SALISBURY, Md. – The No. 15/17 Salisbury University football team looks to bounce back after the loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater on Sept. 11 and a bye week as the Sea Gulls host the Western New England Golden Bears on Saturday, Sept. 25. Opening kickoff from Sea Gull Stadium is set for 12 p.m. At halftime of the contest, Salisbury Athletics will recognize the national champion baseball and women's lacrosse teams. Players and fans will also be encouraged to wear pink for breast cancer awareness.
THE RUNDOWN
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SALISBURY STATS
WESTERN NEW ENGLAND STATS
SPECTATOR POLICY
PARKING
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The Series: Salisbury and Western New England faced only one time before Saturday's contest. The Sea Gulls and the Golden Bears battled in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. The Sea Gulls cruised to a 62-24 win at home on Nov. 19, 2011.
Dan Griffin ran for 175 yards and three touchdowns to lead the way for the maroon and gold. SU also received two rushing scores from Ross Flanigan and one each from Randal Smedley, Jonathan Briscoe and Brendan Chavis.
Chris Everett paced the Salisbury defense with a game-high 17 tackles while Matt McMurdo had 11 stops, two tackles for loss, a sack and fumble recovery for the touchdown.
Last Time Out: In a highly anticipated, nationally-ranked battle to open the home schedule at Sea Gull Stadium on Sept. 11, Wisconsin-Whitewater outlasted Salisbury, 31-14. Jack Lanham accounted for 149 yards of offense. Lanham went 9-of-19 for 125 yards and an interception. The senior quarterback scored on the ground and tallied 24 rushing yards. Hunter Cleaver caught three passes for 69 yards, including a 54-yard reception on the penultimate play of the game.
Casey Counts led the defensive effort with a career-high 11 stops. He made three tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble. Myles Christian totaled nine tackles on the day, including eight solo tackles. Josh Adewumi forced a fumble in the fourth quarter which Sean Carroll returned for a 45-yard touchdown.
National Rankings: Salisbury fell outside of the top-10 following the loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater. Salisbury landed at No. 15 in the latest D3football.com Top 25 and was slotted at No. 17 in the initial American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Coaches Poll. The Sea Gulls are the only New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) team ranked in each of the national polls.
Weekly Honors: Sophomore linebacker Casey Counts received a plethora of regional and national honors for his performance against Wisconsin-Whitewater. Counts was named the NJAC Defensive Player of the Week in Week 2. He was also honored on the D3football.com Team of the Week as well as the DC Touchdown Club Washington Metro College Football Player of the Week Honor Roll.
Counts recorded a career-high 11 tackles, three tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. He also forced a fumble in the fourth quarter on UWW's Max Meylor during the Sea Gulls' comeback attempt. Counts is the team leader in tackles (18) and leads the NJAC in tackles for loss with five stops behind the line of scrimmage.
Building with non-conference games: Since joining the NJAC in 2015, Salisbury has a 5-3 record in non-conference games. Salisbury's four-game non-conference winning streak was snapped against Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Passing the Buck: Salisbury totaled 125 passing yards compared to 122 rushing yards against Wisconsin-Whitewater. It is the first time the Sea Gulls gained more yards through the air than on the ground since the Regents Cup game against Frostburg St. on Nov. 14, 2015. The Sea Gulls tallied 199 passing yards compared to 172 rushing yards en route to a 28-27 win over the Bobcats.
Breaking through the books: Senior quarterback Jack Lanham is approaching 2,000 passing yards in his SU career, which will crack the top-10 in program history in career passing yards. Through 22 games played in his career, Lanham tallied 1,891 passing yards as the signal-caller for the Sea Gulls.
8. Dustin Johnson (2002-05) - 2,204
9. Marc Thomas (1993-94) - 2,128
10. David Doy (1992-95) - 2,079
11. Jack Lanham (2017-present) - 1,891
12. Ronnie Curley (2005-08) - 1,768
Among the Greats: Salisbury head coach Sherman Wood ranks in the top-20 of active coaches in wins, regardless of NCAA Division. Entering 2021, Coach Wood is tied for 19th with Willie Fritz of Tulane amongst active coaches in victories with 177. He had more career victories than other notable coaches with 20 or more years of experience such as Kirk Ferentz of Iowa and Gary Patterson of TCU.
No Fly Zone: Senior All-American defensive Back Sean Carroll recorded an interception in the Week 1 win over Albright to move to a tie for sixth all-time on the SU career interceptions list.
T4. Du'Juan Wilson (1998-2000) - 12
T4. Greg Stanton (2010-13) – 12
T6. Sean Carroll (2017-present) – 11
T6. Tim Jones (1993-93) – 11
T6. Marvin Robbins (1985-89) – 11
T6. Fred Bess (1877-80) – 11
T9. Rob Wagner (1983, 1985-87) – 10
T9. Jay Jefferson (1977-79, 1983) – 10
Scouting Western New England: WNE has had recent success in the former New England Football Conference and the Commonwealth Coast Conference with five consecutive conference championships and five straight berths in the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Bears concluded the 2019 season with a 9-2 overall record and champions of the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the Golden Bears' fifth consecutive berth in the NCAA Tournament.
WNE's offense is led by senior wide receiver Steven Fedorchak. A 2019 All-CCC Second Team selection, Fedorchak leads the Golden Bears with 16 receptions for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Fellow senior receiver Adam Razza leads the Golden Bears with four touchdowns with eight receptions and 147 yards. The offense is also paced by junior quarterback Bryce Karstetter and junior running back E.J. Dudley. Karstetter totaled 548 passing yards with six touchdowns and an interception. Dudley toted the rock 42 times for 187 yards.
2021 D3football.com Preseason All-America Erich Keutmann leads the Golden Bear defense entering Saturday's matchup. Keutmann leads the team in 22 tackles, including two tackles for loss and a sack. Fellow seniors Bailey Devine-Scott, Joshua Salem and Tucker Hartmann return to the squad who were named All-CCC teams in 2019. The Golden Bears have only allowed 16.7 points per contest through three games.
Up Next: The Sea Gulls open NJAC play with a pair of games in New Jersey. SU opens the conference slate by taking on the Spring 2021 NJAC North Division Champions, Montclair St., on Oct. 2. Kickoff from Sprague Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.
