Nov 09, 2019
EWING, N.J. – The No. 7/8 Salisbury University football team clinched the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship and the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Championship Tournament with a 62-20 win on Saturday over the TCNJ Lions.
THE RUNDOWN
Final Score: No. 7/8 Salisbury 62, TCNJ 20
Records: Salisbury (8-0, 6-0 NJAC) | TCNJ (2-7, 2-4 NJAC)
Location: Lions Stadium – Ewing, N.J.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
- Salisbury scored on their opening possession of the game. Two plays after an Octavion Wilson 48-yard reception put the Sea Gulls in the red zone, Michael Fowler took a pitch play 12 yards to put the opening points on the board.
- On the ensuing kickoff, TCNJ's Dylan Richey fumbled the ball in his own 20-yard line with Sean Carroll recovering the loose ball.
- The following play, Jack Lanham would score on a draw play from 20 yards out to put Salisbury up 13-0 in the first 3:30 of the game.
- After a 21-yard punt return by Chris Clark set Salisbury up near midfield, Lanham would get Lenard Prue on the sideline. Prue made a couple moves past the TCNJ defense and jumped into the end zone for a 41-yard touchdown reception.
- TCNJ put their first points on the board with a 28 yard Vinny Guckin touchdown catch to cut the Salisbury lead 20-7 with 4:56 left in the first.
- Mike-Ryan Mofor pushed the Salisbury lead back up to 20 on the Sea Gulls' next drive. He opened the drive with a 32-yard run. Four plays later, Mofor would take a dive play through the TCNJ defense for a 13-yard touchdown.
- On Salisbury's next drive, it took one play for the Sea Gulls to go up 34-7 right before the end of the first quarter when Lanham found a streaking Wilson in the middle of the field for an 85-yard catch-and-run.
Second Quarter
- After the Salisbury defense forced a TCNJ three-and-out to open the quarter, Salisbury drove down the field on 11 plays. The drive was bookended by a Shamar Gray four-yard run for a touchdown.
- Salisbury got the ball back on TCNJ's next drive when Robert Jadick forced a Nick Chambers fumble which was recovered by Josh Adewumi on the TCNJ 30.
- A play later, Mofor scored his second touchdown of the day.
- TCNJ was able to get a score right before halftime when Guckin tallied his second touchdown reception of the day to trim the Salisbury lead to 48-14 heading into halftime.
Third Quarter
- Gray notched his second four-yard rushing touchdown of the day for the first points of the second half just over five minutes into the third quarter.
- Joey Ballamy Jr. muffed the ensuing kickoff and was recovered by Jamere Furbush at the TCNJ 11.
- Mofor would scamper in from 11-yards out after breaking a tackle at the line of scrimmage to extend Salisbury's lead to 62-14.
Fourth Quarter
- TCNJ's Andrew Donoghue would put the final points on the board with a two-yard touchdown to trim the margin to 62-20.
- Salisbury would run the clock out and clinch the conference title.
GAME NOTES
- Salisbury notched 517 yards of total offense.
- Salisbury threw for a season-high 271 yards and rushed for 246.
- The Sea Gulls were an efficient 5-of-9 on third down and 2-of-3 on fourth down.
- Jack Lanham went 7-of-11 passing for 259 and a pair of touchdowns. Lanham only carried the ball three times for 21 yards but scored a rushing touchdown.
- Three of Mike-Ryan Mofor's six carries went from touchdowns. He totaled 111 yards on the day.
- Michael Fowler had five totes for 40 yards and a touchdown.
- Shamar Gray tallied two scores on nine carries.
- Octavion Wilson reeled in four passes for a career-high and school-record 182 yards, including an 85-yard touchdown reception.
- Lenard Prue caught two Lanham passes for 64 yards and a touchdown.
- Salisbury held TCNJ to 269 yards and forced three fumbles.
- Patrick Bernardo and Myles Christian each registered a game-high 11 tackles.
- Jamere Furbush notched seven tackles, including 2.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.
- Josh Adewumi also recovered a fumble and tallied six stops and a half-sack.
- Joseph Manso had five tackles from the safety position.
- Bert Schrecongost went 8-of-9 on PATs.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- With the win, Salisbury won its second NJAC Championship in its five-year affiliate membership in the league.
- Salisbury earned a trip to its 11th NCAA Tournament in program history.
- Octavion Wilson's 182 receiving yards set a new school record, besting the previous mark of 159 set by Chris Holston against Ferrum on Sept. 20, 1986, and Freddy Grant against Guilford on Nov. 13, 1993.
UP NEXT
- Salisbury wraps up the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 16 with a road matchup against William Paterson.
- The game is set for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
- Live links are available at SUSeaGulls.com