NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport stormed back from a 21-0 deficit at halftime Saturday night, only to fall to Salisbury in overtime, 27-24. It was the second straight overtime defeat for the Captains at POMOCO Stadium, and CNU is now 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. Salisbury improved to 5-0 and 4-0 in the NJAC.
"We showed a lot of heart in the second half," Head Coach
Art Link said. "We were able to execute and move the ball, something we really didn't do in the first half. Salisbury is a great team with a stingy defense, and we just needed a break or two to turn it our way."
CNU rallied thanks to amazing second half efforts from junior quarterback
Jack Anderson and senior wide receiver
Joshua Davis. Anderson hit Davis twice for scores, and backup quarterback
Brock Carnes tossed a 27-yard scoring strike to Davis to complete the frantic comeback and pull the Captains even, 21-21, with 6:13 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Captains had a chance to win the game in the final seconds, but a 47-yard field goal attempt sailed wide of the upright sending the game to overtime. The Sea Gulls won the overtime coin flip and elected to defend.
Christopher Newport took its only lead of the night when sophomore kicker
Ben Garbarini connected on a 22-yard field goal in OT to put the Captains up, 24-21. SU answered by running the ball four times, with sophomore Khari Chase scoring from 13 yards out for the game-deciding touchdown to record the 27-24 final. Salisbury came into the game leading the nation in rushing, averaging 460 yards per game on the ground. The Gulls ended up with 225 yards on 51 attempts.
A Family Weekend crowd of 4,861 saw Davis become just the fifth CNU player to ever catch three touchdown passes in a game. The senior ended up with 11 catches for 130 yards. His touchdown receptions came on passes of six and nine yards from Anderson, as well as the 27-yarder from Carnes that pulled the Captains even.
The Captains dominated time of possession in the second half, 23 minutes to Salisbury's seven minutes. The Sea Gulls ran just 17 plays in the second half and overtime compared to Christopher Newport's 53. CNU finished with 82 total plays to SU's 53 for the night.
Salisbury built the lead by controlling the first half, and holding a time of possession advantage of 17 minutes to CNU's 13. Senior KaDarius Campbell scored twice on runs of seven and five yards. Junior Mike-Ryan Mofor also reached the endzone on a five yard run.
Anderson, the NJAC's Offensive Player of the Week last week, was 31 of 49 passing for 245 yards and two scores. He was 23 of 32 for 186 yards after the intermission. The CNU offense began the second half by going 75 yards on 16 plays on a drive that consumed almost half of the third quarter. The drive culminated with a six-yard Anderson to Davis strike.
Senior safety
B.J. Hill led the CNU defensive effort by posting 11 tackles. Senior defensive lineman
Julien Spence made eight stops.
"I'm really proud of this team and what we did tonight," Link continued. "Playing one of the top offenses in the country, we competed at a high level and got it going in the second half. I think we're on the brink of being a very good football team."
As a result of the victory, Salisbury remains in a first-place tie in the conference with Montclair State and Frostburg State. The Sea Gulls are now 12-5 all-time against the Captains.
CNU has next weekend off, and the Captains will return to action on Saturday, October 20th, at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey.
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