SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Salisbury University football team concludes its non-conference schedule on Saturday, Sept. 24 against the Western New England Golden Bears. Kickoff from Golden Bear Stadium is set for noon.

The Series: Salisbury has a perfect 2-0 record against Western New England with both games taking place at Sea Gull Stadium. Saturday's matchup will be the first time the two teams have met in Massachusetts. 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. A season ago, SU rolled to a 40-14 win over the Golden Bears. David Fletcher and Joey Bildstein notched 99 and 98 rushing yards respectively in the victory.

Last Game vs. Ave Maria: Salisbury pitched a second-half shutout and scored 35 unanswered points en route to a 42-14 victory over the Ave Maria Gyrenes last week.

Salisbury notched 535 yards of total offense, including 482 yards on the ground. Jaden Davis and David Fletcher each set career-highs in rushing. Davis recorded 155 rushing yards and a touchdown while Fletcher notched 125 yards on nine totes.

Jimmy Celentano had a game-high 11 tackles, including a half sack. Caleb Brubaker, Brock Keeler, Ryan Muller and Nero Schrader each picked off a pass. Brubaker and Keeler each collected six tackles while Muller had five stops.

The Sea Gulls are Coming: Saturday's matchup with WNE will be Salisbury's seventh time in team history playing an opponent from New England. In six previous matchups, the Sea Gulls are 6-0 in those games and outscored opponents 374-93.

1989 – Western Conn. St. – W, 46-28
2007 – Becker – W, 79-20
2008 – Becker – W, 63-0
2010 – Husson – W, 84-7
2011 – Western New England - W, 62-24
2021 – Western New England – W, 40-14


Building with non-conference games: Since joining the NJAC in 2015, Salisbury has an 8-4 record in non-conference games. 

All-NJAC Returners: The squad returns six of the 18 All-NJAC selections from a season ago, led by All-NJAC First Team superback Joey Bildstein. The Sea Gulls also return second-team selections Connor Lugo, Hunter Cleaver, Casey Counts and Aaron Jahnke along with honorable mention pick A.J. Butler.

Built on the Run: The notorious triple-option offense, Salisbury pushed its streak of top-10 rushing offenses in the nation in 2021 to 10 straight years. The Salisbury offense finished third in the nation in rushing offense in 2021 with a 324.3 yards per game average. The Sea Gulls also ranked 17th in the country in passing efficiency (163.45) and 34th in Division III in total offense with a unit that averaged 433.3 yards per game. Joey Bildstein led the NJAC in rushing with 779 yards on 125 attempts. He tallied seven touchdowns and averaged 6.2 yards per carry.

In Salisbury's wins against Albright and Ave Maria, the team rushed for 433 and 482 yards respectively. Since joining the NJAC in 2015, the Sea Gulls totaled 19 games with 400 or more yards on the ground.

Running Wild: For the first time since Frank Pipich Jr. (188 yards) and Kadarrius Campbell (134 yards) in the SU vs. Frostburg St. game on Nov. 10, 2018, Salisbury had two players gain more than 100 yards in a game. Jaden Davis and David Fletcher tallied 155 yards and 125 yards respectively in SU's 42-14 win over Ave Maria on Sept. 17.

 
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 has 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 Western New England: WNE enters Saturday's contest with a 1-2 record after a close 23-21 loss to Utica on Sept. 17.

The Golden Bears are led by quarterback Bryce Karstetter. He threw 10 touchdowns for 972 yards in 2021. In his first game action of 2022 last week against Utica, Karstetter was 14-for-25 for 185 yards and a touchdown.

WNE is paced by a strong secondary and linebacking group, who came away with two picks against Utica. Juniors Thomas Gabarro and Jake Chiasson tallied 25 and 23 tackles each so far through three games.

---

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 learn more about the tradition of excellence with Sea Gull Athletics, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.