Football

Delaware Valley College 21 Albright College 14

READING (PA) - The Delaware Valley College defense recorded five sacks and forced three turnovers against the top-ranked offense in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) as the Aggies ended the regular season with a 21-14 victory at Albright College.

Delaware Valley improved to 5-5 overall (5-4 against Division III teams) and 5-2 in the MAC while the Lions fell to 7-3 overall and also 5-2 in the conference. Both teams will await word on whether or not they will receive a bid to an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) bowl game. The match-ups for the three Southern Region games will be announced on Monday with the games scheduled for next Saturday.

Albright entered the contest leading the MAC in scoring (27.9 avg), total yardage (351.4 avg) and passing (269.1 avg). However, the Aggie defense was first in scoring (15.7 avg) and second in yardage (277.9 avg), and the unit held the Lions to 266 yards with most of it coming in the latter stages of the contest.

On its first possession of the game, Albright drove down to the Delaware Valley 37-yard line, but a Nate Romig fumble was recovered by the Aggies' Quincy Thaxton. Delaware Valley then took the ball and marched 63 yards on eight plays, capped by Jake Sheffield's 12-yard touchdown run. Sheffield appeared to be stopped at the line of scrimmage, but the senior stayed on his feet and found the end zone. Shane Toohey added the extra-point to give the Aggies a 7-0 lead with 5:43 remaining in the first quarter.

The Lions stalled on their next possession due mostly to a pair of sacks by Travis Albanesius. Tanner Kelly then boomed a 65-yard punt to trap Delaware Valley at its own two-yard line. The Aggie offense then put together a 17-play drive that took more than nine minutes off the clock. However, the drive stalled at the Albright 16 and a field goal attempt went awry on a high snap.

Albanesius recorded another sack to bump the Lions back into a long third down situation. Kelly's third-down pass was intercepted by Charles Squitiere and the sophomore cornerback returned the pick 40 yards for a touchdown. Toohey's extra-point upped the Delaware Valley lead to 14-0 with 5:38 left in the first half.

Albright reached the Aggie 16-yard line on their next drive, but Greg Rissinger sacked Kelly for an eight-yard loss to force a fourth-and-10. Kelly was pressured again and his four-yard scramble was well short of the first down and Delaware Valley's offense took over once again. The Aggies stalled in Lion territory and the half ended with Delaware Valley holding a 14-0 advantage.

In the second half, a 48-yard punt by Steve Giovacchini trapped Albright deep in its own territory. A Kyle Gesswein sacked moved the ball back to the Lion 2 and they later had to punt from the one-yard line. Kelly managed just an 18-yard boot and Delaware Valley had a golden opportunity from the Lion 19.

However, the Aggies' first play saw Matt Cook get stripped of the ball and Albright's Matt Christ returned it 51 yards to the Delaware Valley 31. Later in the drive, the Lions faced a fourth-and-4 from the Aggie 10, but Kelly was intercepted by Kyle Mancuso in the end zone for a touchback with 3:30 left in the third quarter.

In the fourth, Delaware Valley's Mike Isgro was picked off by Taylor Ruddy and he returned it to the Albright 44. The Lions drove down to the Aggie 13, but linebacker Kyle Reuter deflected a fourth down pass to halt the scoring attempt.

However, Sheffield fumbled the ball away on Delaware Valley's first play and Albright's Mike Ciccimaro recovered at the 16-yard line. Later in the drive, the Lions faced a third-and-goal from the six and Kelly found Romig for the touchdown. John Whelan's extra-point cut the Aggie lead in half at 14-7 with 10:05 remaining in the contest.

Isgro and Delaware Valley responded immediately by going on a six-play, 67-yard scoring drive. Isgro accounted for 56 of the yards, first with a dazzling, 29-yard run that saw him break a number of tackles. He then capped the drive with a 20-yard run that beat an Albright blitz. Toohey added the extra-point for a 21-7 score with 7:03 to go.

Albright made things interesting with 1:33 remaining as Kelly and Romig teamed up for an eight-yard touchdown to make it 21-14. However, the onsides kick attempt was recovered by Delaware Valley's Jimmy Smith and the Aggies ran out the clock to end the contest.

Delaware Valley finished with 359 yards of offense, including 249 on 47 rushing attempts. Isgro was 13-for-23 for 110 yards and also rushed nine times for 100 yards and a score. The sophomore also moved into third place on the Aggie all-time list with 4,275 yards.

Sheffield, in what may be the final game of his career, carried the ball 20 times for 84 yards and a score and also caught a team-best six passes for 42 yards. He became the fifth player in school history to go over 2,000 rushing yards (2,044) and ninth player to go over 3,000 all-purpose yards (3,123).

Defensively, Albanesius tallied seven tackles and three sacks from his nose guard position. Gesswein added six tackles and a sack while Squitiere and Thaxton notched four stops apiece.

Kelly was 27-foor-40 for 233 yards and two scores for Albright. Roming caught nine passes for 73 yards and both touchdowns. Andrew Kibler led the Lion defensive charge with 12 tackles and two forced fumbles.