Patrick Zeng
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| Villanova Athletics |
Much of Villanova's season has been derailed through the injuries of key players on both sides of the ball, but that was not the case on Saturday afternoon. "We played with emotion" and "we kept the Battle of the Blue where it belongs" stated an exuberant Mark Ferrante after the Wildcats victory over the rival Blue Hens. Yesterday's victory made it 6 in a row for the Cats over Delaware and 11 wins in their last 12 games.
Villanova was led by a stout defense that held strong whenever they were called upon. Junior linebacker Jeff Steeb set the tone for the Cats with a 38 yard interception return for a touchdown just 7 minutes into the game. Steeb also added 13 total tackles to go along with some bone crushing hits to lead the Wildcat defense. Senior middle linebacker Ed Shockley played his final game on the Main Line and made sure that his impact was to be felt. Shockley pressured Blue Hen quarterback J.P. Caruso all afternoon when called upon through the blitz and and was a true field general for Ferrante's defense. Shockley finished his day with 10 tackles, giving him 101 total for the season. This meant that Shockley is the first Villanova player with a 100 tackle season since 2014.
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| Villanova Athletics |
Senior Malik Reaves also added an interception on a tipped ball for the Cats as J.P. Caruso struggled to fight his way through a swarming secondary. Nova's defense frustrated the Blue Hens on the money downs throughout the game. Delaware finished a combined 7 for 20 on 3rd and 4th down conversions. This also included keeping the Delaware offense at bay in the red-zone, limiting them to just one touchdown in their four trips inside the Nova 20 yard-line. Delaware first year head coach Danny Rocco credited the Nova defense for forcing him to make "unconventional decisions" such as their failed fake field goal attempt at the end of the first half.
On offense Villanova stuck to their gameplan that they have been committed to ever since Zack Bednarzcyk's season ending injury. The Cats pounded the ball for a combined 47 rushing attempts. The quartet of Aaron Forbes, Justin Covington, Damone Drew and Jack Schetelich racked up 261 yards on the ground along with a touchdown. Forbes led the group with 140 yards as his explosiveness was on display all afternoon despite the rainy conditions. Senior Taurus Phillips also went out with a bang, hauling in 2 touchdown receptions. His second of the day exhibited strength and grace as Phillips took a hit from the Delaware defender before spinning off of him and waltzing into the end-zone. Redshirt freshman quarterback Jack Schetelich had a confidence building performance after a season of struggles for the New Jersey native. Schetelich was an efficient 5-7 passing with 2 touchdown passes. His ability to overcome his turnover struggles was key in keeping drives alive and not giving the Blue Hen offense a short field to work with.
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| Villanova Athletics |
On senior day it was the seniors that led the charge for the Wildcats against their arch rivals on their way to the 28-7 win. The loss by Delaware dropped them to 7-4 on the season and eliminated them from postseason contention in the eyes of the FCS playoff committee. While for the Wildcats, they finish the season at 5-6 and will hopefully ride the momentum of the rivalry win into the off-season as coach Mark Ferrante gears up for year two of his reign.
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