DOVER, Del. - The No. 8 Salisbury University football team suffered its first loss of the season as No. 11 Wesley College won the Route 13 rivalry, 20-13, Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd of 2,576 at Wolverine Stadium.

The Sea Gulls (8-1, 2-1 ACFC) were plagued by the turnover bug as they lost one fumble and had a season-high three interceptions while the Wolverines (8-1, 4-0 ACFC) had no turnovers. The victory clinches Wesley's third-straight Atlantic Central Football Conference title.

The maroon and gold outgained Wesley in total offense as they finished with 285 yards on the ground and 116 through the air for 401 yards of total offense. Wesley had 341 yards of offense (247 rushing yards, 94 passing yards).

"Our defense played a great game," said SU coach Sherman Wood. "We gave them a short field [to work with] just about the entire game."

Salisbury trailed by seven with 54 seconds left in the game but junior quarterback Ronnie Curley had his pass intercepted in the end zone by Chet Turner on the game's final play to seal the deal for Wesley.

SU began its final drive with less then a minute remaining with the ball spotted on Wesley's 42-yard line. On the first play of the drive Curley found sophomore Valdase Morris for a 23-yard pickup to give SU a first and 10 at the Wesley 19 with 49 seconds left. After a one-yard gain on a completion to junior superback Shelby Fisher, Curley looked Kevin Tillage's way but Turner was there to end the Sea Gulls' scoring threat and their ACFC title aspirations.

Curley finished the game 6-of-14 for 63 yards and two interceptions and added a game-high 124 yards on the ground on 22 carries.

It took Salisbury nearly two quarters to solve the Wesley defense and score but senior Jamar Garner did so in one play as he took an option pitch 80 yards down the Wesley sideline to paydirt to give SU a 7-3 lead with 3:23 left in the second quarter.

Garner finished the game with 95 yards on four carries with one touchdown.

The Sea Gulls' lead was short lived as on the ensuing kickoff Larry Beavers went 90 yards to give the Wolverines a 10-7 lead at the intermission.

Wesley extended its lead to 17-7 midway through the third quarter as quarterback Jason Schatz found wide receiver Michael Clarke on a 45-yard touchdown pass. Schatz was 7-of-21 for 94 yards and one touchdown. Clarke was the team's leading receiver as he caught three passes for 57 yards.

Salisbury answered back on its next drive as the maroon and gold received three-points from senior kicker Brendan Kincaid, who was good from 26 yards out to cap a seven play, 82-yard drive that cut the Wesley lead to 17-10 at the end of the third quarter. Kincaid later pulled the Gulls back to within one possession, 20-13, with a 31-yard field goal with 7:02 to play in the fourth quarter.

The loss ends Salisbury's 11-game win streak. The last team to defeat Salisbury was Wesley, one day short of a year, on October 28, 2006, 13-10 at Sea Gull Stadium. The Wolverines now hold an 11-7 advantage in the series.

Wesley's Mike Pennewell was the leading rusher for the Wolverines as he had 105 yards on 28 carries while Beavers finished with 64 yards on the ground on five carries.

Morris finished with 21 yards rushing, a game-high 76 yards receiving and 40 kick return yards for 137 all-purpose yards for the Gulls.

The Sea Gulls are off next week before they return to action on Saturday, November 10, when SU will travel to Annapolis, Md., to host Frostburg State University in the 9th annual Regents Cup game at the United States Naval Academy at 2 p.m.