SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 8 Salisbury University
football team broke open its game with Christopher Newport
University early in the fourth quarter and never looked back as the
Sea Gulls won 38-21 before a crowd of 1,267 at Sea Gull Stadium.
Salisbury (3-0) held a 17-7 lead as the maroon and gold began
their first drive of the fourth quarter. Five plays and 51 yards
later SU junior William Midgette (nine carries, 70
yards) celebrated his 5-yard touchdown run. On the ensuing
Christopher Newport (0-1) possession, at the Captain 43-yard line,
junior quarterback Matt Long (6-for-15, 96 yards) dropped back and
was intercepted for the second time in the game. Senior
Matthew Bookard made the interception at the
Salisbury 49-yard line and ran 51 yards into the end zone for the
touchdown. In 19 seconds Salisbury went from a 10-point lead to 24,
up 31-7, with 11:42 left in the game.
CNU did not give up as the Captains responded with a five play,
37-yard drive which resulted in a Tony Spradlin (three receptions,
61 yards) six-yard touchdown catch from freshman backup quarterback
Keith Gaines (2-for-7, 31 yards) with nine minutes left. The
Captains converted an onside kick, which went 28 yards, as CNU
recovered the ball at the Salisbury 42-yard line. Gaines (23
rushing yards) capped off the seven play drive with a 1-yard
touchdown run to cut the SU lead to 10, 31-21, with 6:28 left in
the game.
The Captains tried another onside kick but the Sea Gulls
recovered the ball at the CNU 41-yard line. Senior Ronnie
Curley (2-for-7, 20 passing yards and 75 rushing yards)
ran the quarterback keeper, on the first play from scrimmage, and
busted through several tackles and found the end zone for the
41-yard touchdown run.
There were 35 points scored by the two teams in the fourth
quarter alone as Salisbury and Christopher Newport combined for
over 200 yards of offense in the final quarter.
SU senior superback Shelby Fisher led all
rushers with 109 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns.
CNU scored the game's first touchdown on a Long 13-yard run with
3:58 left in the first quarter. The Sea Gulls were plagued by
turnovers in the first half (three fumbles total). SU answered with
a Fisher touchdown and a Tommy Kowalick 32-yard
field goal right before the half where the Gulls led 10-7.
Fisher scored the only points in the third quarter as the Sea
Gulls took a 17-7 lead four minutes into the second half. Fisher
scored on a 13-yard run to cap a 10-play, 72-yard drive.
The Sea Gull defense made four sacks, 10 tackles for a loss of
51 yards, two interceptions for 65 yards and one touchdown to go
with 75 total tackles. Junior Josh Leonardis
made a team-high 11 tackles followed by senior co-captains
Jarrell Chandler (one sack) and Matt
Barnes, who had 10 tackles apiece. Senior Paul
Cynewski had two sacks, eight tackles and five tackles for
a loss of 26 yards. Salisbury blocked CNU's 34-yard field goal
attempt in the first quarter and intercepted Long late in the
second quarter.
Salisbury had 337 rushing yards (average of 6.3 yards per rush)
and over 400 yards of total offense on the day. CNU held a slight
advantage in the time of possession as the Captains rushed for 170
yards and threw for 127 (297 total yards of offense).
Salisbury defeats CNU for the second consecutive season and the
first time at Sea Gull Stadium since 2002. Prior to today's victory
the Captains had won the previous two games in the series held at
Sea Gull Stadium. The Sea Gulls hold a 5-2 series advantage.
Salisbury will next travel to Doylestown, Pa., to face Delaware
Valley College on Saturday, September 27, at 1 p.m.
