Complete Game Notes | Live Audio (ESPN Williamsport.com) | Live Stats

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - At the beginning of the season, many prognosticators predicted that the matchup between Lycoming and Delaware Valley would have major Middle Atlantic Conference title implications. Simply put, they were right.

With a win, the Warriors (7-1 overall, 5-1 MAC) can move into a three-way tie for first in the league with the ninth-ranked Aggies (8-0 overall, 6-0 MAC) and Widener (8-1 overall, 6-1 MAC).  However, that will be a tough test against the Aggies, who are the only team in the MAC that holds opponents to fewer points (10.9) per game than the Warriors (11.4).

The game will feature two of the league’s top three rushers, as the Aggies’ Kyle Schuberth leads the MAC with 103.0 yards per game and Lycoming’s Parker Showers is third at 93.7 yards per game.

Warrior Notes

• Lycoming has won three games against ranked teams in the Mike Clark era, including an 8-6 win over No. 22 Rowan in the season opener.

• The Warriors have two of the league’s top five rushers, led by junior Parker Showers, who averages 93.7 yards per game, and aided by freshman Craig Needhammer, who is fifth at 60.2 yards per game.

• Sophomore Zack Czap is tied for second in school history with 10 field goals made. He is three shy of the school record of 13 set by John Phillips in 1990.

• With eight sacks, senior Anthony Marascio leads the MAC in the category. He could become the first Warrior to lead the league in the category since Ryan Yaple posted 14 in 2007.

• Junior Ryan Fenningham is tied with Delaware Valley’s Terrance Osborne for the league lead with five interceptions.

Scouting Lycoming
Offense: Multiple/Pro-Style
With a weather forecast decidedly different than the snow bowl from Saturday at Lebanon Valley, the Warrior offense will have a different tone to it, if not the same melody.

The Warriors have turned into a dominating grind it out running team, led by two of the top five runners in the Middle Atlantic Conference in junior Parker Showers (93.7 yards per game) and freshman Craig Needhammer (60.2 yards per game). In the past four weeks, Lycoming has averaged 241.0 yards on the ground and held the ball for an average of 32:37 a game.

With clear skies in the forecast, though, the team will have the opportunity to turn to the air a bit more, as junior quarterback Zach Klinger is fifth in the league with an average of 134.1 yards passing per game. He has tossed eight touchdown passes.

Defense: 4-3
After eight weeks, there is no longer any chance for aberritions. The Warrior defense starts with one of the most productive lines in Division III. Senior Anthony Marascio is the leader of the line, as the captain is in the top 10 nationally in sacks (8.0) and tackles for loss (19.0).  The team allows a MAC-low 67.2 yards per game of rushing offense and all three starters on the line have developed into All-MAC candidates.

Sophomore Dwight Hentz has developed into a burgeoning star with seven tackles for loss and three sacks. The junior tandem of Nate Oropollo and Roger Jayne have combined for 11 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.

In the secondary, the safety tandem of senior Ray Bierbach and junior Ryan Fenningham will also garner All-MAC consideration, as they have combined for eight picks and 17 passes defended.

Scouting Delaware Valley
Offense: Multiple
The Aggies are about as statistically similar to the Warriors as any team can possibly be. They average one more point per game (32.5 to 31.5) on offense and rush for 0.4 yards less (196.6 to 197.0) and feature a stingy offense that has coughed up the ball just 15 times this year, which is third in the league to Lycoming’s four.

Both school’s have had to replace their all-time leading rushers this season (Delaware Valley’s Matt Cook and Lycoming’s Josh Kleinfelter) and have done so by each finding a runner who is in the top three in the league in rushing yards (Delaware Valley’s Kyle Schuberth leads the league at 103.0 yards per game).

Freshman quarterback Aaron Wilmer is the Aggies’ X-factor over the Warriors, as he averages 210.6 yards per game, nearly 70 yards more than Lycoming quarterback Zach Klinger.

Defense: Multiple
In three of the past four years, the Aggies have finished the season leading the MAC in scoring defense and through eight weeks, the team holds a 0.5 advantage over the Warriors for the statistical crown.

Built like the Warriors on a swarming deep defense, the team’s top tackler is senior Mike Jaskowski, who averages just 6.3 tackles per game. Like the Warriors, though, the team is adept at the line, with Jaskowski second in the league with 7.5 sacks and senior Ken Fowlkes 10th in the league with an average of 3.5 sacks.

In the secondary, the team is just as stingy, led by junior Terrance Osborne, who leads the league with 13 passes defended and five interceptions. Senior Troy Green, junior Jim DiLisio and senior Chris James have also combined for seven more interceptions.

Controlling Destiny
With wins in the last two weeks of the season, the Warriors can wrap up at least a share of their 15th MAC title. However, the Warriors can not win the title outright, as Delaware Valley, with a 6-0 record faces Lycoming and Widener, who is 6-1, in the last two weeks, so Delaware Valley can take their ninth MAC title, clinching a piece of their fourth straight title with a win today and/or Widener can still win its 16th MAC title. For the Warriors to earn the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, they must beat the Aggies this week and FDU-Florham next week and the Aggies must beat Widener in the season finale next week.

Streaking
With the 10-7 win at Lebanon Valley for their fifth straight victory, the Warriors tied the longest streak during head coach Mike Clark’s four-year tenure. The team won five straight games from Sept. 11-Oct. 16, 2010, leading into the 2010 matchup with Delaware Valley. During the team’s current streak, the Warriors are outscoring their opponents, 175-51. The last time Lycoming won six games in a row in one season was when the team won the first nine games of the 1999 season. The team won seven in a row over two seasons, winning five to end the 2005 season before taking the first two games in 2006.
 
A grand accomplishment
Junior Parker Showers became the 21st player in school history to reach 1,000 rushing yards in a career during his 115-yard game at Lebanon Valley on Oct. 29. With 1,052 yards, Showers is 19th in school history and needs just 53 yards to pass Frank Girardi Jr. for 18th.

Loss leader
With 44 career tackles for loss thanks to five against Lebanon Valley on Oct. 29, senior Anthony Marascio has moved into the top five in school history in the category. The defensive end needs just two more to move past two-time All-American Keith Jenkins ’99 for third. Marascio’s 19 tackles for loss this season leads the MAC and is seventh in school history, just one away from passing Jenkins’ 1998 total of 20, which is fifth in the record book.

How bout that?
With six inches of snow falling at Lebanon Valley’s Arnold Field on Oct. 29, it’s no surprise that the Warriors tucked it in and didn’t throw the ball a lot. What may be a surprise is that, the team ran 72 offensive plays, 69 rushing and didn’t complete a pass in just three attempts. In a scan of the football records back to 1982, it was the first time in a span of at least 308 games in which the team didn’t complete one pass. Still, the running game accounted for 217 yards and helped the Warriors to the win.