DOYELSTOWN (Pa.) – The Delaware Valley University football team kicks off Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) play this weekend when the 24th ranked Aggies travel to Reading, Pa. to take on the Albright College Lions at 12 p.m. inside Gene L. Shirk Stadium.
If you cannot make the trip to the game, you can listen to DelVal play-by-play with Gordon Mann here.
The game will also be broadcast on MACtv courtesy of Albright Athletics here, and live stats will be available here.
This will be the first meeting between the Aggies and the Lions since 2019 when DelVal took a 41-0 lead by halftime and ran away with a 55-7 road triumph. Albright's last victory was in 2016 when it came to Doylestown and scored a last second touchdown to take a 20-17 win. Overall, Saturday's game marks the 55th contest between the two conference rivals. DelVal owns a 34-20 record over the Lions.
The Aggies entered this season ranked 10th in the D3football.com top-25, but fell 14 spots in the national rankings after last week's 42-13 loss in the season opener at 17th ranked SUNY-Cortland. Albright also faced a nationally-ranked opponent last week as it traveled to Abilene, Texas to take on eighth-ranked Hardin-Simmons. The Lions suffered a 47-3 defeat to the Cowboys.
Also on the line this week is Delaware Valley's record winning-streak against MAC opponents that dates back to October 22, 2016. Over the last five seasons, the Aggies have gone unbeaten in conference play, successfully fending off MAC opponents 44 consecutive times. It is the longest such streak in MAC football history.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Head Coach Duke Greco '03 and his staff are 82-14 in eight seasons, good enough for a .854 win-percentage. In regular season games they are 73-8 (.901).
Last week, the Aggies went three-and-out on their first three possessions and totaled just 72 yards of punts which helped the Red Dragons to three-straight touchdowns and a 21-0 lead after the first quarter. In the second, sophomore cornerback Micah Bootman picked off a pass in the end zone and DelVal got on the board on the ensuing possession thanks to a trick play that saw tight end Rob McConnell hit senior wideout Ryan Loughlin for a 39-yard touchdown.
Cortland protected its lead in the second half by outscoring the Aggies, 21-7, en route to the 42-13 win. The Red Dragons racked up 279 rushing yards on 54 attempts with four while completing 12-of-22 passes for 135 yards against the DelVal defense.
On the other side of the ball, the Aggies managed 57 yards on 28 runs and completed 16-of-24 passes for 196 yards. Starting quarterback Louie Barrios IV was 11-for-19 for 85 yards with an interception while senior quarterback Nick Arcaroli completed all four of his attempts for 72 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Luan Avdijaj and tailback Jay White had three receptions each and sophomore wide receiver Dillon Shamanow had a 52-yard catch-and-run touchdown as one of his two receptions.
White led the Aggies on the ground attack with nine attempts for 49 yards including a long run of 20 yards. DelVal will look to sophomore Jack Fallon and senior Kyle Powell to join White in a more successful ground attack this week.
Defensively, senior linebacker Nick Chapman, a preseason All-America selection, recorded a game-high 13 tackles while senior defensive end Jacquez Mabin had nine tackles including two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup. Senior linebacker Anthony Puntolillo got to the quarterback for a sack as part of his six tackles and Bootman added four tackles and two pass breakups to go with his first career interception.
The last time these two teams met, in 2019, the Aggies ran the ball 40 times for 233 yards and three touchdowns. They found similar success through the air as they racked up 265 yards and four touchdowns on 13-of-22 completions. Despite losing three fumbles in that game, DelVal won the turnover battle as the defense came away with four interceptions including a pick-six. Defensive coordinator Nick Brady's unit allowed 202 yards of offense in that meeting with just 86 yards allowed on the ground.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
Albright Football is led by second-year head coach Isaac Collins who is in his second stint as a head coach in the MAC. From 2010-2012 Collins led the Widener Pride to a 25-8 record that included a MAC championship title and a trip to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals. He was named the MAC Coach of the Year, regional coach of the year, and Maxwell Club's Tri-State Coach of the Year after that season.
Collins is still looking for his first win at Albright as the team went 0-10 in 2022 and dropped this year's season-opener at nationally-ranked Hardin-Simmons. The Cowboys scored three times and intercepted a pass in the first quarter to take a 21-0 lead into the second where they quickly tacked on another score and took a four-touchdown lead at halftime.
On their first drive of the second half, the Lions used a 34-yard completion to setup a field goal that Dean Severin converted from 24 yards out to get Albright on the board.
Hardin-Simmons gouged the Lions 373 passing yards and five passing touchdowns on 22-of-28 completions. The Cowboys racked up another 255 yards on the ground for 628 yards of total offense in the game. Meanwhile, Albright was held to 165 yards rushing on 50 attempts and completed just 8-of-198 passes for 104 yards with two interceptions thrown. Hardin-Simmons also handed over 111 yards worth of penalties on 10 infractions.
A pair of quarterbacks split time for the Lions last week. First-year Matt Remash got the start and completed 5-of-10 passes for 79 yards with an interception before being relieved by another first-year, the 6-foot-4, 337 pound Ty'Sean Helm. Helm ran the ball more than he threw it as he attempted 14 rushes for 65 yards with a long scamper of 10 yards. He completed just 3-of-9 passes for 25 yards and an interception. Four different players had 10 or more carries for the Lions last week with Helm being the leader in rush yards.
Six different players caught a pass for the Lions with first-year wide receiver Matthew Creeger leading the group with two catches for 52 yards.
Defensively, Albright recorded seven tackles for loss led by 1.5 TFL for senior defensive end Eric Martin who finished with four tackles. First-year corner back K.J. Stewart led the group with six tackles and junior safety CJ Partridge had an interception and half a tackle for loss.
Senior punter Keil Heineman averaged 41 yards per punt on five attempts and pinned the opponent inside the 20 twice.
