Football

NCAA DIVISION III PLAYOFFS - FIRST ROUND
Delaware Valley 21, Shenandoah University 17

DOYLESTOWN (PA) - Steve Cook's five-yard touchdown run with 1:53 remaining lifted the Delaware Valley College football team to a 21-17, come-from-behind victory over visiting Shenandoah University in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.

With the win the Aggies, seeded second in the region, improved to 11-0 on the season and will host No. 3 St. John Fisher College (10-1) next Saturday, November 27 at 12:00 p.m. St. John Fisher posted a 31-3 victory over Muhlenberg College to reach the second round.

Shenandoah, which reached the NCAA playoffs in just its fifth year of collegiate football, ended its season with a 7-4 record and a USA South Conference title.

The fourth-quarter comeback was the fifth for the Aggies this season. Delaware Valley trailed 17-8, but put together a 12-play, 60-yard scoring drive that ended with Adam Knoblauch's 20-yard touchdown pass to David Carmon with 13:06 remaining. The extra-point attempt was blocked for a 17-14 score.

The Aggies got the ball back with 10:41 remaining after a Dawaine Whetstone interception at his own 3, but Knoblauch was intercepted by Justin Mosser at the Hornet 14-yard line four minutes later.

Delaware Valley took over for its final possession of the game at its 42 with 4:49 to go. Knoblauch began the drive with a 14-yard scamper and later threw a 21-yard pass to Carmon to put the ball at the 5. Cook went around left end for his school-record 13th rushing touchdown and Bill Miller added the point-after for a 21-17 advantage.

The Hornets started their ensuing possession on its own 45 and gained nine yards on first down, but threw an incomplete pass on second down, lost four yards on a third down draw play and then wasn't able to convert the fourth and five. Delaware Valley ran out the remaining time for its first-ever NCAA victory (in fact it was the first time that any Aggie team had reached the NCAA playoffs in a team-qualifying sport).

Delaware Valley sprinted out a 6-0 lead as they took the opening kickoff and went 51 yards on six plays, capped by Knoblauch's 16-yard touchdown run with 12:25 left in the first. Miller's extra-point attempt was blocked.

Later in the quarter, Shenandoah used a big defensive play to put itself in scoring position. Defensive end Jesse Levenson stripped Knoblauch at the Aggie 46, where linebacker Eddie Freeman picked it up and lateraled to safety George Hewan five yards downfield. Hewan took the ball all the way to the Aggie 7 before being knocked out of bounds.

Three plays later, Hornet quarterback Jon Hoffman hit Mike McVearry for a nine-yard touchdown pass and a Bryce Harrington PAT gave the visitors the 7-6 advantage with 7:20 left in the first quarter.

The score remained there until 3:08 was left in the half when a poor snap on a Shenandoah punt attempt forced Bryce Harrington to kick the ball out of his own end zone for a safety and a Delaware Valley 8-7 lead.

Shenandoah controlled the first 15 minute of the second half and scored 10 points in the quarter. The Hornets drove 63 yards on its first possession and took a 14-8 lead when Maurice Coleman capped the 13-play drive with a five-yard touchdown reception from Hoffman. They then drove 56 yards on their next possession and settled for Harrington's 33-yard field goal with 3:10 left in the third. That set the stage for another fourth-quarter comeback for Delaware Valley.

Knoblauch completed 18 of 32 passes for 229 yards and one touchdown while also rushing for 87 yards and a score on 11 attempts. In the process, he broke his own single-season records for completion (191), passing yards (2,694) and total offense (3,067).

Carmon grabbed a game-high seven passes for 138 yards and a touchdown while Cook rushed for 102 yards and the game-winning score on 18 carries. With that effort, Cook became just the fourth running back in Delaware Valley history to surpass the 2,000-yard mark for a career. Cook now has 2,058 yards to join Jim Wilson (2,634), Eric Reynolds (2,311) and Nick Russo (2,153) on the exclusive list.

Whetstone had two interceptions and added six tackles for the Aggie defense. Clint LaStella, Kyle Mancuso, Brandon Tolbert and Joe Whitesell notched eight tackles apiece.

Shenandoah rushed for 208 yards on the afternoon, led by Anthony Frates' game-high 141 yards on 33 carries. Hoffman was 9-for-20 for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Kenny Weaver paced the defense with a game-high 12 tackles.