DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – Delaware Valley University football, ranked 15th in Division III, kicked off its 2022 season at home against Westminster College (Pa.) and came away with a thrilling 22-8 victory thanks to a big second half and an impressive showing by the defense.
The Aggies (1-0) got the ball to start the game and used a heavy run attack to go 65 yards and into the red zone, but failed to convert a 4th-and-8 from the 19 as the Titans forced a turnover on downs.
Senior defensive end Michael Nobile made an impact on his first possession back on the field after a season-ending injury a year ago. With Westminster in DelVal territory on 3rd-and-12, the two-time All-American beat his blocker and picked up his first sack of the game to force a punt.
The Aggies started their second drive at their own 11 yard line and went backwards after a rush for a loss and a penalty. Forced to punt from deep in their own territory, the snap went through the back of the end zone for a safety to give the Titans a 2-0 lead that they would maintain into the halftime break.
Westminster gained 65 yards on 16 plays while DelVal gained 67 yards on 17 plays in the tightly contested first half. The Titans forced the only turnover of the game as they picked off starting quarter back Louie Barrios IV in the first quarter.
The visitors got the ball to start the second half but went 3-and-out, and the Aggies took over at Westminster's 45-yard line after a penalty on the punt. Facing a 4th-and-6 from the 22, Barrios dropped back and lofted a perfect pass into the end zone to Nahsir Morgan who caught it over his shoulder to give DelVal a 6-2 lead as the 2-point conversion attempt failed.
The Titans moved the ball into Aggie territory on their ensuing drive, but on 3rd-and-6 from the DelVal 23, Yusuf Aladinov was able to pressure Cole Konieczka and force a bad pass that Rafael Torres was able to close in on and make a diving catch near the sideline for his first career interception to stop the threat.
On Westminster's next drive, Nobile recorded his second sack of the game and DelVal forced another 3-and-out. On the Titans' punt attempt, the ball was fumbled on the snap and Micah Bootman was there for the Aggies to scoop it up and take it all the way to the visitor's two yard line to setup another DelVal touchdown. Tahmir Barksdale was the beneficiary of the two-yard rushing touchdown and Nick Choi added the extra point to give the Aggies a 13-2 lead with 4:50 left in the third quarter.
Before the end of the third Westminster pieced together a seven-play, 44-yard drive that resulted in an 11-yard touchdown strike over the middle from Konieczka to Jalen Washington to make it a 13-8 game heading to the fourth quarter.
On the Titans' first drive of the fourth, Ahmad Jones got into the face of Konieczka and deflected a pass that was then intercepted by Anthony Puntolillo who returned the ball nine yards to the Westminster 19. Four plays later, the Aggies called on Choi for a 22 yard field goal attempt and he connected to make it 16-8 game with 12:01 left in regulation.
The DelVal defense allowed just seven yards on the next drive as it forced another 3-and-out. Shortly after, the Aggies were forced to punt from their own 16 and Pat Moran's boot was muffed by the return man and Dillon Shamanow was there for DelVal to pounce on the recovery and give the ball back to the offense.
The Aggies again were able to capitalize on the turnover as they drove 51 yards on seven plays and Barrios ran in his first touchdown as an Aggie from four yards out. Barksdale highlighted the drive with a 28 yard scamper after reversing fields and beating the defense around the corner.
That gave DelVal a 22-8 lead with 5:05 to play and sealed the program's third straight season opening victory.
The defense held Westminster to 157 yards of total offense for the game and forced four turnovers. They allowed just 32 rushing yards and 125 passing yards for an average of 2.8 yards per play. Four different players finished with five tackles including Michael Nobile who added two sacks to up his career total to 38, one shy of tying Kyle Gesswein for the program's all-time record.
For the offense, Jay White ran the ball 21 times for 83 yards including a long run of 24 yards and caught one pass for 11 yards to lead all players with 94 yards all-purpose. Barksdale finished with 74 yards off total offense and a touchdown as he caught six passes for 19 yards and ran for another 55. Barrios finished the game 9-for-18 for 73 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and was only sacked once.
For the Titans, Ryan Gomes carried the ball 15 times for 49 yards and Konieczka was 19-for-35 for 125 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Jalen Washington caught five passes for 59 yards and touchdown. Defensively, Brayden Thimons had a game-high nine tackles including half a tackle for loss and Kevin Wright followed with seven tackles.
The Aggies will look to make it two-in-a-row when the wrap up non-conference play at Montclair State next Saturday at noon.
