SALISBURY, Md. – The eighth-ranked Salisbury University football team will look to knock off the third-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks in the 2021 home opener on Saturday, Sept. 11 at Sea Gull Stadium. The opening kickoff is set for noon in Salisbury. Prior to the game, Salisbury University will recognize first responders along with current and former members of the armed forces for Patriot's Day.
THE RUNDOWN
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The Series: The Sea Gulls and the Warhawks have only played one time prior to Saturday's matchup. Salisbury and UW-Whitewater faced off in the 2011 NCAA Tournament in the quarterfinal round with Whitewater moving on win its third consecutive national championship.
Tyler Curley paced the Salisbury rushing attack with 60 yards on seven attempts and a touchdown while Jonathan Briscoe ran for 49 yards on 11 rushes.
Chris Everett had a game-high nine tackles for Salisbury. Nick Ochoa and Matt Leon each had one tackle for loss.
Last Time Out: Salisbury cruised to a season-opening 56-14 win over Albright on Friday, Sept. 3. Salisbury recorded 589 yards of total offense, 505 of which came in the run game. Jack Lanham went 4-for-5 through the air with 79 yards and a touchdown. Lanham also ran for 76 yards. Joey Bildstein led the way with 14 totes with 136 yards and two touchdowns. Shamar Gray notched 86 yards on the ground and 46 receiving yards. Gray tallied a rushing and receiving touchdown.
Sean Carroll and Casey Counts tied for a team-high in tackles with seven. Carroll also added an interception. Sam Pavlick and Elijah Moorer each had a sack. A.J. Butler made five stops. Josh Adewumi and Sam Pagella each registered four tackles.
National Rankings: For the second week in a row, Salisbury remained in the eighth spot in the nation according to the D3football.com Top 25 poll to remain the only New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) team in the national polls. Wisconsin-Whitewater climbed a spot from fourth to third in the poll after last week's win over Carthage.
Weekly Honors: Senior kicker Bert Schrecongost collected the first NJAC weekly honor of the year for Salisbury with the NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week award on Sunday, Sept. 5. In the win against Albright, the two-time all-conference kicker went a perfect 8-for-8 in extra points to help the Sea Gulls get the victory. He also averaged 58.9 yards per kickoff and totaled 530 yards over nine kickoffs.
It is the second time in his career that Schrecongost was named on the NJAC weekly honor roll after receiving the NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week honor on Oct. 20, 2019.
Building with non-conference games: Since joining the NJAC in 2015, Salisbury has a 5-2 record in non-conference games with a four-game non-conference winning streak entering the contest with Wisconsin-Whitewater. Salisbury played Whitewater's rival, UW-Oshkosh, in 2019 with the Sea Gulls winning 24-19.
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 UW-Whitewater: The six-time national champions will make their first appearance in Maryland in Saturday's matchup. The Warhawks were national finalists in the last Stagg Bowl in 2019, falling to North Central in the championship tilt. The Warhawks claimed a share of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in 2019 after falling to UW-Oshkosh in the final game of the 2019 regular season. Whitewater did not play during the 2020-21 academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Warhawks return All-Americans on both sides of the ball. Senior running back Alex Peete, senior offensive lineman Kyle Gannon, senior defensive lineman Mackenzie Balanganayi and senior defensive back Mark McGrath.
In the season opener, Whitewater trounced the Carthage Firebirds, 46-7 after being up 41-0 at halftime. Quarterback Max Meylor finished the game 12-of-16 passing for 238 yards with two touchdowns. Alex Peete carried the ball nine times for 54 yards and four touchdowns. Mackenzie Balanganayi registered four stops, including one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.
Up Next: Salisbury will have a bye week during Week 3 of the season before hosting Western New England on Saturday, Sept. 25. WNE 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. The kickoff of the final non-conference matchup of the season is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Sea Gull Stadium.
