SALISBURY, Md. – Fresh off its bye week, the Salisbury University football team will open New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play on the road against the rival Christopher Newport Captains on Saturday. Kickoff from a sold-out TowneBank Stadium in Newport News, Va., is set for 2 p.m.
 
THE RUNDOWN
LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS
GAME NOTES
 
The Series: Salisbury holds a 15-3 advantage in the all-time series against CNU with seven straight wins dating back to the 2016 season. The teams last met in the de facto NJAC championship game at Sea Gull Stadium on Nov. 12, 2022. After falling behind 14-0 early in the first quarter, SU rallied to win a wild 36-33 affair and clinch a fourth straight NJAC crown. Joey Bildstein rushed for a career-high 239 yards and five touchdowns, while Caleb Brubaker sealed the game with an interception on the Captains' final drive.
 
Last Time Out: Salisbury endured a 42-7 home defeat at the hands of then-No. 13 Johns Hopkins on Saturday, Sept. 16. The Sea Gulls' lone score of the game came late in the second quarter when Ben Hutchins found Jaden Davis for a 72-yard touchdown pass.
 
The Sea Gulls racked up 231 total yards of offense against Johns Hopkins' 469. Hutchins led the offense through the air and on the ground with 128 passing yards and 44 rushing yards.
 
Kilo Mack and Ryan Muller shared the team lead with eight tackles apiece. Casey Counts notched a sack and a half and two-and-a-half tackles for loss as part of his seven tackles for the day. A.J. Butler recorded an interception on the Blue Jays' first drive of the game.
 
Team 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. Seniors Josh Barker and Gabriel Mendez have also been named captains for the CNU game.
 
Class of the NJAC: Since joining the NJAC in 2015, Salisbury has won 55 league games, the most 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, with their last NJAC defeat coming at Frostburg State on Nov. 10, 2018.
 
The Sea Gulls enter NJAC play in 2023 in pursuit of a fifth straight conference title after wearing the crown in 2019, spring 2021, 2021, and 2022. SU's four-championship streak is tied for the third-longest in league history. Montclair State won a record six straight NJAC titles from 1981-86 and five straight from 1969-73, while Rowan (as Glassboro State) captured four straight from 1974-77.
 
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.
 
Airing It Out: Normally a rushing-based attack, the Sea Gulls have passed for over 100 yards in each of the first three games this season. Salisbury had not accumulated triple-digit passing yards in consecutive games since doing so in three straight contests from Oct. 23-Nov. 6, 2021.
 
Ball Hawking: Salisbury finished the 2022 season sixth in the nation with 21 interceptions. The Sea Gulls recorded a pick 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.

With a first-quarter interception against Johns Hopkins two weeks ago, Salisbury has forced an opponent to turn the ball over at least once in 17 consecutive regular season games.
 
Among the Greats: Salisbury head coach Sherman Wood ranks in the top-15 of active coaches in wins, regardless of NCAA Division. Coach Wood enters the Johns Hopkins game with 197 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, including Rich Rodriguez of Jacksonville State and Terry Bowden of Louisiana-Monroe.
 
Kings of the Turnpike: Salisbury has won 11 straight NJAC road games since the 2019 season, outscoring its opponents by a combined 488-165. In 2022 the Sea Gulls picked up road victories at William Paterson (23-0), TCNJ (70-17), and Kean (32-17).
 
Scouting Christopher Newport: Christopher Newport went 7-3 in 2022, finishing second in the NJAC with a 5-1 conference record under first-year head coach Paul Crowley. The Captains won their first five games in league play before falling to Salisbury, 36-33, in the regular season finale.
 
The Captains are off to a 2-1 start to open the 2023 slate and are also coming off their bye week. CNU shut out Southern Virginia 45-0 on Sept. 2 before enduring a 20-14 setback at Johns Hopkins on Sept. 9. The Captains bounced back with a 49-17 win over Gettysburg on Sept. 16. In that game, CNU put up 395 total yards on just 53 plays (7.5 yards per play). Gunner White rushed for a pair of touchdowns, while Gavin Hall returned an interception 41 yards to the house for a fourth-quarter exclamation point.
 
Two-time reigning NJAC Offensive Player of the Year and senior quarterback Matt Dzierski passed for three touchdowns in the opener against SVU but missed the Gettysburg game; freshman signal-caller Connor Barry filled in against the Bullets and passed for 287 yards and two scores. All-NJAC second-teamer Gunner White leads the ground game with 185 yards and four scores, while All-NJAC first-teamer Colin Hart has racked up 223 receiving yards with two TDs.
 
Senior defensive back Kindrick Braxton leads Christopher Newport with 17 tackles, plus three pass breakups and one forced fumble, in the follow-up to his D3football.com All-Region campaign in 2022. Carson Turner leads the team with two sacks, while five different Captains have recorded an interception.
 
If You Go: Christopher Newport has announced that all seats have been sold for the game. Standing-room only tickets will be sold the day of the game at TownBanke Stadium. Standing-room tickets will be sold for $5 beginning at 12 noon, two hours before kickoff.
 

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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 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.