OWINGS MILLS (Md.) – Delaware Valley University football, ranked 10th in Division III, moved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) play with a convincing 26-7 victory on the road at 25th ranked conference rival Stevenson University.
The victory extended the DelVal football conference-record win-streak to 39 games in a row dating back to 2016.
The Aggies got the ball to start the game, but a penalty and a fumble halted the drive and DelVal punted.
On the Mustang's first drive, facing a third and long, the Nobile brothers got into the backfield and Michael forced an errant pass that Anthony intercepted and returned to the Stevenson one-yard line. On the very next play, Louie Barrios IV ran a successful quarterback sneak and the Aggies took a 6-0 lead just four minutes into the game.
Stevenson's next drive went for 21 yards on six plays and DelVal took over inside its own 10 after the punt. The Aggies were stopped on three plays, but a roughing the kicker penalty on the punt attempt gave them 15 yards and a new set of downs. The teams continued to trade punts the rest of the first quarter and DelVal took its 6-0 lead into the second.
The Aggies gained 64 yards on 16 plays in the first compared to 51 yards on 14 plays for Stevenson.
On the Mustang's first drive of the second quarter, Yusuf Aladinov stopped a run at the line of scrimmage then got a sack on third down to force another punt.
Later in the quarter, Stevenson drove 48 yards on 10 plays but missed a 41-yard field goal attempt to keep it a 6-0 game. On the very next play, Tahmir Barksdale got behind the secondary and Barrios hit him for a 49 yard reception to the Mustang 29 yard line. Two plays later, Barrios found Barksdale over the middle of the field and the two-time All-American walked into the end zone. The point after attempt failed for the second time in the game and DelVal took a 12-0 lead with 2:45 left in the half.
On Stevenson's next drive Anthony Puntolillo got a tackle for loss on second down. On third down, Aladinov chased down the tailback for a one-yard gain and after another punt time ran out on the first half.
DelVal totaled 138 yards of offense on 26 plays including 94 pass yards. Stevenson managed 113 yards on 32 plays with just 22 rushing yards.
The Mustangs got the ball to start the second half and ate up 4:38 of clock. They faced a 4th down and one at the Aggies 28-yard line and handed the ball to Matt Goetz who was met in the backfield by Nick Chapman for a loss of three yards and a turnover on downs.
On the ensuing drive, DelVal faced a 3rd & 11 from its own 30 and Barrios took a hit in the pocket but got the ball down field to Ryan Loughlin along the sideline for a 36-yard gain. After converting a fourth down to keep the drive alive, Barrios took another hit in the pocket before delivering a perfect pass over the middle of the field to Jordan Collazo for a 20-yard touchdown. Nick Choi's extra point gave the Aggies a 19-0 lead with 5:52 left in the third.
In the fourth quarter, the Mustang's completed a 15 play, 66 yard touchdown drive when Ryan Sedgwick found Brandon Booze in the corner of the end zone for a seven yard score. The point after was good and DelVal's lead was cut to 19-7 with 10:42 left in regulation. The Aggies got a third down sack early in the drive, but it was negated by a 15-yard penalty that kept the drive alive.
Needing an answer, DelVal went to the ground attack and ran the ball 32-straight plays and covered 89 yards resulting in a Barrios one-yard touchdown and seven points for the Aggies that made it 26-7 with just 3:19 left in regulation.
Stevenson managed just
The Aggies finished with 331 yards of total offense on 52 plays. Barrios was responsible for all four touchdowns as he threw two and ran for another two. He finished 12-for-17 for 190 yards and added nine runs for 40 yards. Barksdale caught seven passes for 113 yards and a touchdown to lead all receivers and Jay White carried the ball 14 times for 70 yards. Tim Weldon was big on the final drive of the game and he finished with 32 yards on seven carries.
Aladinov finished with eight tackles including three tackles for loss and a sack while Michael Nobile finished with 1.5 sacks and four tackles. Nick Chapman led the unit with 10 tackles and two tackles for loss.
As a whole, the defense held Stevenson to 213 yards on 68 plays including just 32 rushing yards. Sedgwick completed 24-of-35 passes for 181 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked three times. Booze had nine catches for 72 yards and Smothers finished with seven receptions for 55 yards. Brandon Walker was the leading rusher and he had just 16 yards on 12 runs.
The Aggies will return home next week to take on the Lycoming College Warriors at noon on Saturday, October 8.