Football

LEICESTER, Mass. - The No. 16 Salisbury University football team won its first-ever game in the state of Massachusetts in grand fashion as the Sea Gulls ran over Becker College, 63-0, on Saturday afternoon before 413 at Alumni Field.

The SU defense earned its first shutout since September 30, 2006 when the Sea Gulls won 25-0 over Atlantic Central Football Conference foe the Apprentice School on the road in Newport News, Va. The Sea Gulls held the Hawks (2-5) to 65 total offensive yards (26 yards rushing).

Senior quarterback Ronnie Curley (2-for-6, 46 yards) led the Sea Gulls (7-1) as he scored two touchdowns on the ground and threw his first touchdown pass in six games. He finished the day with 13 carries for 76 yards. As a team the Sea Gulls surpassed its nation's best rushing average of 402 yards per game as the maroon and gold rumbled for 521 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground against the Hawks.

SU senior superback Shelby Fisher had a career-game as he carried the ball 21 times for a career-high 186 yards rushing and one second quarter touchdown. This is the fourth 100-yard rushing game for Fisher this season. Fisher's backup sophomore Nick Coates spelled Fisher in the second half and had a career-game of his own as he ran for 128 yards on 12 carries and scored the last touchdown of the game, an 11-yard run at the 2:22 mark.

Senior defensive end Paul Cynewski led the Sea Gull defense with two sacks and four tackles on the day. Fellow senior Greg Miletic made an interception of Becker quarterback Gabriel Prophet (5-for-15, 39 yards) late in the second quarter and returned the pass 45 yards for the touchdown with 1:32 left in the half. The Sea Gulls led 28-0 at halftime.

Salisbury scored a touchdown on every possession in the second half, five drives, as the Sea Gulls scored 35 unanswered points. The highlights of the second half for the Sea Gulls include in the third quarter a Curley 18-yard run to start things off followed by a 50-yard run by D.J. Nelson, who also caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Curley in the second quarter. Sophomore Warren Anderson scored on a 37-yard run to close out the scoring in the third quarter for the Sea Gulls. In the fourth quarter, SU received touchdown runs from Jonathan Briscoe and Coates.

The SU special teams only had to punt the ball once the entire game. Freshman Tommy Kowalick averaged 53.9 yards per kickoff today as he had 10 attempts against the Hawks. Kowalick was a perfect 9-for-9 on his extra-point attempts. Becker had a 38-yard field goal blocked by the SU defense in the second quarter with 13:34 left before the half.

This was the only second meeting between the two schools as the Sea Gulls defeated Becker, 79-20, last season on Homecoming Weekend in Salisbury, Md. SU is undefeated during the month of October as the maroon and gold has won four straight games. This is the fifth straight loss for Becker.

Salisbury will next turn its attention to the ACFC showdown with No. 14 Wesley College (5-1, 2-0 ACFC) on Saturday, November 1, in Sea Gull Stadium. The annual Route 13 rivalry game is slated to begin at 1 p.m.