 |
| DelVal explodes for 50-28 win over Widener and regains the Keystone Cup |
The victory improved Delaware Valley to 7-3 overall (6-3 MAC) and enhanced its chances at an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Bowl bid (the three South Region bowl game match-ups will be announced on Monday). The Aggies also regained the Keystone Cup which is handed out annually to the winner of the Delaware Valley-Widener contest in recognition of small college football excellence. It is the eighth time in the last 11 years that the Cup has resided in Doylestown.
The Pride had a chance to clinch a share of the MAC title after Albright College defeated Lebanon Valley College, but instead saw their season come to an end with a 6-4 overall record and a 6-3 mark in conference play.
Schuberth was one of 14 Aggie seniors honored before the game and the two-time all-MAC honoree was looking to keep the team’s postseason hopes alive. After being held to 51 yards on 11 carries in the first half, he exploded for 184 yards and all three scores on 15 rushes in the second stanza. The 235 total rushing yards was the third-highest, single-game performance in school history, trailing only Matt Cook’s 324 yards against Wilkes University in 2010 and Eric Reynolds’ 254 yards against Albright in 1980.
Delaware Valley racked up 632 yards of total offense, including 310 yards in the air from junior quarterback Aaron Wilmer. Wilmer was 18-for-30 and tossed a pair of touchdowns while also rushing for 75 yards and a score. Both passing touchdowns went to wideout Rasheed Bailey, who finished with four catches for 104 yards.
Meanwhile the Aggie defense blanked the conference’s top offense (Widener entered with averages of 32.2 points and 435 yards per game) in the second half and allowed just 177 total yards over the final 30 minutes.
Up 28-17, the Pride received the opening kickoff of the second half, but went three-and-out and Delaware Valley took over at its own 41-yard line following a punt. Wilmer and Baily teamed up for a critical third-down conversion and Wilmer later found the end zone from six yards out to cap a 10-play, 59-yard scoring drive and make it a 28-23 ballgame.
Widener moved the ball into Aggie territory on the ensuing possession, but was forced to try a 44-yard field goal that was blocked by Delaware Valley’s Frank Law. Two plays after the block, Wilmer hit senior tailback Darren Parrott out of the backfield and Parrott raced 47 yards to the Pride 20. The Aggies converted a fourth-and-one on the drive and Parrott then scored on an eight-yard run. The two-point conversion attempt failed, but Delaware Valley had the 29-28 lead with 4:10 left in the third quarter.
Late in the quarter, the Aggies had the ball on their own 35 when Schuberth got the call and went untouched for the longest run of his career. The 65-yard scoring scamper and Brandon Snyder’s extra point put the team up eight, 36-28.
The next five possessions of the game resulted in two punts apiece and a Widener turnover as Brian Carter intercepted a pass. The Pride’s last punt trapped the Aggies on their own 10, but they responded with an eight-play, 90-yard drive to put the ball in the end zone again. Schuberth had a 30-yard run in the drive and Bailey hauled in a 36-yard pass from Wilmer. Schuberth bulled his way in for the final yard and a 43-28 advantage with 5:49 remaining.
Widener reached the Delaware Valley 29 on the ensuing possession, but a short pass completion was stopped by Ken Kenner-English and Rashaad Lighty on fourth down to give the ball back to the Aggies. Five plays later, Schuberth capped his big day and that of his team with a 59-yard touchdown run and the 50-28 final.
The contest began with the two teams combining for 24 points in the first quarter. Snyder opened with a 30-yard field goal for the Aggies, but Terrant Morrison answered with a 20-yard touchdown run on the Pride’s first possession the day.
Later in the quarter, Bailey came through and blocked a Widener punt to give Delaware Valley the ball at the Pride 32-yard line. Bailey then hauled in a scoring strike on the very next play for a 10-7 Aggie lead with 7:32 remaining in the first. Widener needed just 1:45 to respond as All-American candidate Anthony Davis caught a short pass and made three Aggie defenders miss for a 31-yard touchdown and a 14-10 Pride lead.
The scoring continued in the second quarter as Wilmer and Bailey teamed up again, this time for a 21-yard score and a 17-14 lead just three minutes in. Later in the quarter, a Wilmer pass was intercepted by Colin Masterson and Widener had the ball at the Delaware Valley 40-yard line. Morrison concluded a five-play drive with a nine-yard touchdown run and a 21-17 lead with 5:25 to go before the intermission. The Pride then ended the half with a 74-yard scoring drive that saw Klein hit Davis in the end zone from 10 yards out with just 29 ticks to go. That made it 28-17 but it was all Delaware Valley in the second half for the big win and the Keystone Cup.
Kenner-English shined for the Aggies on defense as he notched a career-best 17 tackles. Senior John Marcelline had 11 stops and an interception while fellow senior Pete O’Hara made 10 tackles in the win.
Klein completed 35 of 55 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns for Widener. Davis made 11 grabs for 119 yards and the two scores while Morrison added 72 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns on 11 carries. Defensively, Kevin Burns and Dylan Ditmer had 15 and nine tackles respectively.
