SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 13 Salisbury University football program posted a 9-1 overall record and 6-1 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference during the regular season. The Sea Gulls began their 15th run in the NCAA Tournament with a 35-28 win over Endicott College for their 10th win of the season last week in the Second Round of the NCAA Playoffs. The Sea Gulls will now battle Johns Hopkins University in the Third Round on the road Saturday, Dec. 6th. Kickoff is set for 12:02 p.m. from Homewood Field in Baltimore, Md., in the Sweet 16 matchup.
The Rundown
Live Stats
Live Video
Game Notes
Tickets: Tickets will be available to purchase at the gate beginning at 10:30 a.m. with either cash or card. Adults will be $8, and students, youth, and seniors will be $4. Admission to the game for SU STUDENTS will be sponsored by the athletics department. SU students should go to the Schelle Pavilion on University Parkway to claim their ticket. SU ID/GULLCARD is required to receive the complimentary ticket.
The Series: For the two programs to be so close, this is only the sixth meeting on the gridiron between the two powerhouse programs. This is the fourth meeting in the last five years. The teams met in the regular season last year in Baltimore, with the Sea Gulls picking up a huge road-ranked victory 41-13. In the two meetings prior, the Blue Jays took both wins by a combined margin of 60 points. The first meeting between the programs came back in 1975 with SU winning 33-26. Salisbury holds a 3-2 record all-time against Johns Hopkins. This is the second meeting between the two teams in the NCAA Playoffs. JHU traveled to SU in 2021, winning 45-20 in First Round action.
Last Time Out: SU earned a 35-28 NCAA Second Round win over Endicott College last Saturday. After taking a late seven-point lead, the Salisbury defense stood tall. They posted three stops, which included a fourth-and-goal stop from the one-yard line for Endicott.
Jimmy Celentano busted through the Endicott offensive line, making a tackle for loss and helping secure the NCAA Second Round win for SU.
SyRus McGowan finished with 220 total yards of offense and four total touchdowns.
Dario Belizaire tallied 155 yards of total offense and two total touchdowns.
Daniel Clark had three catches for 74 yards. The Sea Gulls ran for 359 yards on offense and finished with 465 total yards.
Patrick Sheil posted one interception, two pass breakups, and nine tackles.
Kilo Mack led the Sea Gulls with 10 tackles while also earning a pass breakup.
Football – 7th | D3football.com Top 25, Week 9: Salisbury (9-1) finished the regular season with an NPI metric of 68.616, sandwiched between 12th-ranked Hardin-Simmons (69.097) and 14th-ranked UW-Platteville (68.252). SU also placed 12th in the final D3football.com rankings before the postseason.
The Captains: Head coach
Sherman Wood has named seniors
Kilo Mack, Micah Brubaker, Daniel Clark, and
Oliver Morgan as captains heading into the top 15 matchup with the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays in the Third Round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs.
How Sweet it is: The Sea Gulls are back in the Third Round (Sweet 16) of the NCAA Tournament for the 6th time (1983, '85, '86, 2011, '19, '24) in program history and are searching for their seventh Elite Eight appearance (National Quarterfinal appearances 1983, '85, '86, 2011, '19, '24). The Salisbury football program has earned 15 NCAA Tournament Appearances (1983, '85, '86, 2002, '04, '07, '10, '11, '12, '15, '19, '21, '22, '24, '25). They posted a National Finalist finish in 1986 and a National Semifinalist finish in 1983.
Mr. 200 Sherman Wood: Salisbury head coach
Sherman Wood ranks in the top-15 of active coaches in wins, regardless of NCAA Division. After earning NJAC and AFCA Region 2 Coach of the year honors, Wood would go on to earn his first AFCA National Coach of the Year honor in his 32nd season as a head coach. In 2024, Wood guided Salisbury to a 12-1 record, the New Jersey Athletic Conference title, and an appearance in the quarterfinals of the Division III playoffs. The Sea Gulls recorded their fifth undefeated regular season and sixth quarterfinal appearance. Wood, the all-time wins leader at Salisbury, has a record of 203-81 with the Sea Gulls and an overall record of 221-120-1 when you include his six seasons at Bowie State. A few weeks ago at Rowan earned Coach Wood his 200th Career win at Salisbury University.
All NJAC Honors: The No. 13 Salisbury University football program saw a conference high 17 student-athletes earn New Jersey Athletic Conference honors. The Sea Gulls posted five on the First-Team, 10 on the Second-Team, and two earned Honorable Mention.
Dario Belizaire, Darrell Walter, Chris Clarke, Noah Christenson, and
Mason Fisher earned First-Team honors.
SyRus McGowan, Micah Brubaker, Daniel Clark, Brian Irving, Amiri Edwards, Oliver Morgan, Jimmy Celentano, Andrew Gioia, Kilo Mack, and
Jadyn Thomas earned Second-Team honors, while
Jayson Gary and
Patrick Sheil were named Honorable Mention.
Scouting Johns Hopkins: This is the 140th season of Johns Hopkins football. JHU first fielded a team in 1882. Johns Hopkins enters this week's game with an all-time record of 618-493-57 (.553). Overall, JHU owns 17 Centennial Conference titles (all 17 won since 2002) and has qualified for the NCAA Playoffs 14 times (all 14 since 2005). Johns Hopkins is ranked #11 by the AFCA and #8 by D3football.com in the most recent polls issued by those organizations (after the final regular season games of the year). They sit at No. 7 in the latest NPI rankings. Johns Hopkins earned an at-large bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs. This is the second time in JHU's 14 all-time NCAA Playoff appearances that the Blue Jays have earned an at-large bid (2021). The Blue Jays are coming off a 34-14 Second Round win over Springfield.
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with affiliate membership in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (football, men's & women's swimming), Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse), State University of New York Athletic Conference (field hockey), and Colonial Women's Golf Conference (women's golf). With over 500 student-athletes in 23 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the nation's most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, featuring dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on and off the field. The Sea Gulls have won a combined 23 team national championships, 24 individual national championships, and 206 conference championships, and have produced 53 Academic All-Americans.
To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.
