LEXINGTON, Va. – The 25th-ranked Salisbury University football team embarks on another season on the gridiron. The team is looking the capture its fifth consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship and fourth straight berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Sea Gulls open the 2023 season against the Washington & Lee Generals on Saturday, Sept. 2. Kickoff from Wilson Stadium is set for 1 p.m. in Lexington, Va.
THE RUNDOWN
LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS
GAME NOTES
The Series: This is the first time the Sea Gulls and Generals have faced off in football.
Last Season: SU continued its postseason streak to 18 straight seasons and captured its fourth consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship with a 9-2 record and a perfect 6-0 mark in the NJAC. It was the third straight season that the Sea Gulls made a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The team split the opening games of 2022 before rattling off eight straight wins to end the regular season.
The NJAC recognized Salisbury with a league-high 13 All-NJAC selections. The Sea Gulls also received four D3football.com All-Region accolades with
Joey Bildstein,
Caleb Brubaker,
M.J. Ajimatanrareje and
Tony Mason all named All-Region. The season culminated with Brubaker being selected to the D3football.com All-America Second Team.
National Rankings: Salisbury received national love from preseason polls. Salisbury was slotted 25th in the D3football.com Preseason Poll. The Sea Gulls were the only team in the NJAC ranked in the D3football.com Poll.
The Captains: Salisbury will have four captains to lead the flock in 2023. Seniors
Casey Counts and
Joey Bildstein along with juniors
Jimmy Celentano and
Tony Mason were announced as team captains before the start of preseason camp.
Season-Opening Success: Since joining the NJAC in 2015, the Sea Gulls have a 6-2 record in season openers. Salisbury and Albright had previously met in seven of the previous eight season openers with the Sea Gulls holding the 5-2 edge over the Lions, including the current four-game win streak. Salisbury opened the Spring 2021 season with a 32-30 victory over Wesley.
All-NJAC Returners: The squad returns eight of the league-high 13 All-NJAC selections in 2023. The team returns All-NJAC First Team selections,
Joey Bildstein,
Tony Mason,
Jimmy Celentano and
Caleb Brubaker.
A.J. Butler,
Brock Keeler and
Casey Counts earned All-NJAC Second Team accolades while
Jaden Davis was an All-NJAC Honorable Mention pick.
Built on Bildstein: Joey Bildstein is a two-time All-NJAC First Team superback that led the NJAC and ranked 14th in the country in rushing with 1,235 yards in 2022. Bildstein was also among the nation's best in rushing average and rushing touchdowns. Bildstein sat ninth in the nation in yards per carry, averaging 6.82 yards per attempt and tied for 10th in Division III with 15 rushing scores. He was named the NJAC Offensive Player of the Week five times last season.
Bildstein is approaching the top-10 in rushing in program history. The bruising superback enters the 2023 season with 2,200 rushing yards with 25 career touchdowns.
The Class of the NJAC:Â Since joining the NJAC in 2015, Salisbury has won 55 games in the conference. The 55 wins stand as the most wins among active teams in the conference. Since joining the NJAC in 2015, Salisbury has won five conference championships which is the most in the eight-year span. The Sea Gulls wrapped up the 2022 regular season on a 21-game conference winning streak.
Ball Hawking: Salisbury finished the 2022 season sixth in the nation with 21 interceptions. Salisbury recorded an interception in all 10 regular season games last season.
Caleb Brubaker, a D3football.com Preseason All-America First Team selection, tied for third in Division III with seven interceptions.
Virginia is for Lovers (and the Birds):Â Since 2010, Salisbury is 9-0 in the state of Virginia with road wins over Apprentice School, Southern Virginia and CNU. In those matchups, the Sea Gulls have outscored their opponents, 363-140.
Among the Greats: Salisbury head coach
Sherman Wood ranks in the top-15 of active coaches in wins, regardless of NCAA Division. Entering 2023, Coach Wood totaled 196 victories as head coach with stints at Bowie State and SU. Wood has more career wins than other notable coaches with 20 years or more of experience than Rich Rodriguez of Jacksonville St. and Terry Bowden of Louisiana-Monroe.
Scouting Washington & Lee: W&L finished the 2022 season with a 5-5 overall record and were slotted fifth in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Preseason Poll.
The Generals return senior offensive lineman Tyler Halliday, who earned All-ODAC First Team honors last season. Halliday and the offensive line spearheaded the ODAC's top rushing offense in 2022 with a 273.2 yard per game average.
The defense is led by a pair of linebackers Uno Christopher and Hunter Hawk. Hawk recorded 46 stops with 1.5 tackles for loss while Christopher registered 27 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss.
Up Next: Salisbury continues its season-opening two game road swing in Allentown, Pa. against the Muhlenberg Mules on Saturday, Sept. 9. Kickoff is set for noon.
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 and men's and women's swimming, and the Coastal Lacrosse Conference for men's lacrosse. 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 23 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 196 conference championships and 45 Academic All-Americans.
To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.
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