Football News

2007 GAME PREVIEW - THE SALISBURY GAME

DOYLESTOWN (PA) - Following a bye week, the Delaware Valley College football team will look for its first win of the season and a little bit of revenge as the Aggies travel to undefeated and 25th-ranked Salisbury University on Saturday, September 22. Kickoff at Sea Gull Stadium is slated for 1:00 p.m.

It will be the third straight, non-conference road game for the Aggies, who are 0-2 following a 14-12 loss at Division I-AA Iona College on September 1 and a 24-21 setback to seventh-ranked Wesley College on September 8. The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) portion of the schedule begins on Saturday, September 29 when Delaware Valley hosts King's College.

The Aggies and Salisbury met in Doylestown last November with the Sea Gulls posting a 15-9 victory in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Atlantic Bowl. The two teams have met just three times in their history (2-1 Salisbury) with Delaware Valley last traveling to Maryland in 1996.

Delaware Valley is averaging 16.5 points and 166 yards of total offense. Heading the unit is sophomore Mike Isgro (Galloway, NJ/Absegami), who has started all 13 games of his collegiate career. Isgro is 23-for-50 for 209 yards and three touchdowns on the season, including an 8-for-19, 69-yard effort at Wesley. One of his three touchdowns opened the scoring two weeks ago.

Senior wideout Joel Foreman (Bernville, PA/Hamburg) has hauled in all three scoring passes this season. He has six total catches for 90 yards, including two grabs for 44 yards and one score at Wesley.

Senior tailback Jake Sheffield (Glenolden, PA/Interboro) is the Aggies' eighth all-time leading rusher with 1,678 yards, but has been battling an injury this year and has yet to carry the ball. He saw limited action at Wesley and hauled in two passes for six yards. Last season, Sheffield carried the ball 203 times for 712 yards and seven touchdowns and also caught 30 passes for 184 yards last year.

Freshman Matt Cook (Selinsgrove, PA/Selinsgrove) has seen the majority of the carries at tailback and has 109 yards and two touchdowns on 30 touches. He had a big outing two weeks ago at Wesley as he carried the ball 22 times for 92 yards and both of his scores.

Defensively, the Aggies have allowed 19 points and 364 yards per contest. Wesley did notch 346 yards, but the majority of that total occurred in the fourth quarter when the Delaware Valley unit tired in the intense heat.

2006 Don Hansen's Football Gazette honorable mention All-American linebacker John Pursell (Middletown, DE/Middletown) is off to a great start this season as he has already racked up 31 tackles in two games. Pursell followed his 15-tackle performance at Iona with another career-best, this time 16 stops at Wesley. He was named to the MAC Honor Roll for both games and also earned a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week for the Wesley contest. Seven of his stops have come behind the line of scrimmage and he also has half a sack and a forced fumble.

Sophomore cornerback Charles Squitiere (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic) and junior linebacker Kyle Reuter (Richwood, NJ/Clearview) follow Pursell with 16 tackles apiece. Squitiere notched nine tackles at Wesley and also returned an interception 52 yards that set up a touchdown. Reuter recorded nine tackles, one sack, one interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery (his second of the season) in the contest.

Seniors Kyle Mancuso (Thorofare, NJ/West Deptford) and Sean Raftery (Ocean City, NJ/Ocean City) have contributed in the early going with 16 and 14 tackles respectively. Mancuso, a safety, had five stops two weeks ago while Raftery, a defensive end, recorded four tackles and half a sack. Raftery leads the team with 1.5 sacks.

SALISBURY UNIVERSITY

Head coach Sherman Wood and the Sea Gulls have won six games in a row dating back to last year. They are a perfect 3-0 this year with impressive victories over Albright (42-12), Brockport (40-14) and 20th-ranked Christopher Newport (35-21). The win over Christopher Newport vaulted the Sea Gulls into the last spot on the D3football.com Top 25 poll.

Salisbury jumped out to a 35-7 lead against Christopher Newport, racking up 433 yards of total offense, including 400 on the ground with its triple-option attack. For the season, the unit is averaging 39 points and 411 yards per contest.

The Sea Gulls are using a pair of quarterbacks with juniors Ronnie Curley and Bobby Sheahin taking the snaps. Curley is the team's leading rusher with 248 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries, including 12 rushes for 63 yards last week. In the air, Curley is just 4-for-10 for 87 yards and one score. Sheahin has completed 10 of 14 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He was a perfect 3-for-3 for 33 yards against Christopher Newport.

Ronnie Shockley, Jamar Garner, Valdase Morris and Shelby Fisher are dangerous threats on the ground. Shockley, a junior, has carried the ball 37 times for 186 yards and one trip to the end zone, including 88 yards on 13 carries last week. Garner carried the ball just seven times for 86 yards and a pair of scores against Christopher Newport to up the senior's season totals to 12 carries for 164 yards and two touchdowns.

Morris, a sophomore, led the way with 104 yards and two scores on seven rushes last week. He now has 14 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Fisher, a junior, has ran the ball 10 times for 93 yards and one trip to the end zone this year, including 55 yards and one score on five touches against Christopher Newport.

Junior wideout Kevin Tillage has six of the team's 15 catches this year for 132 yards and two touchdowns. He made one reception for five yards a week ago.

Defensively, Salisbury is allowing an average of 15.7 points and 323.3 yards per game. Christopher Newport compiled 381 yards of total offense against the Sea Gulls with 157 yards coming in the fourth quarter after Salisbury built a 35-7 advantage.

Chris Loveland and Ryan Hesnan head the unit with 33 and 24 tackles respectively on the season. Loveland, a senior, had 12 stops and a forced fumble last week while Hesnan, a junior, made nine stops including his second sack of the season.

Linemen Joe Galloway and Jarrell Chandler are two others players to watch on the defensive side of the ball. Galloway, a senior, had six tackles and two sacks last week to boost his season totals to 20 stops and four sacks. Chandler, a junior, also has four sacks to go along with 17 tackles. He made four stops in last week's victory.