, they allowed just 29 yards of total offense to the Red Hawks and came away with a 26-2 win.

Greco improved to 61-11 overall and is now six wins away from passing Jim Clements for the most wins by a head coach in DelVal football history.  

SCOUTING THE AGGIES

The DelVal defense ranks among the best in the country through the first two weeks of 2021. The unit that features six seniors and five juniors, is number one if all of Division III in total defense with 42.5 yards per game allowed, first in yards per play against at .79 (< 1) yards, and first among teams that have played two games in pass defense (44.5 ypg) and="" run defense="" (-2="">   

Junior defensive end Michael Nobile was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week for the second time in his career, after his week two performance. He contributed eight tackles, including three tackles for loss, and half a sack against Montclair State. Among active players in all of college football, across all divisions, Nobile has the most tackles for loss per game at 2.6. The next player averages 1.87 per game.

Michael's twin brother, Anthony, anchors the other defensive end position and has lived in the backfield through two games. He has four quarterback hurries, two pass breakups at the line of scrimmage, and a tackle for loss. Senior Shymere Vessels rounds out the front three and has eight tackles and 1.5 TFL.  

Senior linebacker Anthony Tedesco, a first-team all-conference honoree, leads the defense with 17 tackles (8.5 per game) including two tackles for loss. Junior Yusuf Aladinov has nine tackles, two tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries and a pass break-up while senior Aaron Mayers grabbed his first interception of the year last week and has five tackles and two pass breakups to his credit. Another linebacker, Trent Fries has six tackles including two TFL and a sack.

Cornerbacks Jamir Prevard and Justin Harris have combined for 13 tackles, half a sack, and three pass breakups. Prevard leads the unit with two interceptions. Safetys Dontae Mason and Blaine Netterman combine for 11 tackles, three pass breakups, two sacks and an interception.

On the other side of the ball, the offense has averaged 41.5 points per game, 204.5 rushing yards per game, 179.5 yards through the air per showing, and an average of 384 yards of total offense. racked 479 yards of total offense with the offensive line led by senior all-conference honorees Corey Schriver and Jeremy Adams, paving the way for a total of 287 rushing yards on 50 attempts (5.7 avg.). Through the air, the Aggies went for 192 yards and three scores.

Donte Simmons, got his senior year started with his first career 100-yard rushing game as he toted the ball 24 times for 112 yards and three touchdowns at Kean. Last Saturday at home, he carried the ball 13 times for 76 yards and caught two passes for three yards.

Senior Quarterback, DaQuan Bohannan made his second start as an Aggie and completed 10-of-34 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers. He also found the end zone on the ground with a one-yard touchdown run.

Seven Aggies caught a pass last week, highlighted by a pair of special touchdowns from Nahsir Morgan and Isaiah Calhoun. Morgan got the team on the board when he beat his defender down the sideline and hauled in a deep pass and took it 71 yards to pay dirt. Late in the third, Bohannan lofted a ball to the corner of the end zone from 25 yards and Calhoun leaped over a pair of Red Hawk defenders and got his feet in bounds for a spectacular touchdown. Calhoun, Simmons, and Tahmir Barksdale each had two catches.

Barksdale, a 2019 All-American punt returner, has maintained his torrid play on special teams through the first two games. The sophomore has seven returns for 109 yards and scored his fourth career punt return touchdown last Saturday to set a new program career record. His 109 yards of returns ranks third in Division III this year.

On the other side, senior Bobby Miller has been one of the best punters in the nation with 12 punts for an average of 38.9 yards per boot and has been the opponent inside their own 20-yard line six times.  

 

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS

The Mustangs ranked second in the Middle Atlantic Conference coaches preseason poll, one spot behind DelVal, but is off to an 0-2 start to the season. The latest setback, a 14-10 loss at RPI, saw Stevenson outgain the Engineers in total yards (261-193), passing yards (150-147), and rushing yards (11-46), but turnovers hurt the Mustangs. Stevenson took a 10-7 lead with 9:48 left in regulation, but a nine-play, 57-yard drive capped by a four-yard touchdown pass with 34 seconds left put RPI in front for good, 14-10.    

 

The Mustang offense averages 14 points per game with 356 yards of total offense per showing. A balanced attack, they've completed 48-of-79 passes for 266 yards per game and ran the ball 64 times for an average of 90 yards per. Stevenson has scored 28 points in two games with two scores through the air and one on the ground.

Senior quarterback Ryan Sedgwick has seen all of the action and completes 60.8% of his passes with two touchdowns and five interceptions. His favorite target is Steven Smothers with 16 receptions for 175 yards (87.5 avg. per game). Fellow senior Darian Littlejohn follows with 11 catches for 122 yards.

On the ground, Kevin Joppy has 41 carries for 178 yards (89 ypg.) and one touchdown. Junior tailback Brandon Walker has six carries for 19 yards and Sedgwick has scampered 13 times for just six yards.

The punter Kevin Sheehan has 10 punts for an average of 31.1 yards per with four punts inside the 20-yard line. Smothers and Littlejohn handle the return duties and combine for 12 returns for 153 yards and no touchdowns. The Mustangs longest return this season is 25 yards.