Salisbury sets the Pace for the season with 34-14 victory
SALISBURY, Md. - The Salisbury University football team opened up its 2009 season with a 34-14 non-conference victory over Pace University on Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 1,382 at Sea Gull Stadium. SU gutted out 344 yards on the ground as the Sea Gulls amassed a total of 413 yards of offense on the day. The victory marked the ninth consecutive opening day win for SU, dating back to September 1, 2001.
"It's the home opener," said Salisbury head coach Sherman Wood. "It's very important for the psyche of our kids. Getting off to a good start, I think we've got a little momentum."
Salisbury (1-0) had four different players scramble for touchdowns with the bulk of the damage being derived from senior quarterback Bobby Sheahin (Brookeville, Md.), who rushed for a game-high 71 yards on 16 carries. Sheahin was also 5-for-8 passing on the day and threw for 60 yards, which proved to be the fifth most of his career.
Senior slotbacks William Midgette (Salisbury, Md.), who ran for one touchdown and Valdase Morris (Salisbury, Md.) scampered for 66 and 48 yards, respectively, while sophomore slot back Jonathon Briscoe (Waldorf, Md.) poured in 41 yards and a score.
The maroon and gold defense provided an equally impressive effort to begin the season as the Sea Gulls held Pace (0-1) to just 1 yard rushing and 194 total yards. The defense was propelled by the impressive performance of junior linebacker Justin Chura (Lothian, Md.), who made five tackles (three solo) and two sacks for 12 yards. Chura added to his big day with three tackles for losses that covered a total of 15 yards. Senior linebacker Eric Arndt (Waldwick, N.J.) notched a team-high six tackles (two solo) while senior defensive end Paul Cynewski (Moorestown, N.J.) had three tackles (two for loss) and two sacks.
The Sea Gulls found themselves trailing 7-0 to begin the game as Pace opened with a three-minute, 80-yard drive that was capped by a 10-yard touchdown rush by Kyle Curran. The lead did not last for long as SU scored 16 unanswered points over the next 26 minutes behind a 34-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Tommy Kowalick (Sterling, Va.), a 17-yard touchdown run from Sheahin, and an 18-yard end zone scamper by junior slot back Warren Anderson (Vienna, Va.).
Salisbury managed to keep the Setters off the board until the final minute of the first half when Nathaniel Ford broke free from 7yards out with to bring Pace within one score at halftime, 16-14. Two points was as close as Pace would get the rest of the way.
Junior dawg Marcus Randolph (Elkridge, Md.) continued SU's strong defensive showing on the Setters' first offensive drive of the second half when he sacked Pace quarterback Ray Gregg for a loss of 17 yards, forcing a fumble and recovering it.
Salilsbury would break a 17-minute, second-half scoreless streak by both teams when Kowalick hammered home his second field goal of the day, this time from 37 yards out, at the 13:29 mark in the fourth quarter. The game was put out of reach in the latter minutes of the final period when Salisbury put up 14 more points on rushing scores by Midgette and Briscoe, who scored from 9 and 28 yards, respectively.
Salisbury looks to continue its winning ways when the Sea Gulls hit the road for the first of two consecutive road contests with a bout against North Carolina Wesleyan College Saturday, Sept. 12, at 1 p.m.
