MONTCLAIR (Nj.) – The Delaware Valley University football team finished non-conference play with a 14-6 victory on the road over the Montclair State University Red Hawks to improve to 2-0 on the season.
The Aggies dominated the first quarter, but only held a 7-0 lead to show for it. The defense forced the Red Hawks into a turnover on three of their four drives in the quarter as they recovered two fumbles and got an interception from safety Cole Kitchen, the third of his career.
The offense turned one of the turnovers into a touchdown as they took over at Montclair's three yard line and Louis Barrios found sophomore Luan Avdijaj for his first career touchdown. Avdijaj beat his defender with a nice out route to the front pylon to secure the score. Nick Choi added the extra point to make it 7-0 with 4:18 left in the first.
Neither team could get much offense going in the second quarter as DelVal accumulated just 20 yards and the Red Hawks went for just 28 yards. The Aggies forced another turnover in the second stanza, this time on a muffed punt recovered by Jaelyn Gaither, but it remained a 7-0 game at the half.
The third quarter proved to be much of the same as Montclair was held to 37 yards on 13 plays while DelVal managed 54 yards on 19 plays and it remained a one-score game going into the fourth quarter.
To start the fourth, the Aggies finished an 11-play, 58-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run by sophomore Jay White, his first touchdown of the season. Choi's second extra point of the day made it 14-0 with 13 minutes left in regulation.
Montclair State got on the board with 6:40 to play when Mason Murdock found Clearance Wilkins deep over the middle for a 28-yard touchdown strike on a 2nd & 10 play. The Red Hawks went for two, but the rush up the middle was stuffed by the defensive front of DelVal.
On the next drive, the Aggies ran the ball nine times in a row and picked up four first downs to ultimately run out the clock and preserve the 14-6 victory and move to 2-0 on the year.
DelVal finished the game with 213 yards of total offense on 126 yards passing and 87 yards rushing. Barrios completed 15-of-37 passes with a touchdown and an interception while White carried the ball 17 times for 55 yards and a touchdown. Barksdale finished with 62 yards of total offense including a team-high six receptions for 44 yards.
Defensively, the Aggies forced four turnovers and allowed 195 yards of total offense. The Red Hawks ran for 74 yards and threw for another 121 yards with one interception and three fumbles lost.
Both teams punted for exactly 311 yards on eight attempts, an identical 38.9 yards per boot. Pat Moran pinned Montclair State inside its own 20-yard line three times and had one punt over 50 yards.
Ahmad Jones and Blaine Netterman were credited with seven tackles apiece to lead DelVal with Jones forcing a fumbling and earning one tackle for loss. Yusuf Aladinov led the squad with two sacks to go with his four tackles and a forced fumble.
Mike Ramos, a linebacker for the Red Hawks, led all players with 13 tackles including three TFL and two pass breakups. Dimitri Pali was credited with six tackles and one sack and Kimani Carrington made three tackles and added an interception.
The Aggies will put their 36-game Middle Atlantic Conference win-streak on the line over the next eight weeks as it battles conference foes the rest of the way. It begins with a road contest at King's College next Saturday with kickoff slated for 1 p.m.