The two teams atop the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) standings will face off on Saturday in Annville, Pennsylvania when the nationally ranked Delaware Valley University football team travels to Lebanon Valley College to take on the Dutchmen at 1 pm. at Arnold Field.
The Aggies are the 10th ranked team in the nation according to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coaches' Poll and 16th in the D3football.com top 25 poll, down one spot from last week.
DelVal is coming off its second shutout of the season, a 21-0 home triumph over Lycoming College. The victory extended the program's win-streak against conference opponents to 40 games, the longest such streak in the 64-year history of MAC football. The last time the Aggies lost a conference game was October 22, 2016.
They got by the Warriors by outgaining them, 368-123, in yards of total offense with a 174-36 edge in rush yards and a 194-87 advantage in passing yards. After a scoreless first quarter, team captain Blaine Netterman sparked DelVal with an interception that he returned 32 yards to the Lycoming 20-yard line. Two plays later junior quarterback Louie Barrios IV found fellow junior Dez Austin in the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown reception and a 7-0 lead. In the second half, Barrios capped a 10-play, 79-yard drive with a 17-yard strike to Dillon Shamanow for the rookie's first-career touchdown. Then in the fourth quarter, the Aggies completed another 70-plus yard drive as David Almodovar-Cora hauled in his first career score on a 32-yard pass from Barrios that put away the 21-0 victory.
This week's game against the Dutchmen will be the 40th all-time meeting between the two programs. DelVal has won 27 of those contests included 12 of the last 13 and seven in-a-row. Lebanon Valley's last win came in 2013, a 34-31 overtime thriller in Doylestown. Last season, LebVal came to Doylestown and was held to zero rushing yards on 28 attempts and just 23 passing yards on 10 attempts as the Aggies racked up nearly 300 rushing yards and cruised to a 31-3 triumph. DelVal held them to four first downs and 0-for-11 on third down conversions.
In this year's MAC preseason coaches' poll, the Aggies received all of the first place votes while the Dutchmen were voted seventh out of the 11 conference teams. Â However, through six weeks, Lebanon Valley and Delaware Valley are tied atop the MAC standings with identical 4-0 marks. Overall, the Aggies are a perfect 6-0 while the Dutchmen are 4-2.
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SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Eighth-year head coach Duke Greco, coaching in his seventh season due to the COVID-19 pandemic that canceled the 2020 campaign, is the program's all-time winningest coach with an astounding record of 76-12 overall and an .864 win-percentage. Greco, a 2003 graduate of DelVal, and his staff are 69-7 in regular season games and 59-5 against MAC opponents.
The 2022 Aggies have defeated King's, Misericordia, Stevenson, and Lycoming for its four league wins this year. They have outscored those opponents 114-13 with just one touchdown allowed. In non-conference play, DelVal defeated Westminster College, 22-8, in the season opener and then took down Montclair State, 14-6, in the first road game of the season.
The team is once again led by a defense that ranks among the best units in the country that allows just 4.5 points per game and 128.4 yards per game – both good for second in Division III behind Mount Union. The run defense is the ninth best with 43.3 yards per game allowed and against the pass they rank fifth with 105.7 yards per game allowed. On third down, the unit gets off the field 82.4% of the time as the opposition is just 15-for-85. That ranks the Aggies third in the nation.
Michael Nobile, one of four preseason All-Americans on the defense, had 1.5 sacks last week to up his season total to 7.5 and his career total to 43.5. He became the program's all-time sack leader when he surpassed Kyle Gesswein's mark of 39 set in 2010. Nobile's 43.5 career sacks and 85 career tackles for loss in 36 career games are the most among all active players in college football across all divisions.
Netterman, a three-time all-MAC first team member and another preseason All-American upped his career interception mark to 12 with his first pick of the season last week. He needs just two more to move into third all-time and five to move into second all-time at DelVal. Netterman has recorded 27 tackles, three pass breakups and a fumble recovery this season from his safety position.
Senior Yusuf Aladinov is coming off an All-American junior season that saw him earn Regional Defensive Player of the Year honors. He finished second in the nation last year with 23.5 tackles for loss and ranked 11th with 11.5 sacks. This season, Aladinov is seventh in Division III with a team-high 12 tackles for loss – five of which have been sacks. In addition, he has eight quarterback hurries and one forced fumble.
Anthony Nobile round out the group of preseason All-Americans and has 18 tackles this season with 4.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, eight quarterback hurries, two passes batted down, an interception, and a fumble recovered. Â
Nick Brady, the 2021 coordinator of the year, has four linebackers that lead the team in tackles. Nick Chapman leads the group with 38 to go with 3.5 tackles for loss, and Anthony Puntolillo and Ahmad Jones each have 33 while Tyler Fulmore pitches in 31. Puntolillo has made six tackles behind the line of scrimmage and has an interception this year.
Safety Cole Kitchen has been a player to watch all over the field with 31 tackles, two TFL, an interception, and a pass breakup. Last week he recorded six tackles and half a sack.
On the other side of the ball, the offense returned three all-conference starters in senior full back Walt Truxell, junior wide receiver Tahmir Barksdale, and senior left tackle Bam Bannavti. Senior center Kieren Saunders is another player with significant experience on the offensive line.
DelVal ranks second in the league at 25 points scored per game. It features a balanced attack that produces 154.2 yards per game on the ground 164.8 yards through the air.
Junior quarterback Louie Barrios was named the MAC Offensive Player of the Week for week five and is tied for the league lead with 10 touchdown passes this season. He has completed 78-of-139 attempts for 935 yards with four interceptions against. On the ground, Barrios is 16th in the league in rushing with 176 yards gained on 47 attempts and his four rushing scores is tied for the third most with seven other players. Â Â
Sophomore tailback Jay White is one of the seven players tied with four rushing touchdowns this season. He leads the team with 455 yards gained, good for third among the MAC leaders.
Junior wide receiver Tahmir Barksdale is a two-time All-American returner and leads the team in receiving this season with 32 catches for 278 yards. He has two touchdowns this year, one on the ground and one in the air.
The Aggies have nine different players with a touchdown reception this season.
On special teams, senior Pat Moran handles the punting duties and averages 33.8 yards per punt on 34 attempts with three boots over 50 yards, seven punts inside the opponent's 20, and a long punt of 57 yards that came last week against Lycoming. Nick Choi was a perfect 3-for-3 on extra point kicks last week and is 1-for-1 on field goal attempts with a successful 22-yard kick in week one.
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SCOUTING THE DUTCHMEN
The Dutchmen come into this weekend's game riding a four-game win streak with league wins over FDU-Florham, Wilkes, Alvernia, and Misericordia. Their two losses came in non-conference play, although one was against MAC member Lycoming College who DelVal defeated last week. The Warriors used a fourth quarter touchdown to surpass Lebanon Valley on their home field, 21-20.
In the season opener, the Dutchmen were defeated on the road at Franklin & Marshall College, 26-7.
For the season, LebVal averages 24.5 points per game and allows 16.3 per showing to its opponents. The Dutchmen will look to get the run game going first as they average 40 attempts per game to the tune of 177.8 yards per game with 11 of their 17 touchdowns coming on the ground. Sophomore quarterback Braden Bohannon is the leading rusher with 86 attempts for 383 yards and three scores. Senior tailback Tim Ervey follows with 288 yards and 4.7 yards per carry with a team-best four touchdowns. First-year back Dion Bryant will see significant carries as he goes for 4.5 yards per attempt and has found pay dirt three times.
Through the air, Bohannon has completed 67-of-135 passes for 823 yards with six touchdowns. Tanner Lewis, another sophomore, has seen time in four games and completed 9-of-15 passes for 62 yards. The leading receiver is Jay Sisko with 18 receptions for 239 yards and two touchdowns. Malaki Blair, a sophomore has 11 grabs for two touchdowns and Rylee Stahl has 12 receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown.
The defense has forced eight turnovers this season, all with interceptions. Six different players have a pick including Ryan Kilgarriff and Nick Morder with two each. The leading tackler is sophomore line backer Jacob Horton with 37 and four tackles for loss. Dillon Estes, a graduate student, has 34 tackleds and three tackles for loss while junior Ryan Enright has a team-high 2.5 tackles for loss and four tackles for loss with 31 tackles. Â
On special teams, Jeremy Bours averages 34 yards per punt and has pinned opponents inside the 20 five times. Devin Crone is 5-for-8 on field goal attempts and has hit one from 40 yards this season. Garrett MacClay will handle the kickoffs and has sent nine boots for touchbacks. Logan Grauer has one punt return touchdown this season.
The MAC contest will kickoff at 1 p.m. at Arnold Field in Annville.
