DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – Robert A. Lipinski Field at James Work Memorial Stadium in Doylestown, Pennsylvania will host the 2022 NCAA Division III Football Quarterfinal showdown between the second-ranked University of Mount Union Purple Raiders and the eighth-ranked Delaware Valley University Aggies on Saturday, December 3rd at noon eastern.
Gerneral admission to the game is $8 and $4 for students with college ID. The game will be broadcast live on MACtv beginning at 11:45 a.m. and live stats will be available here.
DelVal football enters the "elite eight" for the fifth time in program history and the third in the last five seasons. The Aggies won their fifth-straight undefeated Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) title to punch their 11th trip to the NCAA playoffs since 2004. DelVal football is 12-0 on the year and completed its sixth undefeated season while improving its conference record win-streak to 44 game with the llast lost occurring over six years ago on October 22, 2016. The 12 wins ties the program's best mark reached just three other times (2017, 2004, 2005). The Aggies are ranked eighth in the AFCA Coaches' Poll and 14 in D3football.com's top 25.
Mount Union is making its 33rd NCAA playoff appearance by way of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championship and has won a record 13 national championship titles with a total of 21 trips to the finals since 1993. The last National Championship title game in 2017. The Purple Raiders are 12-0 this year and ranked second in both the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coaches' Poll and the D3football.com top 25.
Saturday marks just the second all-time meeting between the Aggies and the Purple Raiders. The last time the two program's met was in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Playoffs when DelVal traveled to a frigid Alliance, Ohio and suffered a 31-3 defeat. Cecil Shorts, who went on to play in the NFL, led Mount Union in that game with 10 receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown and added 81 yards and a score on seven rushes. DelVal's senior quarterback Mark Hatty completed 21-of-38 passes for 212 yards and senior linebacker Kyle Gesswein made eight tackles.
The Aggies football team is 14-10 all-time in NCAA Playoff games with a 12-7 record at home. Mount Union holds a 109-19 all-time record in NCAA Playoff games, but has not played a road playoff game (excluding the neutral site Stagg Bowl) since 2016.
DelVal football Head Coach Duke Greco is 83-12 in eight seasons with a 7-4 record in the NCAA Playoffs and a 5-3 mark at home. On the other side, Geoff Dart is in his third season at the helm of the Raiders and holds a 29-1 record with four wins coming during the shortened COVID season, and the lone loss coming in last year's national semifinals game against North Central College.
It will be a battle of the number one and number two ranked defenses in the county when the two teams square off on Saturday as Mount Union leads the nation in total defense (174.7 ypg. allowed) and the Aggies follow in second with 180.7 yard per game against.
The winner of this game will advance to the national semifinals to take on the winner of the Aurora-Wartburg game. The location of the semifinal contest would be announced on Sunday.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Delaware Valley is 12-0 for the fourth time ever and coming off a wild 39-32 come-from-behind victory, at home, over 14th ranked Randolph-Macon College in the second round of the playoffs.
The Aggies scored first last week thanks to a 79-yard touchdown run by tailback Jay White in the first quarter. The teams went back-and-forth in the first half and played to an 18-18 tie at the break. The Yellow Jackets capitalized on two DelVal turnovers in the third quarter to take a 32-18 lead into the fourth. The Aggies fought back and scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning touchdown on a pass from Louie Barrios IV to Jahaire Johnson with 24 seconds left, to win the game and advance to this week's quarterfinals.
The Aggies posted a season-high 335 passing yards and racked up 465 yards of total offense. Defensively, the team beat one of the best offensive lines in the nation for four sacks and nine tackles for loss and allowed just 114 rushing yards and 288 yards of offense. While DelVal turned the ball over twice with an interception and a muffed punt, it got one back when Anthony Puntolillo forced a fumble and Blaine Netterman recovered.
For the season, the Aggies have outscored their opponents, 385-97. The defense's 8.1 points per game against ranks sixth in Division III.
Defensive Coordinator Nick Brady has his unit inside the top-10 in seven different categories, nationally. To go with total defense and scoring defense, the Aggies are sixth in passing efficiency defense (86.85), 10th in rushing defense (62.8 ypg.), sixth in passing defense (117.9 ypg.), third in fumbles recovered (16), and fifth in third down defense (24.3% conversions allowed).
Senior defensive end Michael Nobile, the school's second Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist, and the first three-time conference Defensive Player of the Year has more career sacks (49) and tackles for loss (93.5) than any active player in NCAA football. This week he looks to add to his season totals that include a team-best 13 sacks and 18 tackles for loss.
Opposite Nobile on the defensive line is senior Yusuf Aladinov. The reigning All-American and Regional Defensive Player of the Year is seventh in the nation with a team-best 21.5 tackles for loss including seven sacks and two forced fumbles. Aladinov led the defensive charge in last week's win with 11 tackles including 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and a pass breakup at the line of scrimmage.
Sandwiched between the two All-American defensive ends is preseason All-American Anthony Nobile. The senior defensive tackle recorded six tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack in last week's victory and in this year's playoffs he has 13 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and a fumble recovery in two games.
Linebackers Ahmad Jones and Anthony Puntolillo lead the team in tackles this season with 70 and 67, respectively. Puntolillo forced the big fumble last week and finished with nine tackles, while Jones recorded a team-best 11 stops. Fellow linebacker Nick Chapman had a number of big stops last week and has 66 tackles this year with five pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovered. Each of the three linebackers has at least seven tackles for loss this season.
Senior safety Blaine Netterman is the team's captain and the first player in program history to earn four first team all-conference nods. He recorded five tackles last week with a fumble recovered, and has 57 for the season with a team-best two interceptions.
In total, the DelVal defense had seven first team all-conference honorees this season and one second teamer.
On the other side of the ball, the offense had nine all-conference players including seven first teamers. Barrios, the sophomore quarterback, was named the MAC Offensive Player of the Year and has accounted for 33 touchdowns this season. He ranks 21st in the nation with a team-best 14 rushing touchdowns and has 19 passing scores. In this year's playoffs he is 25-for-42 for 464 yards and two passing touchdowns with 17 rushes for 68 yards and another four touchdowns. He has thrown eight interceptions including one last week.
White, the sophomore running back, was another first team all-MAC honoree and has 1,180 rushing yards this season with 6.2 yards per carry and 11 touchdowns. He has gone over 100 yards in each of the last two games and ripped off a 79 yard touchdown run last week for his third score of the postseason. He has 14 receptions out of the backfield this season for 72 yards.
Tahmir Barksdale, a junior wide receiver and three-time first team all-conference player, leads the team in receiving this season with 758 yards and four touchdowns. He averages 63.2 yards per game and 13.8 yards per catch. Junior Nahsir Morgan led the team last week with five catches for a season-best 129 yards. Seniors Dez Austin and Ryan Loughlin, along with sophomore Jahaire Johnson all had big performances last week. Johnson hauled in two receiving touchdowns while Loughlin had 43 yards including a diving catch to set up the game-tying score.
Senior Pat Moran handled the kicking duties admirably last week as he went 4-for-4 on PAT kicks and connected on a 28-yard field goal. He will also handle the punting duties and averages just under 34 yards per kick this season with 10 boots placed inside the opponents 20.
SCOUTING THE PURPLE RAIDERS
Mount Union, one of the perennial powerhouses in Division III football, is 12-0 this season and outscoring opponents by an average of 48-7. This postseason, the Purple Raiders have two home victories with a 51-0 win over #24 Salisbury in round one and a 45-7 triumph over Utica last week.
Senior quarterback Braxton Plunk, a three-time OAC Back of the Year and a 2022 Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist is among the top-5 nationally in every major quarterback statistical category. He leads the country in passing yards (3,715) and is second in passing touchdowns (44) and points responsible for (288). Plunk is not a threat to run the ball as he averages less than four rushes for five yards per game.
Not surprisingly, Plunk has one of the top receivers in the country to throw the ball to in senior Wayne Ruby, Jr. He was named the OAC receiver of the year for the second time and his 26 receiving touchdowns this season leads the country and set a new program record. He is also tops in the nation with 1,430 receiving yards this year.
Joining Ruby in the pass-happy offense are receivers Jaden Manley and DeAndre Parker. Parker has 61 receptions for 44 yards per game and three touchdowns while Manley has 48 receptions for 62 yards per game and seven touchdowns this year.
Parker is also the team's leading rusher this season with 1,129 yards and 17 touchdowns. He averages 5.8 yards per carry and 94 yards per game.
The offensive line helps the team to 193 yards per game rushing and 329.8 yards per game through the air. They have allowed just 13 sacks through 12 games.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Rossy Moore leads the Raiders with 8.5 sacks and is second in tackles for loss with 15.5. He paces a unit that is inside the top-10 in eight different statistical categories. They have force 25 turnovers with 18 interceptions and seven fumbles.
Three different players have three or more interceptions led by Josh Jones and John Roland with four apiece.
Mason McMillen is a junior linebacker that gets in the backfield for 17 tackles for loss this season and three sacks and has a team-best 90 tackles. As a team, Mount Union has 95 tackles for loss and 42 sacks this year.
On special teams they have converted 75-of-77 PAT kicks and have made 11-of-16 field goals with a long of 39 yards and one kick blocked.
GAME INFORMATION
Kickoff at James Work Memorial Stadium in Doylestown, Pennsylvania is set for noon eastern. Ticket booth will open at 10am and general admission is $8. Students can get in for $4 with student ID. Parking is $5 and all transactions at DelVal are cash only.
If you cannot make it to the game, a live video broadcast will be available on MACtv. You can download the MACtv app on Roku and select smart TV's, or visit gomacsports.tv/delvalaggies.
