Gulls win give Coach Wood win number 70

By GoGulls  |   Tuesday, September 08, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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The Salisbury University football team opened up 2009 season with a 34-14 non-conference victory over Pace University this past Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 1,382 at Sea Gull Stadium. The Sea Gulls gained 344 yards on the ground as the Salisbury amassed a total of 413 yards of offense on the day. The win was the ninth straight opening day win for the Gulls dating back to September 1, 2001.

Salisbury Head Coach Sherman Wood who won his 70th game in starting his 11th season at SU said "It's the home opener, 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 run for scores with most of the damage coming from senior quarterback Bobby Sheahin (Brookeville, Md.), who rushed for a game-high 71 yards on 16 carries. Sheahin also went 5-for-8 for 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(VAL DEEZ) Morris (Salisbury, Md.) scampered for 66 and 48 yards, with sophomore slot back Jonathon Briscoe (Waldorf, Md.) gaining 41 yards with a TD.

The maroon and gold defense showed 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 lead by the junior linebacker Justin Chura (Lothian, Md.), who had 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.) had 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 didn't last 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 7 yards out with to bring Pace within a score at half, 16-14. But two points was as close as Pace would get the rest of the way.

Junior 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.

Salisbury would break a 17-minute, second-half scoreless streak by both teams when Kowalick connected on 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 away in the latter minutes of the final period when Salisbury put up 14 more points on rushing scores by Midgette, 9 yards and Briscoe, a 28-yarder.

Salisbury looks to go to 2-0 when the Sea Gulls go on the road for the first of two straight road contests with a bout against North Carolina Wesleyan College Saturday, Sept. 12, at 1 p.m. which can be heard on wicotalk.com with the pregame show starting at 12:45p

Salisbury's 1320 AM's Bill Reddish handles play by play, with J. Brooks providing color analysis.

NOTE: Congrats to 06' Grad Byron Westbrook (Ft. Washington, Md.), who made the Washington Redskins 53 man roster. Westbrook a DB/PR, who's brother Brian plays on the Philadelphia Eagles, had been on the Redskins practice squad the past 2 season, after signing as a undrafted rookie free agent. Westbrook will wear number 34 and will see his first NFL action Sunday September 13, when Washington plays the Giants. Westbrook is the career leader in interceptions at Salisbury with 18 and was a 2006 American Football Coaches Association All-American. In addition, he was a three-time All-Atlantic Central Football Conference (ACFC) first-team selection at defensive back and was a two-time first-team selection on special teams. Westbrook was also a two-time D3Football.com All-American (2004, '06). Westbrook is the 1st SU football player to make a NFL roster since the college started the football program in 1972(JV season-started varsity football in 1973)
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