The Salisbury State Gulls have clinched the Empire 8 title with a resounding 41-21 victory over the visiting St. John Fisher Cardinals. Both teams moved the football on offense, but Fisher struggled to finish drives. Quarterback Ryan Kramer threw a key first half interception in the end zone, the Cardinals failed to convert a 4th-and-2 from the Gulls 20-yard line, and Fisher also missed a short field goal.
You can't miss opportunities and hope to keep up with an offensive machine like the Gulls, particularly on their turf. Salisbury did what has done all season - it ran, and ran, and ran. The Gulls rushed the ball 55 times and threw it only 3 times, compiling 329 yards on the ground. The few times Gulls quarterback Dan Griffin passed the ball, great things happened. Griffin connected on a huge 67-yard pass to Juma Richards to put Salisbury ahead 14-0 in the second quarter.
The Salisbury victory clinched a Pool-A bid to the NCAA tournament, and likely a top-2 seed in the East. The final seeding is dependent on Salisbury taking care of business against Frostburg next weekend, and whether or not Delaware Valley is able to run the table in the MAC. We remain convinced that Salisbury can make noise nationally, and that the better team won the Empire 8 this season.
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