DOYLESTOWN
(PA)
–
The
Delaware
Valley
College
football team will look to keep its amazing run going as the undefeated and
nationally-ranked Aggies host King’s College for
Family Day on Saturday, October 29. Kickoff at James Work Memorial Stadium is
scheduled for
1:00
p.m.
Although both teams are members of the 11-team, Middle Atlantic
Conference (MAC), the contest is considered a non-conference outing for
Delaware
Valley
and a league game for the Monarchs. Each year, one team has to play all 10 MAC
opponents, but the conference is based on a nine-game schedule so one is
pre-determined to not count towards the standings. Such is the case for
Saturday’s game.
The game is still of the utmost importance for the Aggies,
as they look to remain perfect in 2005. They are 7-0 both overall and in the MAC
and one of just 17 teams in Division III (231 football members) that are
undefeated heading into the last week of the month. They are ranked eighth in
the latest D3football.com
poll and are ninth in both the Don
Hansen’s Football Gazette and American Football Coaches Association
(AFCA) polls.
Delaware
Valley
has also won its last 18 regular-season games, a streak that dates back to the
last week of the 2003 campaign. The team has also won 21 of its last 22 games
are is 29-3 over its last 32 contests, including the team’s run to the NCAA
quarterfinals last season (the team was 8-24 in the 32 contests prior to the
run). In addition, the Aggies have also been
victorious in their last 13 home games with the last loss coming, ironically,
against King’s (35-23) in 2003.
Delaware
Valley
sits atop the MAC standings with just two conference battles.
Wilkes
University
(5-1) is the only one-loss team in conference play, but the Aggies
have the tiebreaker edge over Wilkes thanks to a 17-14 victory on September 17.
Therefore, they can claim their second straight MAC championship and automatic
berth to the NCAA Division III playoffs with a victory at Juniata College (0-7)
next Saturday, November 5.
Delaware
Valley
can assure itself of at least a share of the title, but not the postseason berth
this week if Wilkes loses at home to Albright.
The Aggies are coming off a dominating 48-14
victory at
Susquehanna
University
where their rushing attack netted 420 yards and four touchdowns on 52 carries.
In fact, the performance propelled
Delaware
Valley
to the number one spot in the MAC in rushing offense (227.7 avg).
Sophomore tailback Jake
Sheffield (
Glenolden
,
PA
/Interboro)
earned
his first start and notched the 11th-highest, single-game rushing
total in school history as he carried the ball 23 times for a career-high 173
yards and two scores. It upped
Sheffield
’s
season numbers to 75 carries for 458 yards and six touchdowns. He has also
caught a pair of touchdown passes for a team-best eight scores.
All-time leading rusher Steve
Cook’s (Ocean View, NJ/
Ocean
City
)
saw
limited duty, but still gained 55 yards and a trip to the end zone on five
carries. The touchdown was the 31st (27 rushing, 4 receiving) of the
senior’s career, tying him with 2003 grad Rich Gear for the top spot in both
touchdowns and points (186). Cook already owns the school’s career records for
rushing yards (2,857), rushing touchdowns (27) and all-purpose yards (3,613). He
has rushed the ball 205 times for 611 yards and six touchdowns while catching 18
passes for 150 yards and
one
score
this season.
Senior quarterback Adam
Knoblauch (Tamaqua, PA/Tamaqua) is moving
closer to NCAA history as, with 9,666 career passing yards, he is 334 yards shy
of becoming just the fifth
quarterback (all Divisions) to pass for 10,000 yards and rush for
1,000 yards in a career. He is already over the rushing total with 1,165 yards
and he would join the exclusive list that includes Steve McNair (
Division
I-AA
Alcorn
State
),
Doug Nussmeier (Division I-AA Idaho), Curt Anes
(Division II Grand Valley State) and Adam King (Division III Howard Payne).
Knoblauch completed 14 of 25 passes for 152
yards and one touchdown while also rushing nine times for 86 yards and a score
against Susquehanna. That performance helped move him into sixth place on the
Division III all-time list with 10,831 yards of total offense. He is also 15th
in career passing yards and 20th in passing touchdowns with 86.
For the season, Knoblauch has completed 121
of 206 passes for 1,689 yards and 14 touchdowns. On the ground, he has netted
353 yards and five trips to the end zone on 70 attempts.
The junior tandem of wideouts David
Carmon (
Iselin
,
NJ
/John
F. Kennedy)
and Don
Marshall
(
Captiol
Heights
,
MD
/Bladensburg)
are
Knoblauch’s favorite targets.
Carmon, a preseason All-American, has caught 34 passes for 524 yards and
five touchdowns on the season, including two catches for 21 yards last week. He
moved into second place on the Aggie all-time list with 156 receptions and he is
also third in yardage (2,179) and tied for fourth in touchdowns (15).
Marshall
made five grabs for 82 yards and a touchdown at Susquehanna and, in the process,
became just the fourth player in school history to go over the 2,000-yard
receiving mark (2,053) for a career. His 103 career catches rank seventh and his
18 touchdowns rank third. For the season,
Marshall
is right behind Carmon with 30 receptions for 497 yards and four scores.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Aggies
are ranked first in the MAC in total yardage allowed (286.9 avg)
while placing second in rushing (114.9 avg), passing
(172.0 avg) and scoring (15.3 avg).
Junior defensive lineman Anthony
Silver (
Warminster
,
PA
/William
Tennent) was
dominant against Susquehanna and was named to the MAC Honor Roll as a result. He
finished the day with 10 tackles (nine solo), including for losses, two forced
fumbles and a sack and moved into third place on the Aggie all-time list with 17
sacks. Silver is tied for third on the team with 2.5 sacks and fourth in tackles
in 38.
Sophomore linebacker John
Pursell (
Middletown
,
DE
/
Middletown
)
continues to pace the unit with 63 tackles (32 solo) while also adding 10
tackles behind the line of scrimmage and 2.5 sacks. He had seven tackles and a
fumble recovery last week.
Junior linebacker A.J.
Neal (
Bridgeville
,
DE
/
Sussex
Central) follows
with 43 tackles (24 solo) and he has also contributed two interceptions and 1.5
sacks. Last week, Neal had five tackles and an interception that set up a
Delaware
Valley
touchdown.
Sophomore
Quincy
Thaxton (
Bayonne
,
NJ
/
Bayonne
)
is
coming off a big showing on both defense and special teams. The safety had six
stops and the first interception of his career and he also blocked a punt that
resulted in a score. Thaxton is third on the team in
tackles with 40.
The blocked punt by Thaxton was recovered in
the end zone by Dave
Gerena (
Piscataway
,
NJ
/
Piscataway
)
for the freshman’s first collegiate touchdown.
Junior placekicker Bill
Miller (
Delran
,
NJ
/Delran)
was
named the MAC Special Teams Player of the Week as he kicked two field goals and
was perfect on all six extra-point attempts for a 12-point afternoon at
Susquehanna. The first field goal was a 40-yarder on the last play of the first
half and it was the longest kick in Nicholas A. Lopardo
Stadium. Miller now has 13 career field goals, moving him into a tie for second
place on the all-time list. He is 6-for-8 on field goal tries and a perfect
33-for-33 on extra-points for 51 points this season.
KING’S
COLLEGE
The Monarchs are 4-3 overall and 4-2 in the MAC following last
Saturday’s 31-24 victory over
Widener
University
.
They built a 24-3, third-quarter before having to hold on at the end for the
win.
Despite playing in muddy conditions and being primarily known as a
running team, King’s went to the air against Widener and senior quarterback Chris
Barnic completed 22 of 30 passes for a
school single-game record 371 yards and three touchdowns while being named the
MAC Offensive Player of the Week. He is 104-for-195 on the season for 1,600
yards and 13 touchdowns with just three interceptions.
Barnic’s favorite targets are senior wideouts
Blake
Letchford and Julian
Walker. Letchford made a career-high nine
catches for 177 yards and two scores against Widener to up his season numbers to
36 receptions for 677 yards and seven scores.
Walker
made eight grabs for 143 yards and one trip to the end zone last week. For the
season, he has 27 catches for 483 yards and three touchdowns.
Junior tailback John
Ortiz leads the MAC in rushing with 951 yards and 10 touchdowns on
217 carries. Ortiz, who earlier in the year set a NCAA Division III record with
59 carries, rushed the ball 27 times for 69 yards and one touchdown against
Widener.
The Monarchs defense allows an average of 21.4 points and 341.7 yards per
game. They are tough against the run, holding opponents to 117 yards per contest
and they limited Widener’s ground game to 66 yards last week.
Junior linebacker Tore
Alaimo paces the squad with 79 tackles
(49 solo) and has also notched two sacks, two fumble recoveries and an
interception. He had nine stops, one interception and one sack last week.
Fellow junior linebacker Brendan
Ireton is King’s leader in
interceptions with three, including one pick against Widener. He also made five
solo tackles and forced a fumble last week and he now has 13 tackles on the
year.
