It will be a battle of undefeated and nationally ranked conference rivals when the 10th/15th ranked Delaware Valley University football team travels to Owings Mills, Maryland to take on #25/RV Stevenson University on Saturday, October 1st at Mustang Stadium.
In the latest American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coaches' poll, the Aggies improved one spot to 10th in the nation while the Mustangs made their debut in the poll at number 25. According to the D3football.com top 25 poll, DelVal ranks 15th while Stevenson did not crack the top 25, but did receive votes.
In the MAC preseason coaches' poll, these two programs were picked to finish atop the league. The Aggies were the unanimous pick to win it all for the fifth straight season, while the Mustangs were tabbed to finish in second place. DelVal is looking to become the first program to win five-straight conference championships since the league shifted to one conference to play for a MAC title in 1983.
DelVal football is 9-1 all-time against Stevenson including wins in each of the last four meetings. The last time the Mustangs beat the Aggies was on October 22, 2016 when Stevenson, the 14th ranked team at the time, defeated 25th ranked DelVal, 19-0, at Mustang Stadium. Since then, the Aggies have not lost another conference game and have ripped off 38 consecutive victories over MAC opponents – the longest such streak in the league's 64 year history of football.
In the last meeting between Stevenson and DelVal, the Aggies prevailed in a 34-17 home triumph. Tahmir Barksdale started the scoring for the Green and Gold with a 17-yard touchdown reception after the defense forced a turnover deep in Mustang territory. Jay White and Nahsir Morgan added first half touchdowns to help DelVal to a 19-17 lead going into the second half. The defense did not allow another score the rest of the way and even posted two points of their own via a safety in the third quarter. Stevenson's first-half scoring came on a touchdown from quarterback Ryan Sedgwick and another by way of a trick play that saw wide receiver Kevin Joppy hit fellow wideout Darion Littlejohn for a long touchdown in the second quarter.
In that game, the Aggies held the Mustangs to 44 total rushing yards and outgained them, 391-232, in total offense en route to the win.
Â
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Eighth-year head coach Duke Greco, coaching in his seventh season due to the COVID-19 pandemic that canceled the 2020 campaign, is the program's all-time winningest coach with an astounding record of 74-12 overall and an .860 win-percentage. Greco, a 2003 graduate of DelVal, and his staff are 67-7 in regular season games and 57-5 against MAC opponents.
The Aggies are 4-0 to start the season for the second year in a row. Last week, DelVal shutout Misericordia 41-0 at home after winning a pair of road contests over King's (26-6) and Montclair State (14-6). In week one, the Aggies defeated Westminster College at home, 22-8, to improve to 4-0 overall
The 2022 Aggies are once again led by a stout defense that ranks among the best units in the country. They are second in the nation in total defense with 140 yards per game allowed, and tied third in points against with just 20 surrendered in four games (5.0 avg.). On third down, teams are held to a 15.5% conversion rate against DelVal with only nine first downs on 58 tries. The run defense ranks 11th overall, but third among teams that have played at least four games this year, with 48 yards per game allowed.
Senior defensive end Michael Nobile set a new DelVal Football program record last week with two sacks that upped his career total to 40.5, surpassing Kyle Gesswein's mark of 39 set in 2010. Nobile leads the team this season with 4.5 half sacks and his 6.5 tackles for loss are second. In last week's win, Nobile got a strip sack deep in Cougar's territory that was recovered by Dame Smith and returned for a touchdown.
On the other end of the defensive line is the returning Defensive Player of the Year for Region 1, senior Yusuf Aladinov, who leads the squad with 7.5 tackles for loss this season to go with four sacks, 18 tackles, and seven quarterback hurries.
DelVal rotates four primary linebackers and they all rank in the top-5 in tackles on the team. Junior Ahmad Jones leads the unit with 27 tackles this year and two forced fumbles, and adds 3.5 tackles for loss and one sack. Fellow junior Nick Chapman has 23 tackles, including a team-high eight last week, to go with a forced fumble and a fumble recovered. Another junior, Anthony Puntolillo, has 21 tackles with 2.5 TFL and an interception and senior Tyler Fulmore has 19 tackles and three TFL. Â
The safetys, Cole Kitchen and Netterman, have 21 and 18 tackles, respectively. Kitchen had a diving interception at Montclair State while Netterman picked up a fumble and returned it 76 yards for a touchdown two weeks ago at King's.
On the other side of the ball, the offense returned three all-conference starters in senior full back Walt Truxell, junior wide receiver Tahmir Barksdale, and senior left tackle Bam Bannavti. Senior center Kieren Saunders is another player with significant experience on the offensive line.
DelVal has posted 103 points through four games (25.8 avg.) and continues to show a balanced attack that posts 152.8 yards per game rushing and 151.3 yards per game passing.
Junior quarterback Louis Barrios, who transferred in prior to this season, is coming off consecutive strong starts including last week's 15-for-23 effort for 247 yards and three touchdowns. Over the last two weeks he is 26-for-37 (70.2%) for 352 yards and four scores. For the season, he has racked up 551 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions against. Two of the interceptions came on heaves in last week's win. Â
Junior Tahmir Barksdale, a two-time All-American punt returner, will line up all over the field for the offense. He has a team-high 23 receptions this year for 152 yards and has run the ball 14 times for another 93 yards and a touchdown.
Sophomore tailback Jay White is the squad's leading rusher with 71 carries for 348 yards and four touchdowns. White is coming off his best performance of the season with 16 runs for 129 yards and two scores against Misericordia. Sophomore wide receiver Nahsir Morgan averages 13.1 yards per catch with eight receptions for 105 yards and two touchdowns while another second-year player, Jahaire Johnson has five catches for 66 yards and found the end zone for the first time last week.
On special teams, senior Pat Moran handles the punting duties and averages 33.5 yards per punt on 25 attempts with two boots over 50 yards, five punts inside the opponent's 20, and a long punt of 55 yards. Nick Choi is 1-for-1 on field goal attempts with a successful 22-yard kick in week one. Barksdale has not seen many return opportunities in the return game. His longest return through 13 attempts came on a 25-yard scamper last week.
-Â
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Ed Hottle became the first-ever head coach of Stevenson Football when the program started in 2009. Since the team started competing in 2011, Hottle is 62-46 overall and has led the Mustangs to the postseason each of the last seven years with one NCAA Playoff appearance in 2016.
Despite a disappointing 5-6 mark a year ago, Stevenson was picked second in the MAC preseason coaches' poll and is off to a 4-0 start this season. The Mustangs opened the season with a 25-21 road win at St. Vincent and then took down Salisbury in their home opener, 35-21. In the first two games of conference play, Stevenson earned a 40-18 win over Alvernia at home followed by a 30-14 road victory at Widener last week.
The Mustang's gave up the first score to the Pride last week and trailed 14-10 at halftime. In the second half, they kept Widener off the board, got a touchdown catch from Steven Smothers, and a pair of rushing scores from quarterback Ryan Sedgwick and half back Maurice Hammond for the 16-point win. In that game, Stevenson gained 221 yards through the air with two interceptions and posted 143 yards on the ground. It surrendered just 90 rush yards and 186 passing yards to Widener.
For the season, the Mustangs are second in the MAC with 32.5 points per game and fourth in yards per game at 318.3. Behind the veteran Sedgwick, Stevenson averages 192 yards per game through the air compared to 126.3 yards per game on the ground. The Mustangs convert 56.7% (29-of-51) third downs and have lost just one fumble with five interceptions against.
Sedgwick, a senior left-handed quarterback and two-time all-MAC second teamer, is completing 65.7% (67-of-102) of his passes for 764 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions this year. Last week he completed a season high 20 passes on 31 attempts for 221 yards and a touchdown. He also had a career-high two rushing touchdowns with 27 yards on nine carries.
Sedgwick's favorite target is senior Steven Smothers. A second team all-conference player a year ago, Smothers has 29 receptions this year for 297 yards and three touchdowns. He's joined by another senior, Brandon Booze who follows with 10 catches for 128 yards. Sedgwick has found three other receives for touchdowns including Amir Moore and Tyler Blake who each have two.
The ground attack is led by junior tailback Brandon Walker and his 56 yards per game. He has 51 runs for 224 yards and four scores this year. Maurice Hammond will also see significant carries as he posts 46 carries for 136 yards and three touchdowns this season.
Defensively, Stevenson allows just 18.5 points per game with 159 yards per game against through the air and 130.5 rush yards per game allowed.
Junior linebacker Tom Zatalava leads the team with 31 tackles this year including 2.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Demetrius Salley is a sophomore linebacker who gets in the backfield for four tackles for loss and three sacks this season with a forced fumble. Along the front, William Humphrey also has four TFL and three sacks to go with a team-best two forced fumbles. The Mustangs have gotten four interceptions from four different players this year and totaled nine sacks and 24 tackles for loss.
Stevenson's special teams is a strength with punter Kevin Sheehan averaging 42.3 yard on 18 punts, Brody Campbell connecting on 3-of-3 field goal attempts including a long of 28 yards, and Zachary Rutsch who handles the kickoffs and has 10 touchbacks this season. In the return game, Jakari Lewis averages 27.2 yards per kick return on 10 attempts. Smothers handles the punt returns and has four attempts for 25 yards.
The MAC game of the year will kickoff at noon on Saturday, October 1 inside Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills, Maryland.
