DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – Sophomore tailback Jay White ran for 217 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Delaware Valley University football team, ranked as high as 10th in the country, to a 34-10 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) victory at Lebanon Valley College as the Aggies remained perfect on the season.
DelVal extended its conference record win-streak to 41-straight games dating back to October 22, 2016 and upped its season record to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in MAC play. The Aggies handed the Dutchmen their first conference loss of the season as LebVal dropped to 4-3 overall and 4-1 in league games.
White wasted no time getting his career-day started as he ripped off a 21-yard run on the first play of the game to set the Aggies up in LebVal territory. On the very next play, junior quarterback Louie Barrios IV found a hole off left guard and exploded through it for 44 yards and touchdown to give DelVal a 7-0 lead just 33 seconds into the game.
On the Dutchmen's ensuing drive, they drove 64 yards with 17 plays that chewed up 9:08 of game time and resulted in a 29-yard field goal by Devin Crone that put the home team on the board and made it a 7-3 game with 5:!7 left in the first. LebVal earned five first downs including three third down conversions on the drive.
White went back to work on the next drive and capped an eight-play, 67-yard drive with a 26-yard touchdown run for his first score of the day to make it 14-3 late in the first quarter. Barrios hit Dez Austin for an 11-yard reception to highlight the drive.
The Dutchmen threatened late in the first half as they drove inside DelVal's 30, but a pass break-up on fourth down by Nick Chapman ended the drive and the Aggies took their 11-point lead into the halftime break.
DelVal racked up 184 rushing yards in the first half and held LebVal to just 113 total yards.
The Dutchmen went 3-&-out on the opening drive of the second and the Aggies immediately added to their lead. On the first two pays, White ran for 18 yards and then Barrios found sophomore David Almodovar-Cora over the middle for a 34-yard gain to get across the timeline. On a 3rd-&-6 from the LebVal 27, senior tailback Tim Weldon got in on the action with 20-yard sprint to get the offense inside the 10-yard line. The Aggies ran the ball four more times and Barrios punched in his second touchdown of the afternoon on a 4th-&-goal from the one to extend the lead to 26-9 with 7:27 left in the third. The scoring drive went for 97 yards on 11 plays and spanned over five minutes.
LebVal's next drive started at its own 25, but a 15-yard completion and a personal foul quickly advanced the ball over midfield. The Dutchmen converted a 3rd-&-5 with a 12-yard run up the middle by the quarterback Braden Bohannon and the scored on a 3rd-&-4 play from the eight with a run by Dion Bryant. Kevin Roberts PAT made it a 27-10 game with 4:32 left in regulation.
The Aggies struck back right away as they went back to the run and back to White as he took the ball on the first play and went 75 yards to the house for his second touchdown of the game. Another PAT by Choi made it a 28-10 game with 4:19 left in the third.
Each team turned the ball over on its next possessions. LebVal fumbled and Kelvin Brown recovered for DelVal at the Dutchmen 41, but three plays later a Barrios pass was intercepted by Brett Mooney.
Early in the fourth quarter, Crone missed a field goal attempt from 37 yards out. After a 3-&-out for each team, DelVal tacked on with a 61-yard catch and run by Tahmir Barksdale off a screen pass. It was Barksdale's third touchdown of the season and put the Aggies on top 34-10 with under nine minutes to play.
Late in the game, the Dutchmen drove the ball to the DelVal 11-yard line, but a pass attempt by back-up quarterback Tanner Lewis was intercepted by Notti Jones and the Aggies ran out the clock on its 41st-straight MAC triumph. It was the first career interception for the sophomore linebacker, Jones.
White needed just 17 runs to reach his career-high 217 rushing yards as he averaged 12.8 per attempt and upped his season touchdown total to six. Barrios ran the ball 10 times for 70 yards but took two sacks and finished with a net of 53 rush yards. His two touchdowns tied him with White for the team lead in rushing scores.
As a team, the offense finished with 337 yards on the ground and 443 yards of total offense thanks in large part to an offensive line that featured Kieran Saunders, Bam Bannavti, Dave Casas, Shane Newell, and Justin Roman.
Defensively, the team got one sack from Shaun Balkcom and a team-high 11 tackles from senior safety Blaine Netterman. The Aggies had seven tackles for loss as a unit including one from Cole Kitchen who finished with nine tackles, and one from Nick Chapman who added seven tackles.
LebVal ran the ball 40 times for 138 yards and completed 18-of-35 passes for 158 yards. Bohannon led the team with 14 runs for 54 yards and Bryant finished with 11 carries for 47. The Dutchmen got receptions from 10 different receivers in the game including three apiece for Jay Sisko and Alex Vassallo.
The Aggies will look to get to 8-0 when the host Wilkes University next Saturday on homecoming. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
