SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury University football team is entering the home stretch of the regular season and returns to the nest on Saturday, Oct. 29 for the Homecoming & Family Weekend game against New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) foe Rowan. Kickoff from Sea Gull Stadium is set for 1 p.m. The pregame Flock Party and Carnival in front of Sea Gull Stadium will begin at 11 a.m.

The Series: Rowan holds the 14-13-1 series advantage over Salisbury with the Sea Gulls looking to tie the series on Saturday. Salisbury won the past four matchups against Rowan.

Salisbury nearly doubled Rowan in total offense with 423 yards of offense compared to Rowan's 225 in last year's contest with Salisbury taking the 24-7 win on the road. Eight different Sea Gulls carried the ball to total 358 yards on the ground. Joey Bildstein led the rushing attack with 110 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown.

The defense forced three Mike Husni interceptions. Myles Christian grabbed two picks in the game. Josh Adewumi, Sam Pagella and Jimmy Celentano each recorded nine stops in the game. Celentano added 1.5 tackles for loss.

Last game vs. TCNJ: Salisbury notched a season-high 582 yards of total offense to overpower TCNJ, 70-17.

Joey Bildstein bested his career-high rushing mark for the second consecutive game with 154 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Dario Belizaire also set a new career-high with 127 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. The freshman tallied 14.1 yards per carry. Belizaire also added three catches for 38 yards.

The Salisbury defense caused five TCNJ turnovers, including four interceptions. Caleb Brubaker pushed his interception streak to five games with a pick in the third quarter. He also led with a team-high six tackles. Ryan Muller, Charles Barley and Aaron Jahnke also picked off passes in the victory. Muller returned his interception 23 yards for a touchdown.

The Class of the NJAC: Since joining the NJAC in 2015, Salisbury has won 52 games in the conference. The 52 wins stand as the most wins among active teams in the conference. Since joining the NJAC in 2015, Salisbury has won four conference championships which is the most in the eight-year span. The Sea Gulls also enter Saturday's game on an 18-game conference winning streak.

Built on the Run: The notorious triple-option offense, Salisbury enters Saturday's contest as the third-best rushing team in the country with a 374.1 average per game through seven games. In four of Salisbury's wins in 2022, the team gained 400 or more rushing yards. Salisbury notched a season-best 473 rushing yards in last week's win over TCNJ. Since joining the NJAC in 2015, the Sea Gulls totaled 21 games with 400 or more yards on the ground.

Joey Bildstein ranks second in the NJAC in rushing with 745 yards and eight touchdowns. David Fletcher, Dario Belizaire and Jaden Davis also are among the top 10 in the conference in rushing. Davis totaled 429 rushing yards, Fletcher has 345 yards on the ground and Belizaire is right behind with 339 yards. Salisbury rushers are all in the top five in yards per carry. Fletcher (10.5), Davis (9.5), Belizaire (8.9), Bildstein (7.5) and Baebaa Sayeh (6.1) all are at the top of the rankings.

Pitching Shutouts: The Salisbury defense's scoreless streak that started in the second quarter at the 4:40 mark of the second quarter against Ave Maria ended in the TCNJ game with the streak capped at 15 quarters with a field goal at 11:25 in the second. Salisbury enters the Rowan game as the 10th-ranked defense in Division III in terms of yards allowed (215.9) and the 12th-ranked scoring defense with the Sea Gulls giving up 10.4 points per game. Since joining the NJAC, Salisbury has collected 11 shutouts.

Running Wild: In the Ave Maria, Western New England and Rowan games, a pair of Salisbury rushers gained 100 or more yards in a game. Joey Bildstein and Dario Belizaire each established new career highs in last week's win over TCNJ with 154 and 127 rushing yards respectively. Jaden Davis repeated his 100-plus yard performance from the Ave Maria game with a 109-yard effort against Western New England. Joey Bildstein led the day with 141 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Before Davis and David Fletcher's performance against Ave Maria, it was four years since SU had two players rush for over 100 yards when Frank Pipich Jr. (188 yards) and Kadarrius Campbell (134 yards) did it in the SU vs. Frostburg St. game on Nov. 10, 2018.

Ball Hawking: Salisbury enters Saturday's contest with the second-most interceptions in the nation with 17 picks, two interceptions from the top spot. Salisbury has recorded an interception in each of the seven games so far in 2022. Caleb Brubaker is in a tie for third in Division III with six interceptions this season and has recorded an interception in five straight games. As a team, the Sea Gulls are 15th in the nation in passing yards allowed (142.3).

Among the Greats: Salisbury head coach Sherman Wood ranks in the top-20 of active coaches in wins, regardless of NCAA Division. Entering 2022, Coach Wood totaled 185 victories as head coach with stints at Bowie State and SU, which is more victories than other notable coaches with 20-plus years of experience such as Kirk Ferentz at Iowa and Frank Solich at Ohio.

Scouting Rowan: Rowan enters Saturday's contest with a 5-2 overall record with a 3-1 record in the NJAC.

The team is led by quarterback Mike Husni, running back James Fara and wide receiver John Maldonado. Husni leads the NJAC in passing touchdowns with 11 so far this season. Husni has also registered five touchdowns on the ground. Maldonado leads the NJAC with six receiving touchdowns and is second with 509 receiving yards while Fara sits in third in the league in rushing with 610 yards.

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Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football, Coastal Lacrosse Conference for men's lacrosse and the Metropolitan Swimming and Diving Conference for men's and women's swimming. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, and dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on-and-off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 22 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 189 conference championships and 43 Academic All-Americans.

To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.