Albright (0-2, 0-0) vs. #15 Delaware Valley (2-1, 1-0)
• When: Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019
• Where: Reading, Pa.
• Stadium: Shirk Stadium (5,000)
• Kickoff: 1 p.m.
• Live Video: VIDEO
• Live Stats: STATS
 
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Delaware Valley leads 37-19
• First Meeting: 1963 – Albright won 63-0
• Last Meeting: Oct. 27, 2018 @ Delaware Valley – Delaware Valley won 49-14
• Streak: Delaware Valley +2
 
The Albright Lions football team will host rival #15/#17 Delaware Valley in their annual homecoming contest at 1 p.m. at Shirk Stadium on Saturday.
 
Albright is coming off a 56-15 loss to #1 ranked and defending national champion Mary Hardin-Baylor two weeks ago. The Lions battled the Cru hard throughout and trailed just 17-9 at halftime. However, field position would play a big role to help the Cru outscore the Lions 49-6 in the second half. The Lions had their scheduled bye week this past Saturday.
 
Delaware Valley picked up a key MAC win in their conference opener last Saturday against Stevenson by a score of 28-21. A back and forth game featured a pair of ties before the Aggies eventually scored the game-winning touchdown with just over seven minutes left in the 4th quarter. The Aggies have won back-to-back MAC titles.  
 
LAST SEASON'S MATCHUP
The Aggies defeated the Lions 49-14 in Doylestown last season in a rain-soaked contest. Albright struck first in first quarter on a 19-yard reception by former Lion Kyle Dickerson, but the Aggies would score 42-unanswered points to take a commanding 42-7 lead in the 3rd quarter. Dickerson tallied one final score in the fourth quarter. Dickerson finished with 107 yards receiving and two touchdowns, while sophomore Malik Bootman rushed for 63 yards. Junior linebacker Nate Steffen led the Lions with nine tackles, while sophomore linebacker Daniel Vital posted his first collegiate sack. Former Delaware Valley quarterback Dashawn Darden did most of the damage for the Aggies as he accounted for four touchdowns (two pass, two rush), and senior running back Mario Nigro rushed for 107 yards. This will be the second time in two years that the Aggies will be the Lions opponent on homecoming.  
 
RETURN TO FORM
Senior wide receiver Mike Jordan is off to a hot start in the 2019 season. Jordan has caught four touchdowns in two games so far for the Lions this season. He set new single-game career-highs in the Lions opening game against Salisbury with 133 receiving yards on 11 receptions along with three touchdown receptions. Against Mary Hardin-Baylor, Jordan led the team in receiving with 55 yards on three catches with one touchdown.
 
Jordan had a breakout sophomore 2017 season before missing the 2018 season. The Glen Burnie, Maryland native earned All-MAC honorable mention in 2017 after tallying 772 receiving yards on 43 receptions. Jordan also led the team and ranked fourth in the conference with eight touchdown receptions. He leads a talented receiving core that features sophomore Kevin Zehner and senior Zack Miller.  
 
RACK EM UP
Sophomore linebacker Sam Viera posted his third-straight double-digit tackle performance against Mary Hardin-Baylor. Viera posted a team-high 11 tackles in addition to recording his first sack on the season. His string of double-digit tackles runs back to the 2018 season finale against Lebanon Valley where he registered a career-high 16 tackles against the Dutchmen. Viera led the team in tackles last season as a freshman, and now has four double-digit tackle games in his young Lions career. He currently leads the team with 22 tackles in two games.  
 
HOMECOMING SATURDAY
Under Head Coach John Marzka, the Lions are currently 7-5 in homecoming contests. The Lions will look to break a two-game skid in homecoming contests after dropping a tough 48-34 contest to FDU-Florham last season. Previously, the Lions had won three of four homecoming contests. This will be the second time in three years that the Lions will host Delaware Valley for homecoming.
Albright set a set a homecoming game record of 62 points versus Wilkes in the 2015 season.
 
LONG TIME COMING
Senior safety Trevan Harris-Dorman recorded the Lions first interception of the 2019 season against Mary Hardin-Baylor. It was fitting that Harris-Dorman came down with the Lions first interception as he makes his comeback following missing the 2018 season due to injury. Harris-Dorman saw action in all 11 games during his sophomore campaign of 2017, and made an underrated impact in the Lions secondary. He recorded a sack, fumble recovery, and one pass deflection for the Lions that season in addition to tallying 37 tackles.  
 
EARLY IMPACT
Freshman Lucas Roselli recorded his first collegiate touchdown against Mary Hardin-Baylor two weeks ago. Roselli scored on a 14-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter which brought the Lions within 17-9 at the time. He got one carry in the Lions season opener against Salisbury, while serving as one of the primary kick returners.
 
STRONG SCHEDULE
Albright will be facing its second-straight nationally ranked team following their contest with #1 Mary Hardin-Baylor. The Lions first three opponents (Salisbury, UMHB, Delaware Valley) have combined to go 6-1 thus far through the first three weeks of the regular season. All three of those teams are now all ranked in one of the two Division III national polls after Salisbury cracked the D3football.com Top-25 a week after facing the Lions in the season opener. Albright's last win over a nationally-ranked team came in September 2016 when they stunned Delaware Valley (ranked 14^th at the time) in Doylestown on a go-ahead touchdown with six seconds left.
 
HALL OF FAME
The Albright Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2019 will be inducted during a ceremony on Friday night. The four new inductees will also be honored at halftime of tomorrow's game. For more information on the inductees, please click here.
 
ABOUT DELAWARE VALLEY
Defense has been the name of the game so far in Doylestown this season for the Aggies as they currently rank first in scoring defense in the MAC. They opened the season with a shutout against Kean, and limited the nationally-ranked Wesley Wolverines to three points in regulation before dropping a wild four-overtime contest. Despite that loss, the Aggies still rank No. 15 in the D3football.com poll and 17th in the first AFCA Coaches poll of the season. Delaware Valley leads the conference in total sacks with 13 so far, and have yielded just 236 yards per game which also ranks them first in the conference.
 
Senior Kenyonn Jones has been a force on the Aggies defensive line as he ranks second in the conference with two sacks behind sophomore teammate Michael Nobile, who has 3.5 sacks. Jones was recently named to the D3football.com team of the week following his performance against Wesley. As for Nobile, he has followed up his superstar freshman year by already tallying a Division III-leading 11.0 TFL in addition to his sack total, which is tied for third most currently in Division III. Nobile picked up a pair of All-American honors last season in addition to being named a first-team all-region pick by D3football.com. He also earned a pair of major awards from the MAC as he was named Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, and was recognized on the All-MAC First Team.