SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 9 Salisbury University
football team set four team records in its 79-20 win over Becker
College Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd of 2,465 on
Homecoming weekend.
The Sea Gulls (8-0) ran for 596 yards which broke the previous
record of 563 yards set on November 15, 1975 against Frostburg
State and scored 10 rushing touchdowns to break the record of nine
rushing touchdowns set on October 15, 1988 against Wesley.
Salisbury also set new team marks in total yards with 671 and
points with 79. The previous record for yards (633) was set in '88
against Wesley and on October 1, 2005 Salisbury scored what was
then a school record 77 points. The 79 points and the 596 yards on
the ground are new Atlantic Central Football Conference (ACFC)
records.
The maroon and gold offense averaged 11.0 yards per play which
includes a 10.8 yards per rush average. The Sea Gulls had 17
different players rush the ball and had seven different players
score. Junior superback Ronnie Shockley led the
way with a three touchdown effort.
Senior kicker Brendan Kincaid had a memorable
senior day as he was a perfect 11-of-11 on PATs to set a new school
and ACFC mark. Kincaid broke Brock Boland's 10-of-10 record set in
2005 against the Apprentice School.
For the second consecutive game the Sea Gulls had two 100-yard
rushers as senior Jamar Garner ran for a game-high
121 yards on only five carries. He scored twice and had a 24.2
yards per carry average. Shockley rumbled for 106 yards on eight
carries and had a 13.2 yards per carry average.
SU jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead as sophomore Valdase
Morris scored from 19 yards out on the Sea Gulls' first
possession and Garner scored on the first-play of SU's next series
from 41 yards out. Morris finished the game with 84 yards
rushing.
Sophomore Garrett Burgess scored the first punt
return touchdown of the season for Salisbury as he ran one back 35
yards to give SU a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.
Becker (1-6) answered on a fourth down play with 42 seconds left in
the quarter as Gabriel Prophet found Ryan Mercado for a 15-yard
touchdown pass to cut the SU lead to 21-6. Prophet finished the
game 14-of-28 for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
The Sea Gulls continued their offensive explosion in the second
quarter as they ran off 28 points. Shockley scored on runs of six
yards, 66 yards and four yards while junior Ronnie
Curley ran one in from eight yards out. Curley finished
the game with 57 yards rushing.
Prophet connected on his second touchdown pass as he found Levi
Smith from 12 yards out to make the score 49-12 at the half.
The Salisbury defense totaled 16 tackles for loss for a loss of 58
yards which includes five sacks. Freshman Marcus
Randolph recorded a game-high six tackles as junior
Justin Acker picked off two passes. Freshman
Josh Weaver registered a hat-trick as he recorded
a sack, forced fumble and fumble recover all on the same play.
The defense allowed only four yards rushing on 27 attempts for a
0.1 yard per rush average.
The maroon and gold managed only one score in the third quarter but
scored 23 in the fourth quarter to set the new record. Junior
Bobby Sheahin had a 15-yard touchdown run,
sophomore Alesandro Valentino had a 38-yard
touchdown run and sophomore Nick Campanaro rounded
out the scoring with a 21-yard run.
The defense also recorded a safety which gave Salisbury a 65-20
advantage with 8:25 left in the game.
The Sea Gulls return to action on Saturday, October 27, as they
travel to Dover, Del., to face No. 12 Wesley in an ACFC showdown
with the conference title on the line.