DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – The Delaware Valley University football team overcame a 14-point fourth quarter deficit, and scored the game-winning touchdown with 24 seconds left in regulation, to defeat Randolph-Macon College, 39-32, and advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the fifth time in program history.
The Aggies, ranked 8th in the country by the American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA) and 14th according to the D3football.com top 25, improved to 12-0 for just the fourth time ever and the first time since 2017.
DelVal held an 8-0 lead after the first quarter thanks to a 79-yard touchdown run by sophomore Jay White. White took a handoff and sprinted up the middle where he was met by a host of defenders at the line. He bounced the run to the outside, broke a couple tackles, and outran the Yellow Jackets defense en route to pay dirt. DelVal ran a trick play on the point after attempt and called on Nick Arcaroli to complete a pass to Dillon Shamanow to make it an 8-0 game after one.
Randolph-Macon got on the board early in the second with a 25-yard field goal to make it 8-3, but the Aggies answered with a 28-yard field goal of their own off the foot of Pat Moran to regain the eight-point lead with five minutes left in the half.
The Yellow Jackets fired back two plays later with a 64-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Ihle to David Wallis down the sideline. Wallis beat his defender and Ihle hit him in stride with a perfect pass. RMC kicked the extra point and cut the DelVal lead to 11-10 with 4:06 left in the half.
On the Aggies next possession, the converted a 3rd-&-8 with a pass to Nahsir Morgan on the sideline who juggled the pass and hauled it in with a foot in bounds. On the next play, Morgan hauled in a 22-yard reception over the middle to get the ball over the timeline. Two plays later, Barrios dropped back and found sophomore Jahaire Johnson behind the defense for a 41-yard touchdown strike. Moran's PAT kick made it 18-10 with 1:05 on the first half clock.
The fireworks continued as the Yellow Jackets got a 29-yard kick return to set the offense up at the DelVal 47 with a minute left in the half. Facing a 4th-&-10 from the Aggies 32-yard line, Ihle hit Zach Bowman in the end zone for his second touchdown pass of the half. The Yellow Jackets converted a 2-point conversion to tie the game at 18-18 at the break.
Randolph-Macon got the ball to start the second half, but the DelVal defense forced a punt after four plays. Kyle Ihle sent a high and deep punt to the Aggies seven, but the return man muffed the catch and the Yellow Jackets recovered inside the 10-yard line. Four plays later, Andrew Ihle ran home a one-yard touchdown to take their first lead of the game, 25-18, with 10:48 on the third quarter clock.
Later in the third the Yellow Jackets got the second turnover of the game with an interception by Alex Biddle at the DelVal 25-yard line on a first down play. Biddle returned the ball to the 23 and five plays later Randolph-Macon got its second short touchdown run to make it a 32-18 game with under three minutes remaining in the third.
Trailing by 14 just before the end of the third, Barrios threw a deep ball to Morgan down the near sideline and the junior wide out hauled in a diving catch to set the team up at the RMC three yard line. Two plays later, Barrios bulldozed his way through the line and into the end zone for his first score of the day to cut the deficit to seven, 32-25, with 14 minutes left in regulation.
On the Yellow Jackets first play from scrimmage, Anthony Puntolillo got the first takeaway of the game for the Aggies as he punched the ball out of the running back's hand Blaine Netterman recovered near midfield. DelVal failed to advance the ball and was forced to punt with 12:15 on the clock.
Both defenses held their ground on the next two possessions and Randolph-Macon's offense came back on the field with a 32-25 lead and 8:07 remaining. After a six-yard run on first down, the Yellow Jackets through three-straight passes. Senior defensive end Yusuf Aladinov rushed the quarterback and forced a bad throw on second down, and then got to the quarterback again for a huge sack on third down to force a punt with 6:18 to play.
The Aggies offense took over at their own 38-yard line. On second down, Dillon Shamanow made a great catch over the middle for a 19-yard gain to cross the timeline. Two plays later it was senior wide receiver Ryan Loughlin who made an outstanding catch all the way down at the Yellow Jacket's two yard line. Barrios finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown burst and Moran's PAT tied the game at 32-32 with just four minutes left in regulation.
On Randolph-Macon's next drive, it faced a 3rd-&-1 at its own 30-yard line and once again the Aggie defense came up with a stop. Aladinov and Nick Chapman combined for the tackle one yard behind the line of scrimmage and the Yellow Jackets were forced to punt with the game tied and 1:46 left on the clock.
Needing a score to win, DelVal faced a 3rd-&-1 and Barrios connected with Barksdale who made a number of tacklers miss before going out of bounds with a first down near midfield. After a sack on first down, the Aggies were up against a 3rd-&-14 at the Randolph-Macon 38-yard line. Barrios rolled to his right and threw back across the field to a wide open Dez Austin for a 28-yard gain to the RMC 10 with the clock ticking down below 30 seconds. On the next play, Johnson ran a great route to get open at the near pylon and Barrios put it on his back shoulder for the go-ahead touchdown with just 24 seconds on the clock. Moran's extra point was good and the home crowd erupted as the Aggies regained the lead, 39-32.
Aladinov came up with another sack on first down and the defense forced an incomplete pass on the final play of the game to send DelVal to the national quarterfinals.
Aladinov finished with 11 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and a pass breakup to lead the defense. Linebacker Ahmad Jones also recorded 11 tackles while Puntolillo had nine including the forced fumble. For the game, the Aggies held a very good Yellow Jacket offense to 288 yards of offense including 114 rushing yards and 174 passing yards. On third downs, DelVal held Randolph-Macon to 5-of-16.
The Aggie offense put up 465 yards on 58 plays with Barrios completing 17-of-27 passes for a season-high 335 yards and two touchdowns. He also carried the ball 11 times for 24 yards and another two scores. Morgan led the receivers with 129 yards on five receptions while Johnson finished with two catches, two touchdowns, and 51 yards. Tahmir Barksdale hauled in six catches for 65 yards and another 10 yards on the ground. Jay White finished with 101 yards after his 79-yard touchdown run.
Randolph-Macon played two quarterbacks that combined to go 11-for-22 for 174 yards. Ihle was 3-for-7 but threw both touchdown passes and finished with 102 yards. Ihle added 15 carries for 13 yards and another two scores. Nick Hale was the team's leading rusher with 88 yards on 20 attempts. Defensively, Jackson Deaver made a game-high 14 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
With the win, DelVal football is one of eight teams still alive in the Division III playoffs and will travel to the second-ranked team in the country Mount Union for a quarterfinal showdown in Alliance, Ohio. The last time the Aggies reached the quarterfinals was in 2017 when they fell to eventual champion North Central College. They also reached the "elite eight" in 2017, 2011, 2005, and 2004.
Kickoff at Alliance Stadium will be at noon eastern.