DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Chris Smallwood rushed for four touchdowns while Rasheed Bailey broke the Delaware Valley single-season receiving yardage record as the 21st-ranked Aggies remained undefeated with a 41-7 victory over visiting Misericordia University in a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) game.
Delaware Valley improved to a perfect 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the conference to remain tied with Widener University for the top spot in the standings. The Pride picked up a huge, 34-17 win at Lycoming College on Saturday. The Aggies and Widener are scheduled to meet in Chester in three weeks for the regular-season finale.
Smallwood entered the contest ranked fourth in Division III in rushing touchdowns with 13 and he added to that total with scoring runs of 17, 1, 12 and 1 yard. He is now just one touchdown shy of tying the school's single-season mark in that category. Smallwood finished Saturday with 83 yards on 16 carries.
Bailey, Division III's leader in receiving yards (1,053) and yards per game (175.5 avg), had eight catches for 142 yards and one touchdown – all in the first half. Bailey's new total of 1,195 yards broke the previous record of 1,159 set by David Carmon in 2004 and Bailey did so in six less games. He also surpassed Rich Gear (10 games in 2002) for receiving touchdowns in a season with 13.
Delaware Valley's potent offense racked up 476 yards on 58 plays (8.2 avg) with the starters coming out of the game midway through the third quarter. The defense kept Misericordia (1-6, 1-5 MAC) off the scoreboard for 59 minutes before a turnover gave the Cougars a short field and they capitalized on it. The Aggies allowed just 269 total yards, including just 21 in the air.
Delaware Valley received the ball on its own 20 following a Misericordia punt and needed just five plays and 118 seconds to put the ball in the end zone on its first possession of the day. Bailey caught three passes for 57 yards and Smallwood had 23 rushing yards, including the last 17 that put him in the end zone. The extra-point was no good for a 6-0 score just 5:08 into the contest.
Later in the first, the Aggies began a drive on their nine-yard line and quickly moved into Cougar territory as the quarter came to an end. Three plays into the second, quarterback Aaron Wilmer hit fullback Jarrett Reinhard for a two-yard touchdown pass, his first of his collegiate career. Brandon Snyder's boot made it 13-0.
Delaware Valley went on another long scoring drive, this time a 10-play, 97-yard possession. Smallwood had a 47-yard catch-and-run out of the backfield on the drive and he capped it with a one-yard push into the end zone and a 20-0 advantage with 4:29 left in the half.
On Misericordia's second play, Ryan Gordon forced a fumble on a swing pass and Rashaad Lighty recovered it at the Cougar 19. Delaware Valley wasted no time as Wilmer hit Bailey in the end zone on the first play and the Aggies went up 27-0 just 1:02 after their last score.
Smallwood capped Delaware Valley's last scoring drives with a 12-yard run with 10 minutes left in the third and a one-yard score with 7:08 on the clock in the quarter.
Misericordia avoided the shutout in the closing moments of the contest. First, its defense forced a turnover as Anthony Vega stripped quarterback Charlie Marterella of the ball and Anthony Buffa recovered it at the Aggie 11. A pass interference penalty two plays later moved the ball up to the two and quarterback Brandon Leap scored from there with 59 seconds to go for the 41-7 final.
Wilmer completed 17 of 23 passes for 292 yards and two scores. In addition to Bailey, Bobby Marteralla caught three passes for 55 yards. Tyler Bing ran for 63 yards on three carries and caught a 19-yard pass as well.
Defensively for Delaware Valley, Ethan Snyder led the charge with 11 tackles while Matt Smith and Danny Wynne had nine and eight stops respectively.
For Misericordia, quarterback Jeff Puckett ran the ball 19 times for a game-high 107 yards, but he was just 1-for-7 for minus nine yards in the air. Ryan Kurtz added 61 yards on the ground while Leap ran for 46 yards and threw for 30. Brian Hart and Brandon Salazar each had nine tackles in the loss.