Football

Delaware Valley Downs Wilkes University 12-0, Win MAC Title And Automatic Berth To The NCAA Division III Playoffs For The First Time In School History

DOYLESTOWN (PA) - The Delaware Valley College football team clinched the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Championship and an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III playoffs for the first time in school history with a 12-0 victory over visiting Wilkes University.

The win improved the Aggies, ranked ninth in the Division III coaches poll, to 9-0 overall and 8-0 in the MAC. That triumph coupled with Moravian's 46-39 loss to Albright gave the Aggies the title and a spot in the NCAA, 28-field tournament, which will be announced on Sunday, November 14. No Delaware Valley team has ever reached the NCAA Division III playoffs in a team-qualifying sport until now.

The championship caps a remarkable turnaround orchestrated by Aggie head coach G.A. Mangus who took over the program three months prior to the 2002 season and went 2-8 in his first year. Last season, Delaware Valley posted the fifth-greatest, one-year turnaround in NCAA Division III history as the Aggies went 9-2 and won the ECAC Southeast Championship (the Division III equivalent of the NIT). Delaware Valley took it one step further in 2004 by a team comprised of mostly freshmen and sophomores.

The story of the day was the Aggie defense as the Colonels, who entered the day averaging 33.5 points and 451 yards per game, to just 116 yards of total offense. They also held reigning Division III Player of the Year Brett Trichilo to only 61 yards on 25 carries. Trichilo is the fifth all-time leading rusher in Division III history and tops in the country this year with an average of 185 yards per contest.

Delaware Valley took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards on eight plays, capped by Steve Cook's two-yard touchdown run. Cook notched 48 yards on the drive and David Carmon hauled in a key 31-yard pass from Adam Knoblauch to put the ball at the two. Bill Miller's extra-point attempt was blocked Julian Morales to leave the score at 6-0 with 11:06 remaining in the quarter.

It stayed 6-0 until the third quarter as both defenses and a gusty wind made the game a battle of field position. Delaware Valley then took over at the Wilkes 43-yard line following a 23-yard punt return by John Kiphorn. On the first play from scrimmage, Cook bounced to the outside and went down the left sideline 43 yards for the touchdown, his 10th of the season. The two-point conversion pass failed and the Aggies had a 12-0 lead with 9:37 left in the quarter.

Wilkes (5-4, 5-3 MAC) advanced into Delaware Valley territory three times after that score but were stopped on a punt and interceptions by Sean Raftery and Dawaine Whetstone. The Aggies totaled four sacks and three interceptions in the game.

Senior Andrew Erby led the Delaware Valley attack with 10 tackles and a sack and became the Aggies' all-time leader with 347 tackles. Fellow senior Clint LaStella followed with nine tackles and half a sack while yet another senior, Rob Wilkins, was in the backfield all day with seven tackles (four for losses) and half a sack.

Cook finished with 166 yards and two scores on 36 carries and became just the third player in Delaware Valley to go over the 1,000-yard mark for a season (1,050). Knoblauch completed 14 of 27 passes for 134 yards, but did not throw a touchdown for the first time this season. Carmon caught seven passes for 78 yards.

Colonel quarterback Al Karaffa was 8-for-27 for 63 yards while Jim Jordan caught four passes for 28 yards. Wilkes' defense had a strong showing as it limited the Aggies - averaging 33 points and 430.8 yards per game - to 287 yards. Jon Jamison led the way with 12 tackles and an interception. Kyle Follweiller added nine tackles and an interception while Morales made eight stops.

The Aggies end their regular season at home next Saturday against Widener University and will then find out the NCAA tournament field on Sunday afternoon.