College Football: Del Val Looks to Move One Step Closer to DIII Championship
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Delaware Valley College Aggies announced their presence in the Division III NCAA playoffs last week with authority, hammering Norwich in the opening round 62-10. Now, they are preparing for a second round match-up with St. John Fisher (NY) on Saturday in Doylestown.
Aggies head coach Jim Clements liked what he saw in that playoff opener, but he says it was just the first step of this postseason journey.
Listen to Matt Leon's interview with Jim Clements:
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"You know we came out, we played well. We just have to continue to keep improving. We are going to face a very, very good football team this week. When you get into the playoffs, they are all really good. We are excited about this week; it's going to be a great challenge for our football team."
The Aggies are 11-0, one of just 8 teams in Division III to have a perfect mark. St. John Fisher hails from the Empire 8 Conference and they bring a 9-2 record into Saturday. They defeated Centennial Conference champ Johns Hopkins 23-12 in the first round.
"They do a great job. You know, schematically on both sides of the ball they can cause you some problems. They are physical, they're big. They've got a bunch of really big bodies, probably the biggest team that we've seen all year and we're going to have our hands full."
Clements says to be successful on Saturday, they need to follow the formula that has gotten them this far.
"We've just got to play our style of football. Mentally, we've got to be prepared for a lot of different looks. Respect the football, don't turn it over - something they do very well, they turned Johns Hopkins over five times in the first round. Defensively, we've got to be smart, can't give up the big play, have to get off the field on 3rd down. And on offense, just stay steady. Don't take any negatives and move the ball and take our chances when we get them and hope we score in the red zone."
These two teams have met in the postseason before. Back in 2004, also in the second round, the Aggies beat the Cardinals 24-20 in Doylestown, scoring two touchdowns in the game's final 62 seconds.
Saturday's winner advances to the quarterfinals to take on the University of St. Thomas (MN)/Monmouth College (IL) winner.
Kickoff on Saturday is set for high noon.
Reported by Matt Leon, KYW Newsradio 1060
