ANNVILLE (Pa.) – The Delaware Valley University football team placed 16 student-athletes at 17 different positions on the 2022 All-Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) football teams as the league announced the awards on Wednesday morning. Senior defensive end Michael Nobile earned Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in his career and Head Coach Duke Greco was named the Coach of the Year for the third time in his career.
The five-time defending conference champions completed a perfect 10-0 regular season for the second year in-a-row and lead the league in all-conference honorees. The Aggies had 14 first-team honorees, two second teamers, and one honorable mention, as listed below:
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
Louie Barrios IV, sophomore quarterback
Jay White, sophomore running back
Walt Truxell, senior full back
Tahmir Barksdale, junior wide receiver
Bam Bannavti, senior offensive lineman
Shane Newell, junior offensive lineman
Tahmir Barksdale, junior returner
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
Yusuf Aladinov, senior defensive lineman
Anthony Nobile, senior defensive lineman
Michael Nobile, senior defensive lineman
Ahmad Jones, junior linebacker
Anthony Puntolillo, junior linebacker
Cole Kitchen, senior defensive back
Blaine Netterman, senior defensive back
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
Justin Roman, sophomore offensive lineman
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
Nick Chapman, junior linebacker
HONORABLE MENTION
Nahsir Morgan, junior wide receiver
The MAC Defensive Player of the Year resides in Doylestown for the fourth season in a row with Michael Nobile taking home the honor again this season. With the award, Nobile became the first player in school history, in any team sport, to win three Player of the Year honors and wrapped his career with four all-conference nods. He has three first-team honors with one second team mention from his injury shortened season a year ago. This year he leads the league in sacks with 12.5 and his 16 tackles for loss are tied second. He's tacked on 46 tackles, 12 quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
Greco earned his third Coach of the Year award after coaching his third undefeated season and upping his career record to 80-12 overall. His .870 win-percentage is second best among all active college football coaches across all levels (Ryan Day, Ohio State, .917).
Along with Nobile on the defense are six other first-team honorees. Yusuf Aladinov, the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year, earned his second all conference honor of his career. He is second in the MAC with 16 tackles for loss and leads DelVal with 14 quarterback hurries to go with 50 tackles, two pass breakups, and a forced fumble.
Anthony Nobile earned his fourth all-conference selection and second first team honors in a row. The anchor of the defensive line, Anthony totaled 26 tackles with five tackles for loss, three sacks, 10 quarterback hurries, two fumble recoveries and an interception. He also batted down two passes at the line of scrimmage.
Junior linebackers Ahmad Jones and Anthony Puntolillo made their first all-conference teams. Jones tied for the team-lead with 56 tackles and added six tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks with four pass breakups and a forced fumble. Puntolillo, the quarterback of the defense from his middle linebacker position, finished with 48 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, half a sack, an interception and a forced fumble.
The defensive backfield was represented by the two senior safeties that earned first-team recognition in Cole Kitchen and Blaine Netterman. It is the first conference award for Kitchen who tied for the team lead with 56 tackles and recorded three tackles for loss, four pass breakups and an interception.
Netterman, the team captain, became the first player in program history, and the first student-athlete in school history, to earn four first-team all-conference honors. He culminated that run this season with 44 tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery to go with three pass breakups.
Nick Chapman, a junior linebacker, rounded out the defensive all-conference honorees with his first all-MAC honors. Chapman transferred to DelVal prior to this season and recorded a team-high 56 tackles to go with 5.5 tackles for loss, five pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
The offensive accolades were highlighted by junior wide receiver and return specialist Tahmir Barksdale who earned two first-team all-MAC honors for the second straight season. Barksdale has been a first-team honoree three years in a row and now has five first-team all-conference nods in three years. He led the team this season with 42 receptions and 591 receiving yards and scored four touchdowns. He also carried the ball 26 times this year for 178 yards and another touchdown. In the return game, he finished with 215 yards on 22 attempts with a long return of 41 yards.
Sophomore quarterback Louie Barrios IV earned his first all-MAC recognition. He accounted for more total touchdowns than anyone in the league with 27, including 11 through the air and 10 rushing. Barrios completed 56.5% of his passes for 1,765 yards while throwing just seven interceptions. A dual-threat, he ranked 14th in the league in rushing with 419 yards on just 76 attempts. His 5.5 yards per carry ranked fourth in the conference.
Sophomore tailback Jay White ranked second in the MAC in rushing this season with 936 yards and third with eight rushing touchdowns. His 5.7 yards per carry ranked third and his 93.6 yards per game was second. White's eight touchdowns on the ground was tied-third in the league.
Fullback Walt Truxell took home his second consecutive first-team all-conference honors this season. A lead blocker, Truxell added his first career rushing touchdown this season and caught three passes out of the backfield for 14 yards.
Truxell, along with all-conference offensive lineman, Bam Bannavti, Shane Newell, and Justin Roman, helped DelVal lead the league in rushing with 1,912 yards and 23 touchdowns on 386 attempts. The Aggies had 178 more rushing yards and three more rushing scores than any other program in the MAC.
For Bannavti, it was his second consecutive first-team nod while Newell and Roman make their first all-conference team appearances. The offensive line allowed just seven sacks in 10 games, three less than any other team.
Junior wide receiver Nahsir Morgan rounds out the all-conference honorees for the offense as he makes his first all-MAC appearance. Morgan finished the year with 20 receptions for 340 yards and five touchdowns. His five touchdowns was tied-fourth best in the league and his 34 yards per game and 17 yards per catch ranked inside the top-15.
DelVal won the MAC for the fifth year in a row with a perfect 10-0 overall record and 8-0 mark in league play. The Aggies finished the year as the top-ranked team in Region I and will face Gallaudet College in round one of the 2022 NCAA Playoffs which begin this Saturday. The Aggies will host the Bison with kickoff at Robert A. Lipinski Field slated for 12 p.m.
