DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – The Delaware Valley University football team won its 40th straight Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) game in a row and earned its second-straight shutout with a 21-0 triumph over Lycoming College at home on Saturday.
The ninth and 15th ranked Aggies remained undefeated on the 2022 campaign as they improved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in league play while the Warriors fell to 2-3 and 1-2. The conference win streak dates back to October 22nd 2016 and is the longest in the history of MAC football.
After neither team scored in the first quarter, senior team captain Blaine Netterman gave the squad a spark as he picked off an Elijah Shemory pass and returned it 32 yards to the Lycoming 20-yard line. First-year cornerback Micah Bootman was in coverage on the play and deflected the pass into the air before Netterman grabbed it for his first interception of the season.
Two plays later, Aggie quarterback Louie Barrios IV lofted a pass to the end zone for Dez Austin who leaped over a defender to haul in his first touchdown of the season and give the home team a 7-0 lead.
On the Warriors' ensuing drive, Shemory was sacked on third down by Michael Nobile and Anthony Puntolillo, and his fourth down pass was broken up by Bootman to force another turnover.
DelVal maintained its 7-0 lead into the halftime break as it held Lycoming to 66 yards on 28 plays in the half. The Warriors ran the ball 16 times for a mere 23 yards. The Aggies gained 125 yards in the half on 31 plays with 65 yards through the air.
DelVal got the ball to start the second half and marched right down the field with a 10-play, 79-yard drive capped by Dillon Shamanow's first career touchdown catch. Tahmir Barksdale got the drive started with an 18-yard run off the right side and Barrios hit Ryan Loughlin over the middle for 18 yards and a 3rd down conversion. Facing another 3rd-and-long, Nahsir Morgan came up with a big catch down the sideline for a 36-yard gain to the Warriors' 18. Three plays later, Shamanow found himself wide open in the end zone and Barrios hit the first-year wide out for six points. Nick Choi's extra point made it a 14-0 game with 10:26 left in the third.
Lycoming's next possession ate up 8:02 of game time as they gained 54 yards on 18 plays. They ran eight plays inside the DelVal 20, but never got closer than the seven yard line and had to settle for a 23-yard field goal attempt. Ian Plankenhorn's kick hit off the left upright and caromed away, and the Aggies maintained their 14-0 lead into the fourth quarter.
DelVal extended its lead to three touchdowns with 8:25 left in the game when Barrios found David Almodovar-Cora deep down the left sideline for a 32-yard touchdown. It was the first career touchdown for the sophomore wide receiver and he became the ninth different Aggie to record a touchdown reception this season.
The DelVal defense held Lycoming to just 20 yards the rest of the way and the offense iced the game with a 12-play drive that exhausted the final 6:51 of regulation and closed the door on the 21-0 victory.
The Aggies racked up 368 yards of total offense and Barrios finished 16-for-30 with 194 yards and three touchdown passes. The run game produced 174 yards led by 79 from Barrios and 43 from Barksdale. Nine different receivers caught a pass including Morgan who had 51 yards on two catches.
The Warriors managed just 121 yards of total offense and 36 rush yards for the game. Shemory finished the game 12-of-27 with 85 yards and an interception and Heath Jones ran the ball 14 times for 30 yards. Brandon Timothy led the receivers with three receptions for 22 yards and Jones caught four passes out of the backfield for 19 yards.
Michael Nobile paced the defense with seven tackles and two half sacks while Puntolillo added 2.5 tackles for loss, half a sack, and six tackles. Netterman had three tackles and three pass breakups to go with his interception.
The Aggies will take their 40-game conference win-streak on the road next Saturday when they travel to Lebanon Valley College for a 1 p.m. kickoff with the Dutchmen.
