Football

Delaware Valley College 28, King's College 19

DOYLESTOWN (PA) - Senior tailback Steve Cook rushed for a career-high 204 yards and one touchdown while senior quarterback Adam Knoblauch passed for 207 yards and two scores, as defending Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) champion Delaware Valley College remained unbeaten with a 28-19 victory over visiting King's College Saturday at James Work Memorial Field in Doylestown.

With the win, Delaware Valley, ranked eighth nationally in Division III, won its 19th consecutive regular-season game and improved to 8-0 overall while standing 7-0 in the Middle Atlantic Conference. King's saw its three-game win streak come to an end as the Monarchs slipped to 4-4 and 4-3 in the MAC.

Cook and Knoblauch led an Aggie offensive attack that racked up 508 total yards and held the ball for more than 40 minutes (40:04). Cook carried the ball 34 times while notching the fourth-highest, single-game rushing total in school history. He also became the first back in Delaware Valley history to go over the 3,000-yard rushing mark (3,061) and his one touchdown was his school-record 32nd of his career (27 rushing, 5 receiving).

Knoblauch completed 17 of 29 passes, including two touchdowns and also rushed for 62 yards and a score. With 9,873 career passing yards and 1,227 rushing yards, he is quickly closing in on becoming just the fifth quarterback in NCAA history - all Divisions - to throw for 10,000 yards and rush for a 1,000 yards.

Delaware Valley took the opening kickoff and drove 56 yards on nine plays, capped by Cook's one-yard record plunge into the end zone. Bill Miller added the conversion and the Aggies took a 7-0 lead with 10:04 remaining in the first period.

King answered quickly as Blake Letchford returned the ensuing kickoff 55 yards to the Delaware Valley 28. Five plays later and on third-and-goal from the four, Monarch quarterback Chris Barnic found alone in the end zone for a touchdown. Tim Lust's conversion kick, however, sailed wide left as the Monarchs trailed 7-6 with 7:52 left in the opening stanza.

Delaware Valley drove downfield on its next possession and reached the King's 35. Knoblauch then ran a quarterback draw and raced to the King's one-yard line. However, he was stripped of the ball by Tore Alaimo and Monarch safety Mike Lyons recovered in the end zone for a touchback to thwart the drive.

The Monarchs took advantage as, on the second play, Ortiz burst through a huge hole up the middle and raced 80 yards for a Monarch score. Lust would again miss the conversion when the kick caromed off the left crossbar as King's took a 12-7 lead with 3:48 remaining in the first quarter.

The Aggies regained control of the lead in the second quarter as they went on a nine-play, 72-yard drive that was capped by Knoblauch's 15-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Don Marshall. Miller kick gave the Aggies a 14-12 lead with 13:38 remaining in the second period.

After the teams traded punts, King's took over and drove to the Aggie 31. On the next play, a fumble on a handoff exchange was recovered by Delaware Valley's Joe Whitesell and the Aggies took over on their own 30-yard line.

Delaware Valley took advantage of the turnover and drove 70 yards on six plays, culminating with Knoblauch's eight-yard scoring toss to tight end Jason Rorer. Miller's kick upped the Delaware Valley advantage to 21-12 with 7:30 left in the second period, a lead the Aggies took into the halftime break.

Late in the third quarter, King's took over on its own 15-yard line and, six players later, Letchford got behind the Aggie secondary and hauled in a pass from Barnic for a 55-yard scoring pass. Lust's conversion kick would bring the Monarchs to within 21-19 with 1:07 remaining in the third period.

It stayed that way until there was 5:11 left in the game, when Delaware Valley took over at the Monarch 39 with 5:51 remaining. Marshall ran a 16-yard reverse to the 23 and Joel Foreman made a key 14-yard catch on a key third-and-10 to put the ball at the nine-yard line. Cook scampered eight yards to the one and Knoblauch followed with a one-yard sneak into the end zone with 2:49 remaining to put the game away.

Marshall led the Aggie receivers with six catches for 94 yards and one score. Defensively, John Pursell led the attack with nine tackles while Whitesell finished with seven stops and a fumble recovery.

For King's, Oritz rushed for 123 yards on 13 carries while Barnic was 12-of-29 for 178 yards and two scores. Letchford finished with seven catches for 118 yards and two scores. Alaimo led the Monarch defense with 17 tackles.