ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The No. 13 Salisbury
University football team wrapped up its regular season with a 35-14
win over in-state rival Frostburg State University in the ninth
annual Regents Cup played at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in
front of a crowd of 2,462 on Saturday afternoon.
Salisbury (9-1, 3-1 ACFC) threw for 179 yards and scored twice
through the air as the Sea Gulls claimed their fourth straight win
in the series. Junior receiver Kevin Tillage
hauled in two passes for 115 yards and accounted for both
touchdowns as he was named the Mike McGlinchey Most Outstanding
Player.
The 35 points scored by the Sea Gulls was enough to break the
school record for points in a regular season which was set in 2005.
The maroon and gold have scored 418 points this year, three more
than the previous mark of 415.
SU ran for 269 yards as they were led by senior David
Leonard who made his first start of the year at superback.
Leonard ran for a team-high 70 yards on 14 carries. Junior
quarterback Ronnie Curley added 59 yards on the
ground and one score and was 5-of-6 passing for 179 yards and two
touchdown passes.
Frostburg State (2-7, 0-4 ACFC) scored the game's first
touchdown on its opening possession as it traveled 75 yards on 14
plays which was capped by a Shanorm Young three-yard run. Young
earned the McGlinchey MOP award for the Bobcats as he finished with
94 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown.
Salisbury answered as it rolled off 35 unanswered points over
the next four quarters. Curley called his own number from the
1-yard line to cut the Bobcat lead to 7-6 with 2:10 to play in the
first quarter as the point after attempt failed. He then found
Tillage on a play-action pass from 36 yards out to make the score
13-7 with 12:15 to play in the first half.
Sophomore Valdase Morris scored his eighth
rushing touchdown of the year with 1:43 to play in the second
quarter to push the SU lead to 20-7 as the team teams went into
halftime.
The Sea Gulls and Bobcats combined to fumble four times in the
third quarter as SU lost two fumbles and Frostburg State gave away
one.
Junior Jarrell Chandler had a game-high three
forced fumbles and finished with four tackles for loss. Chandler
accounted for one of the forced fumbles in the third quarter.
Sophomore Darryl Jones set up Salisbury's next
touchdown as he intercepted Andre Dixon's pass on the 4-yard line
and returned it to the 21-yard line to give the ball to the
offense.
Dixon finished the game 13-of-26 for 139 yards and two
interceptions.
Curley needed only one play to find Tillage as the two hooked up
for a 79-yard score to give SU a 28-7 lead with 13:52 to play in
the game. Senior Jamar Garner rounded out the
scoring as he went into the end zone untouched at the 4:52 mark of
the fourth quarter to put the maroon and gold up 35-7.
The Bobcats tacked on a late score as Dixon ran one in from two
yards outs to make the final score 35-14.
Senior Chris Loveland led the Sea Gull defense
with nine total tackles and junior Matthew Bookard
had a team-high two sacks. Sophomore Reggie Gooch
had four pass breakups while Jones and sophomore Antione
Cuff had the two SU interceptions.
The Sea Gulls will now await a possible Pool B or Pool C berth
into the NCAA Division III playoffs which will be announced Sunday,
November 11, at 11:30 a.m. on ESPNU and http://www.ncaasports.com/.