Box Score CHESTER (Pa.) – The Delaware Valley University football team clinched its fifth-straight outright Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Championship and its second consecutive undefeated season with a 34-7 triumph at Widener University on Saturday.
The win also gave the Aggies their seventh straight victory in the annual Keystone Cup rivalry game that dates back to 1981 and extended their conference-record win-streak to 44 consecutive games. The last time DelVal football lost to a MAC opponent was in 2016.
With the conference championship, DelVal earns the MAC automatic qualifier to the NCAA Playoffs for the fifth season in a row. The team now awaits its opponent and location for the first round playoff game which will be announced during a selection show streaming tomorrow at 5 p.m. The livestream can be found on NCAA.com.
In this game, the Aggies received the opening kickoff and needed just over three minutes to get on the board and take a 7-0 lead. The offense went 69 yards on eight plays and Tim Weldon got into the end zone with a one-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Louie Barrios IV got his team down the one-yard line with a big 23-yard run up the middle on 3rd and 9.
On the Pride's first possession they moved the ball down to the DelVal 34-yard line where a where they face a 4th-and-5 and brought out the punt unit. Widener drew up a fake punt play, but the punters pass fell incomplete and the Aggies took over.
On the very next play, Barrios completed a pass to Tahmir Barksdale but the Pride forced a fumble and regained possession near midfield.
A sack by Michael Nobile and a tackle for loss by Yusuf Aladinov forced the Pride to attempt a 41-yard field goal that fell short and the DelVal offense came back on the field.
The Aggies used 13 plays and 6:05 of game time to go 77 yards and make it a 14-0 game after Barrios punched home a one-yard touchdown run. Wide receiver Dillon Shamanow had two catches for 56 yards on the drive to help DelVal down the field.
Widener caught a break on their next possession as its punt hit the back of an Aggie and the Pride recovered at the DelVal 24-yard line. Two plays later, Jeff Chaplin found Isaac Hostetter in the end zone to get the home team on the board and make it a 14-7 game with 8:44 left in the half.
On the Aggies ensuing possession, Barrios faked a pitch and took off up the middle. He made a number of defenders missed, broke a tackle and sprinted down the sideline for a 60-yard rushing score to regain the two-score lead, 21-7.
Later in the half, DelVal threw an interception and Widener took over at the Aggies 18-yard line. A sack from Benny Camaranno back the Pride up, but Chaplin was able to complete a hail mary and get the Pride down to the Aggies one-yard line with under a minute on the clock. DelVal sophomore cornerback Micah Bootman ended the threat, and ultimately the half, when he stepped in front of a receiver and intercepted a pass in the end zone. It was the first career interception for Bootman.
Widener got the ball to start the second half, but the Aggies forced a 3-and-out and the offense went back to work. They put together an 80-yard scoring drive that spanned 3:33 on eight plays and ended with Weldon taking a handoff off the right tackle and going 18 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was no good and DelVal took a 27-7 lead.
Neither team's offense mustered any progress the rest of the third quarter and the Aggies maintained their 20-point lead into the final 15 minutes.
On the Pride's first possession of the fourth they faced a 4th and 3 from their own 39-yard line and senior defensive end Michael Nobile broke into the backfield and forced a strip sack to get the ball back to the offense at the Widener 27-yard line.
The Aggies needed just five plays to get Jay White in the end zone with a four-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 34-7 with 12:36 left in regulation, and ultimately put the game away.
DelVal finished the game with 434 yards of total offense including 247 rushing yards. The defense kept the Pride to 117 total yards with just 21 yards rushing and 96 yards passing. The Aggies, uncharacteristically, had three turnovers in the game with two fumbles lost and an interception, but did force two turnovers of their own with a fumble and a pick.
DelVal football will gather as a team tomorrow to enjoy the NCAA Playoff selection show at 5 p.m. The first round of the playoffs will take place next Saturday at noon with the opponent and location to be announced.
