ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Coming off the season-opening win on the road against Washington & Lee, the 25th-ranked Salisbury University football team looks to return home with a 2-0 record as the Sea Gulls take on the Muhlenberg Mules on Saturday, Sept. 9. Kickoff from the Lehigh Valley is set for noon at Scotty Wood Stadium.

THE RUNDOWN
LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS
GAME NOTES

The Series: Saturday's contest will be the fourth meeting between Salisbury and Muhlenberg with the Mules holding the 2-1 series advantage. The two teams met in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament with Muhlenberg taking the 24-8 win over Salisbury on Dec. 7, 2019. The Mules won the first-ever matchup, 31-21 in Allentown back on Nov. 17, 2007 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Sea Gulls got redemption six years later in the ECAC South Atlantic Bowl with a 21-19 win on Nov. 23, 2013.

Last Time Out: Salisbury got the season off to a strong start and forced four turnovers with a 28-7 win over the Washington & Lee Generals in the 2023 season opener.

The Sea Gulls scored 21 points off of the four turnovers and tallied 304 yards of total offense. Ben Hutchins paced the offense with 6-of-12 passing for 85 yards and 10 rushes for 65 yards on the ground, including a 52-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Jaden Davis carried the ball four times for 93 yards and a touchdown. Hunter Hruz and Ronald Clark also scored for the Sea Gulls.

Jimmy Celentano, who earned NJAC Defensive Player of the Week honors, led all tacklers with 15 stops. Caleb Brubaker also had double-digit tackles with 11. Nero Schrader and Kilo Mack each recorded nine tackles.

National Rankings: Salisbury held at the 25th spot in the poll after the Week 1. 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.

NJAC/Centennial Series: Salisbury's game against Muhlenberg is part of the Centennial vs. NJAC Football Challenge, a football scheduling agreement between the two conferences. The agreement starts for the 2023 season and runs for two years with the potential for renewal in future seasons.

Salisbury will face Muhlenberg, Johns Hopkins and McDaniel in the first year of the Centennial vs. NJAC Football Challenge.

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: 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.

With the four turnovers forced against W&L last week, Salisbury has forced an opponent to turn the ball over at least once in 15 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 Muhlenberg 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 than Rich Rodriguez of Jacksonville St. and Terry Bowden of Louisiana-Monroe.

Scouting Muhlenberg: Muhlenberg finished the 2022 season with a 7-4 record after finishing the previous two years in the NCAA Tournament.

The Mules started off the 2023 season with a 53-12 win over Moravian. The team finished with nearly 500 yards of total offense and collected 496 yards on 285 yards in the air and 212 on the ground. Senior tight ends James Nye and Matt McKenna combined for 164 yards and five touchdowns.

The offense is led by junior signal caller Joe Repetti, who crossed the 3,000-career passing yard milestone in the win against Moravian. He was 16-of-24 for 280 yards and five touchdowns in the victory. Senior left tackle Zach Greenburg is the leader on the offensive line after he was a third-team All-Region pick last season.

Senior linebacker Tyler Ekstrom and senior safety John Lohrer are the defensive leaders for the Mules. Lohrer ranked second in the Centennial with 51 solo tackles. His 67 total stops ranked second on the Mules, and he also tied for the team lead with four interceptions. Ekstrom ranked fourth on the squad with 44 total tackles.

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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.