Salisbury and Christopher Newport Stage Epic NJAC Title Game; Sea Gulls Edge Captains, 36-33

By Press release submission

Nov 14, 2022

Christopher Newport and Salisbury staged a wild, back-and-forth battle Saturday night at Sea Gull Stadium, and the home team emerged with a 36-33 victory in the New Jersey Athletic Conference title game. The Sea Gulls, now 9-1 and 6-0 in the NJAC, will advance to the NCAA Tournament thanks in large part to five rushing touchdowns from junior running back Joey Bildstein. The Captains finished the season with a 7-3 overall record and a 5-1 mark in the NJAC under first-year Head Coach Paul Crowley.

"I can't say enough about our seniors and how they led us this year," Crowley said. "These guys made the decision to come back, and it's a very emotional moment to see them finish their careers. They did so much this season to help change the culture and bring us back to where we need to be, the credit goes to them."

The Captains got off to a fast start, jumping to a 14-0 lead in the game's first six minutes. Junior quarterback Matt Dzierski opened the game by engineering a nine-play, 66-yard drive that ended with a 16-yard scoring pass to freshman running back Gunner White. Just ten seconds later, junior Shawn Hamilton scooped up a Salisbury fumble on its first play from scrimmage, and scampered 20 yards to stake the Captains to a 14-0 advantage.

Bildstein, however, proved to be a recurring problem for the CNU defense. He reached the end zone for the first time with just over two minutes remaining in the first half to cut the Captains lead to 14-7 at the intermission. The top two teams in the conference then staged a wild second half that saw the lead change hands six times. Bildstein scored two more times in the third quarter, including a three-yard run on the final play of the quarter, and Dzierski connected with White for their second scoring pass of the night and the Gulls held a 21-20 edge heading to the fourth with the only difference being a missed extra point.

The final stanza saw the Captains re-claim the lead, 26-21, when Dzierski scored on a one-yard run at the 13:02 mark. Bildstein's fourth score of the night on the ensuing drive, pushed the Sea Gulls back ahead, 29-26. With just 3:31 remaining, Dzierski would put the Captains back in the driver's seat, scoring his second rushing touchdown of the night on another one-yard plunge to give the Captains a 33-29 lead. Salisbury, however, would prove to be unstoppable, as Bildstein again led the Sea Gulls down the field, scoring his fifth touchdown on a four-yard run with just 1:45 left on the clock. The Captains final charge would come to an end on an interception by Salisbury's Caleb Brubaker to secure the 21st straight win for the Gulls in NJAC play.

"Their offensive line of Salisbury deserves a lot of the credit," Crowley continued. "They did a terrific job all night and made it difficult for us to make stops." Bildstein finished the night with 239 yards as the Sea Gulls captured their sixth straight win over the Captains. SU now leads the all-time series with CNU, 16-5.

CNU junior defensive back Kindrick Braxton set a new school record by posting 21 tackles. Braxton also intercepted a pass, and surpassed the previous school mark of 20 tackles set by Evan Moog vs. Maryville in 2013. Freshmen Deven Norman and Roshon Carter each registered ten tackles, and junior Logan Baker made eight stops and intercepted two passes.

The loss in the regular-season finale, in front of 2,900 fans on an unseasonably warm night, brought a six-game winning streak to an end for the Captains. The crown for Salisbury is the fourth straight NJAC title for the Sea Gulls. Bildstein ran the ball a total of 38 times for SU for a career-best 238 yards. His five scores marked the first time since 2010 a Salisbury player has scored five times in a game.

Dzierski ended up 17 of 22 passing for 204 yards, and also ran for 105 yards with two touchdown runs and two scoring passes. He concluded the year with 11 passing and 11 rushing scores for Christopher Newport. Guner White led CNU in receiving with five catches for 78 yards, and also ran the ball nine times for 36 yards.

The defeat brought the 22nd season of Captains football to an end, with great hope for the future. "We came a long way, but you can see we still have a ways to go," Crowley concluded. "It's all about our guys, they worked hard all season and really bought into what we were trying to accomplish. Now we need to build on that and move forward."