College Football Preview: Delaware Valley University Aggies
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- After a 9-2 2014 season, the Delaware Valley University Aggies are picked to finish second in the Middle Atlantic Conference preseason poll here in 2015 behind defending champion Widener.
The Division III Aggies, who call Doylestown home, have been one of the region's top teams for more than a decade and second-year head coach Duke Greco says the 2015 squad is coming together.
"We have a tough, hard working group here," Greco tells KYW Newsradio. "Got a lot of veterans coming back on defense, which is exciting. Offensively, we're going to be a little inexperienced, but we'll be talented. We're looking forward to watching this group mature as the season goes on."
Listen to the entire interview with DelVal's Duke Greco
That inexperience on offense is because of the departure of a couple of the best players in program history. Aaron Wilmer had spent the last four years as the starting quarterback for the Aggies, putting together an incredible career. He threw for more than 10,000 yards and 84 touchdowns at DelVal and spent some time this summer with the CFL's BC Lions. Greco talks about the battle to replace him.
"Right now there's still a few guys competing for the job," Greco says. "It will kind of sort itself out in the next week. We have a big scrimmage (Wednesday) night, so that will play a big part in it. We have a couple older guys competing and a fresh face as well. So should find out in a week."
Rasheed Bailey has become a very familiar name to local football fans this summer as the wide receiver has impressed during the preseason with the Eagles. Prior to getting his opportunity with the Birds, he was a human highlight reel with the Aggies. As a senior last year, he caught 80 passes for 1,707 yards and 19 touchdowns. Greco talks about what the wideout position looks like post-Bailey here in 2015.
"We have a good group of young and old receivers," Greco says. "We'll probably do it by committee this year early on and see who can make the most plays."
The Aggies also have to fill the void left by running back Chris Smallwood, who had a huge senior season in 2014, running for 1,387 yards and 21 touchdowns.
On defense, Greco has a lot of familiar names to lean on.
"We have eight, nine games back with a lot of experience," Greco says. "(Senior defensive back) Danny Wynne, (senior linebacker) Rashaad Lighty, (junior defensive lineman Aric) Boyes, (senior defensive lineman Keith) Jenkins, (senior defensive back Bobby) Marterella, (junior defensive lineman Luke) Boonstra. Our linebackers, (Bernard) Avery, (Ethan) Snyder, (Matt) Smith, those three guys are seniors. Defensively, we expect them to really lead us early on and hopefully offensively we can pick up the pace as the season moves forward."
The Aggies will open up the 2015 season at home on Saturday, September 5th, against Montclair State.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
