SALISBURY, Md. - The Salisbury University football team begins its defense of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship on Saturday, Oct. 1 against the Montclair St. Red Hawks. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Sea Gull Stadium.

The Series: Montclair St. holds the 8-7 series advantage over Salisbury but the Sea Gulls have had the recent edge on the Red Hawks. The Sea Gulls enter Saturday's contest with a six-game winning streak, including a 27-7 victory over the Red Hawks in 2021.

The Salisbury defense forced four interceptions, including two picks by Sean Carroll. Jimmy Celentano and A.J. Butler also registered an interception in that game. The Sea Gull offense totaled 320 yards of offense. Jack Lanham combined for 145 yards of total offense. Lanham went 5-of-8 for 71 passing yards and a touchdown. On the ground, Lanham carried the ball seven times for 74 yards and a score. Joey Bildstein scored a rushing touchdown in the game.

Last Game vs. Western New England: Salisbury continued its positive momentum with a 35-0 victory over the Western New England Golden Bears to wrap up non-conference play with a 3-1 record.
Joey Bildstein and Jaden Davis both rushed for over 100 yards for the second straight game. Bildstein racked up two touchdowns on 141 rushing yards. David notched 109 yards on eight carries.
Salisbury limited WNE to 188 yards of total offense. Jimmy Celentano paced the defensive effort with nine tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss. Caleb Brubaker and A.J. Butler tallied an interception on Bryce Karstetter.

The Class of the NJAC: Since joining the NJAC in 2015, Salisbury has won 49 games in the conference. The 49 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. 

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. Bildstein, Jaden Davis and David Fletcher are all amongst the top-five in the NJAC in rushing.

In each of Salisbury's wins in 2022, the team gained 400 or more rushing yards. Since joining the NJAC in 2015, the Sea Gulls totaled 20 games with 400 or more yards on the ground.

Pitching shutouts: For the first time since the 2019 season, the Salisbury defense pitched two shutouts during the season. Since joining the NJAC, Salisbury has collected 10 shutouts.

Running Wild: For the second consecutive game, a pair of Salisbury rushers gained for 100 or more yards in a game. 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.

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 Montclair State: Montclair St. enters Saturday's matchup with a 2-2 record with wins over Thiel and Salve Regina but dropping games against Delaware Valley and WPI.

After the graduation of All-NJAC quarterback Ja'Quill Burch, the Red Hawks have relied on Mason Murdock to take the mantle of starter. Murdock has thrown for 527 yards with three touchdowns and five interceptions.

On defense, the Red Hawks are paced by defensive back Mike Ramos and linebacker Nicholas Burgess. Ramos sits fourth on the conference with 35 tackles while Burgess is tied for seventh in the league with 31 stops.

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