Salisbury, Utica Score 115 Combined Points as Gulls Stay Perfect
UTICA, N.Y. – The points just kept coming for both teams as the No. 19 Salisbury University football team earned its second Empire 8 Conference victory of the season at Utica College on Saturday, 70-45. The 115 combined points are the most ever scored in a game during the history of the Salisbury program.
The contest remained close well into the second half as the two teams were separated by just four points, 42-38, until the final moments of the third quarter.
The Sea Gulls (4-0, 2-0 Empire 8) scored on junior quarterback Dan Griffin's 1-yard plunge with 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter, his team-leading third touchdown of the game, before putting up 21 points in the final frame.
Salisbury got rushing touchdowns from seniors Randal Smedley, Jonathan Briscoe and junior Joe Benedetti in the fourth quarter. They were the final of nine rushing touchdowns in the contest for the Gulls, who registered 565 rushing yards in the contest. The rushing perfomance marks the team's best since the Sea Gulls ran for a program-record 596 yards against Becker College on Oct. 20, 2007.
Saturday's game started quickly as the Gulls took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards for the game's opening touchdown, a 14-yard run by Benedetti. Utica came right back to tie the game before the teams traded turnovers as they dealt with a slick football due to rain that fell throughout the afternoon.
Salisbury intercepted two Utica passes on the day and recovered two fumbles by the Pioneers (2-2, 0-2). Sophomore Andre Carter picked off his third pass of the season and sixth of his career to end Utica's second drive and Nick Ochoa fell on a Pioneer fumble to set up the Gulls' second score.
Smedley found pay dirt just five seconds after Ochoa's fumble recovery to give Salisbury a 14-7 lead after one quarter of play. Then, the offenses came to life.
Utica outscored the Gulls, 21-7, in the second quarter, taking a 28-21 lead at the half, but Salisbury exploded for 28 points in the third quarter. After falling behind, 35-21, Griffin got in the end zone twice to tie the game at 35. The Pioneers took the lead again, and for the last time, on a 36-yard field goal by Seth Mitchell, though it lasted just 13 seconds.
That is just how long it took junior Ross Flanigan to run 85 yards to the end zone on the ensuing kickoff, the first of that distance by a Gull since Nick Soussanin went 83 yards against Albright College in 2007. Flanigan's touchdown gave Salisbury a 42-38 lead as the Gulls finished the game on a 35-7 run.