DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) -- The nationally-ranked Delaware Valley University football team will try to secure its fifth-straight berth to the NCAA Division III Playoffs by way of the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) automatic qualifier with a home win over FDU-Florham on Saturday, November 5. Kickoff at Robert A. Lipinski Field is set for 12 p.m.
A win will improve the Aggies to 9-0 overall and 7-0 in MAC games and secure at least a share of the MAC Championship title. King's College at 7-1 overall and 6-1 in MAC play can finish as co-champions with DelVal if the Monarchs defeat Misericordia this week, and the Aggies lose at Widener in their final game of the season. Both DelVal and Kings would finish 7-1 in conference and be named co-champions, but DelVal will earn the MAC's automatic-qualifier bid to the NCAA Playoffs by way of a head-to-head tiebreaker. The Aggies defeated the Monarchs 26-6 at King's in the conference opener in Wilkes Barre on September 17.
The four-time defending MAC Champions currently rank 8th in the country according to the American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA) coaches' poll. The Aggies are 14th in the nation according to D3football.com's top-25.
DelVal football is coming off its bye week and looking to win its 43rd consecutive conference game this weekend. The Aggies made it 42 in-a-row with a 27-14 week seven win over Wilkes University on homecoming. The conference win-streak is the longest in MAC history and dates back to September 16, 2016.
DelVal built a 20-0 halftime lead and led 27-7 halfway through the fourth quarter before the Colonels scored on their final possession of the game. The 14 points surrendered were the most the Aggies have allowed in a game this season. Junior wide receiver Tahmir Barksdale gave the team a spark with a 78-yard catch-and-run touchdown just two minutes in. Walt Truxell and Jay White added one-yard touchdown runs to complete the first half scoring. The Colonels scored two second half touchdowns against DelVal, the most surrendered by the Aggies in a game this season.
DVU is 27-7 all-time against FDU-Florham and hasn't dropped a game 2008. The Aggies have averaged 42.4 points per game and outscored the Devils, 424-89, over their last 10 meetings.
FDU comes into this weekend 5-3 overall and 3-3 in MAC play.
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SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Head Football Coach Duke Greco and his staff are 61-5 against MAC opponents and 71-7 in regular season games overall, and will look to lead the 2022 Aggies to at least a share of the conference championship title and another NCAA Division III Playoff berth with a win over the Devils this weekend. Â Â
The 2022 squad is coming off a bye after winning its first eight games of the season including MAC victories over King's, Misericordia, Stevenson, Lycoming, Lebanon Valley, and Wilkes.
The defense under 2021 Coordinator of the Year Nick Brady, is once again among the top-ranked units in Division III football. They rank second in the nation in total defense with 180.6 yards per game allowed and fifth in points allowed with an average of 6.4 permitted a game. Against the run, the defense is first in the MAC and 13th in the nation with 62.1 yards against per showing. The squad also ranks first in the MAC in passing defense, and sixth in the nation, with 118.5 yard per game against. The third down defense is eighth in the county and the best in the MAC as opponents convert just 24.8-percent of the time.
On the other side of the ball, the offense ranks second in the league in scoring (26.4 ppg.) and total yards (359.3 per game). The Aggies lead the conference in rushing with 186.6 yard per game while the passing attack ranks seventh at 172.6 per clip.
Sophomore tailback Jay White is the league's leading rusher with 790 yards and 98.8 per game to go with a team-high seven touchdowns.
Louie Barrios IV, the sophomore signal-caller, is second in the league with 13 touchdown passes and has thrown for 1,327 yards on 100-of-175 completions. Barrios has found nine different receivers for touchdowns this year including junior Tahmir Barksdale and sophomore Nahsir Morgan who each scored last week and lead the team with three.
Barksdale ranks fourth in the conference with 443 receiving yards this season while his 39 catches ranks second. Morgan has 14 catches for 223 yards and averages 15.9 yards per reception.
The defense is highlighted by three preseason All-Americans along the defensive line in Yusuf Aladinov, Anthony Nobile, and Michael Nobile. Aladinov leads the team with 12.5 tackles for loss to go with five sacks and Michael Nobile follows with 10.5 tackles for loss and a team-best 7.5 sacks. That duo has combined for 23 quarterback hurries.
Linebacker Nick Chapman is the team's leading tackler with 48, one ahead of senior safety Cole Kitchen's 47. Fellow senior safety Blaine Netterman has 41 tackles and a team-high two interceptions this season.
On special teams, senior Pat Moran handles the punting duties and averages 34 yards per punt on 40 attempts with three boots over 50 yards, eight punts inside the opponent's 20, and a long punt of 57 yards. Sophomore Nick Choi has made 22-of-28 extra point attempts and is 1-for-1 on field goals with a successful 22-yard kick in week one.
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SCOUTING THE DEVILS
First-year Head Coach Anthony Van Curen and the FDU-Florham Devils are coming off a narrow 10-2 home victory over Albright last week that improved the team to 5-3 overall and 3-3 in MAC play.
Van Curen took over the helm in April of 2021 after holding numerous roles with the program since 2014.
This year's team won two non-conference games to open the season over Merchant Marine (17-7) and William Patterson (28-21). It opened league play with two home losses by less than a touchdown to Lebanon Valley (17-14) and King's (27-23). The Devils bounced-back with consecutive victories over Misericordia (28-14) and Widener (30-17). FDU had its bye week before the team traveled to Stevenson two weeks ago and dropped its third conference game of the season, 20-7.
The Devils' rely on their defense to keep the score low to help them win games. The unit is third in the league with 15.6 points per game allowed and second behind DelVal in total defense with 250.4 yard per game against. They also lead the MAC by a wide margin in team sacks with 30, 11 better than DelVal. The run defense permits just 63 yards per game, second in the league, and against the pass they rank sixth with 122.9 ypg. allowed.
In last week's win over the Lions, they allowed just 132 yards off offense, forced two turnovers, and sacked the quarterback seven times.
Graduate student Kenny Hands is the leader of the defense and one of the best defensive players in the league. He leads the conference with 19.5 tackles for loss and ranks third with seven sacks. He is third on the team with 45 tackles from his defensive end position and has two forced fumbles and one fumble recovered to his credit.
A pair of linebackers, Tyrell Pereira and Joseph Randazzo lead the team with 59 and 56 tackles, respectively, and combined for 11.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. First-year defensive lineman Matt Heineman is another player to watch as he has six sacks this season and a forced fumble. Sophomore Jorden Bennett leads the defensive backs with three interceptions and four pass breakups this year. Â
 The offense struggles to find the end zone with just 19.6 points per game and ranks in the middle of the pact with 309.6 yards per game including 186.8 per game through the air and 122.9 averaged on the ground.
Sophomore quarterback Ryon Thomas took over the starting job after week three and completes 62.7-percent (86-of-137) of his passes this season for 988 yards and nine touchdowns with six interceptions. His favorite target is graduate student Connor Perez who ranks second in the MAC with 600 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 34 receptions. In total, 10 different receivers have caught a pass and six have found pay dirt.
The ground attack is led by first-year tailback Kwanir Edwards and senior Nayson Brown who have split the share and each have over 340 yards rushing. Brown has two touchdowns this season while Edwards has one. The quarterback, Thomas, has escaped 69 times for 281 yards and two touchdowns including a long burst of 67 yards.
Thomas will also handle the punt duties for the Devils. He has 32 boots this year and an average of 38.59 yards per kick with 13 inside the opponents 20 and four over 50 yards. The placekicker is Chris DiMedio who connected on a 30-yarder last week and is 4-for-5 this season with a long of 37.
The Aggies and the Devils kickoff at noon on Saturday, November 5th in the final home game of the regular season for DelVal. Before the game, the team will honor its seniors and the DelVal Cheerleading seniors with a special senior day ceremony beginning at 11:30 a.m.
