DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) -- The Delaware Valley University football team's win streak against Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) opponents, the longest of its kind in the conference's 70 years of football, has a chance to reach 50 this weekend when the Aggies welcome the Lebanon Valley College Dutchmen for homecoming on Saturday, October 21. Kickoff at Robert A. Lipinski Field in Doylestown is slated for 1 p.m.
Tickets for all DelVal Football home games are $5, cash only, and must be purchased on-stie at the ticket booth outside the stadium. Ticket booths will open at 11 a.m. on Saturday. In addition, parking for all football games is $5, cash only, for all vehicles. All parking and ticket purchases are cash only.
If you cannot make it to the game, you can watch it live on MACtv at gomacsports.tv/delvalaggies with DelVal's own Gordon Mann on the call!
Live stats will be available via the official website of the Aggies – athletics.delval.edu.
DelVal football has won 49-straight games against MAC teams dating back to October 28, 2016. Since the start of the 2017 season, the Aggies are 46-0 against league opponents, and since the start of the 2016 season they are 53-2. Their last loss in conference play came on October 22, 2016, when the Aggies were defeated at Stevenson, 16-0.
The streak has resulted in five-straight MAC Championships, upping the program's total to 14 overall and 11 titles in the last 18 seasons. It has also paved the way to five consecutive NCAA Playoff appearances including three trips to the NCAA round of eight (2017, 2019, 2022).
In the MAC preseason coaches' poll, the Aggies were a unanimous pick to win the conference for the sixth year in-a-row while Lebanon Valley was picked tied-fifth with the FDU-Florham Devils.
The Aggies and the Dutchman have two common opponents this season in Eastern University and King's College. DelVal defeated both teams and did not allow a touchdown in either game as it got past Eastern on the road, 29-6, and shutout the Monarchs at home, 28-0. On the other side, Lebanon Valley cruised to a 45-7 triumph at home over the Eagles in week four but fell to King's last week at home on homecoming, 35-21.
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SCOUTING THE AGGIES
DelVal football enters this game 5-1 overall and ranked 24th in Division III according to the American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA) Coaches' Poll and ranked 25th in the D3football.com top-25. This marks the 66th consecutive week inside the top-25 for the Aggies.
DelVal's lone loss this season came on the road in week one against nationally ranked SUNY-Cortland.
Head Coach Duke Greco '03 and his staff, in their ninth season, enter their 102nd game with an 87-14 (.861) overall record and a 78-8 (.907) mark in regular season games.
DelVal football is 27-12 all-time against the Dutchmen with its last loss coming in a 34-31 overtime upset in 2013.
Defensive Coordinator Nick Brady '06 saw his unit pitch its second shutout of the season last week at FDU where the Aggies allowed just 44 rushing yards on 40 attempts and 73 yards through the air for 117 total yards against. They recorded season-highs of seven sacks and 11 tackles for loss against the Devils led by senior linebacker Nick Chapman who finished with three tackles for loss and two sacks. Chapman added a career-high 15 tackles in the game and national recognition with a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week. He leads the team in tackles this season with 58 and has nine TFL and two sacks.
Fellow senior linebacker Anthony Puntolillo had his second interception in as many games and added 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack against FDU. He is second on the team with 50 tackles and has 7.5 TFL, 6.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles.
Defensive linemen Jacquez Mabin and Shaun Balkcom each had two TFL and 1.5 sacks in last week's win. Balkcom also forced a fumble, his second of the season. Mabin is now third in all of Division III with 8.5 sacks and 12th in tackles for loss with 12.
Over the last five games the DelVal defense has allowed just 28 points (5.6 per game), three touchdowns, and 165.6 yards per game. That includes just 50.4 rushing yards per game over that span.
The defensive backfield features senior Dame Smith and junior Darius Nichols at safety and sophomore Micah Bootman and junior Rafael Torres at the corners. Bootman has five pass breakups, two interceptions and a blocked punt this season while Nichols and Smith combine for 48 tackles. Nichols has also recovered two fumbles and sacked the quarterback twice. Torres joins Bootman with five pass deflections this season.
The DelVal offense is coming off its fifth-straight game with over 200 yards rushing and is averaging 207.3 yards per game on the ground and over 26 points per game. They are number one in the MAC in rushing and fifth in scoring. The strong offensive line that features senior Matt Christoff, juniors Justin Roman and Will Brandes, and sophomores Dave Casas and A.J. Snowden did not allow a single sack last week and have allowed just one in the last three games and six in the last five. Junior quarterback Louis Barrios IV can escape the pocket to extend plays or run the ball. He has 60 rushes this season for 4.7 yards per carry and two touchdowns. When Barrios isn't running the ball he hands it off to sophomore tailback Jack Fallon who goes for five yards per carry and has a team-best six touchdowns this season. Fallon is coming off a career-day against the Devils where he ripped off 145 yards on 23 carries with two scores. For his efforts, Fallon was named MAC Offensive Player of the Week. Â
Over the first five games the Aggies have thrown the ball on just 27-percent of their snaps with just over seven completions per game. Senior Ryan Loughlin is the leading receiver with 10 catches for 156 yards and a touchdown. Luan Avdijaj and Jasiah Davis each have six receptions and Dillon Shamanow has four. The Aggies have five receiving touchdowns this season.
On special teams, Nick Arcaroli averages 37.3 yards on 18 punts and has pinned the opponent inside their own 20 six times. First-year Patrick Bilello made his first appearance of the season last week and had three boots for nearly 37 yards per punt with a long of 45 yards. First-year Mike Bartley made good on his lone field goal attempt of the season from 38 yards and is 11-for-12 on PAT kicks.
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SCOUTING THE DUTCHMEN
Lebanon Valley football has won four of their last five games but dropped its most recent contest during its own homecoming to King's College, 35-21. In that game, the Monarchs scored first and held a 19-7 lead at halftime. They added another touchdown early in the third quarter on a 33-yard run to take a 20-point lead. Lebanon Valley capitalized on two King's fumbles as they returned one for a score and recovered another deep in Monarchs' territory and converted to a rushing score. The Dutchmen gave up 218 yards rushing on 45 attempts and 103 yards passing on 10-of-15 passing. King's scored three rushing touchdowns and two with the passing attack.
The Dutchmen are led by first-year head coach J.R.Drake who was officially given the title last week after serving as interim head coach since the beginning of the year. Before taking the helm, Drake had been the defensive coordinator for Lebanon Valley since 2018. Drake has the Dutchmen off to a 4-2 start with a 4-1 mark in conference play. After falling to non-conference foe Franklin & Marshall, 16-12, in the season opener, Lebanon Valley ripped off four straight wins against MAC teams. It started that stretch with a 45-38 win over Stevenson on the road and capped it with a thrilling 27-24 double overtime victory at Widener. In between the Dutchmen defeated Misericordia and Eastern at home.
Amongst the MAC, the Dutchmen defense ranks sixth in total defense with 300.2 yards per game against, sixth in rushing with 143.2 yards per game against, and fourth in passing with 157 yards per game against. They have given up over 170 yards rushing and 300 yards of offense in each of the last two games but have also come away with seven turnovers in those games. In fact, the Dutchmen are one of the best teams in Division III and forcing turnovers. Their 10 interceptions ranks inside the top-20, their nine fumbles recovered is tied-7th, and their 19 takeaways is tied-5th in the nation.
Junior linebacker Jacob Horton is the teams leading tackler with 40 and has 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception, a forced fumble and one recovered. Senior defensive tackle Jake Marcus has gotten in the backfield for 6.5 TFL and five sacks including a forced fumble. Senior defensive end follows with 5.5 TFL and 2.5 sacks. He is second on the team with 37 tackles and has an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Juinor Evan Kutzler has two interceptions and three pass breakups from his safety position.
Offensively, the Dutchmen rank third in the league in scoring with 30.2 points per game. They are fourth in rushing at 148.7 yards per showing and fifth in passing at 156.8 per clip. They ran for over 200 yards twice and last week posted 188 yards on 49 runs, but they have also been held to under 100 yards rushing on three occasions. They average 3.9 yards per carry as a team with junior quarterback Braden Bohannon getting most of the looks. Bohannon has run the ball 85 times this year with an average of 4.5 yards per carry, 63.5 yards per game and six touchdowns. Dion Bryant, a sophomore tailback, follows with 53 runs for 4.9 per carry and 43 yards per game. Last week against the Monarchs he only had five carries and left the game after the first quarter. Senior Malachi Williams took over for Bryant last week and had 11 touches for 43 yards.
In last week's loss to King's, Bohannon completed 8-of-24 passes for 60 yards with three interceptions. For the season he is 59-for-117 for 113.5 yards per game with four touchdowns to four interceptions. Sophomore wide receiver Alex Vassallo is responsible for 27-percent of the receptions and averages 55.8 yards per game with two touchdowns. Juinor Malaki Blair follows with 19 receptions and 33.5 yards per game with one score.
The offensive line for the Dutchmen has only allowed nine sacks this season but will be facing the best pass rush in the league against Delaware Valley who has the most sacks in the MAC.
Senior punter Jeremy Bours, Jr. was named the MAC Special Teams Player of the Week last week as he averaged 30.7 yards per punt on six punts, with a long of 51. Bours Jr. also rushed 10 yards for a first down on a fake punt attempt in the second quarter, leading to the first touchdown of the game for LVC. Two of Bours' punts went over 50 yards and he had one downed inside the 20-yard line. The Dutchmen are second in the league in kick off returns with 19.8 yards per return.
