Sea Gulls use fourth quarter comeback to take conference title
The Salisbury University football team scored 3 touchdowns in the final 13:09 of the fourth quarter, to come back and stun rival Frostburg State, 28-27. The win for the Gulls captures the Regents’ Cup, the NJAC championship, and ensures them an NCAA playoff bid.
Frostburg held a 20-0 lead at the half, highlighted by a 28 yard touchdown catch by Salisbury native and WiHi alum Myles Burgess. Going scoreless in the first half, Salisbury responded with a 12 play, 76 yard drive, capped by a Ryan Jones 1 yard run, to cut their deficit to 20-7. Frostburg would answer right back, with a 68 yard touchdown drive, finished off by a 9 yard run by former Delmar Wildcat Jordan Brown.
The Bobcats held a 27-7 lead with 2:25 to go in the third quarter. That was when the Gulls went to work. They would respond at the 13:45 mark in the fourth, when quarterback Ryan Jones found slotback Aarron Moore for a 23-yard touchdown pass. After the Salisbury defense forced a three-and-out, Jones would again drive and find a target in the endzone, this time it was Max Ehrsam from 13 yards away.
On the next drive, Frostburg converted on fourth and one from their own 34, but ultimately ended up punting the ball back to the Sea Gulls with 3:18 remaining in the game.
Jones would again engineer a drive, converting a 4th and 10 and gaining 51 yards on a 4th and 15, both to Isaiah Taylor to keep the chains moving. Just three plays after the second conversion, Jones found Taylor in the left corner of the endzone to tie the game up. Salisbury kicker Alex Potocko would nail the extra point, to give the Gulls a 28-27 lead with 28 seconds remaining.
Frostburg would start with the ball on their 30 yard line, before a Salisbury penalty, and a completed pass Frostburg would line up to attempt a 57 yard field goal from the Salisbury 40 with four seconds remaining. Bobcats kicker Issac Robinson’s kick would come up 15 yards short, sending the Gulls onto the field to celebrate.
The win gives Salisbury the New Jersey Athletic Conference championship in their first year in the conference, and an automatic berth in the NCAA playoffs, something the Gulls haven’t been able to accomplish in three years.
