Rowan University football arrived in Salisbury, Maryland looking to pull off a shocking upset, and despite giving the No. 6 nationally ranked Salisbury Seagulls a run for their money, the Profs came up short in a tight 42-35 defeat. The loss dropped Rowan to 3-4 on the season and 1-2 in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play. 

After a tough loss against Christopher Newport one week prior, the Profs put together one of their strongest performances of the season against the Seagulls, one of the best teams in the country by every metric.

Coming in, the Seagulls had already won two games against opponents Rowan lost to this season, Johns Hopkins and Christopher Newport, so the Profs knew that their trip to Salisbury was bound to be their toughest test yet.

The Seagulls took control of the game early, as they took a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter. However, the Profs buckled down and took over for the remainder of the half. 

Two touchdown passes from Nate Maiers and a rushing touchdown by wide receiver Shane Martin gave the Profs a 21-13 lead heading into the break, as Rowan quickly found an offensive groove that they severely lacked ever since their win against The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) two weeks ago. 

It appears the youth movement for the Profs’ offense is one to take note of for years to come. Led by a group of underclassmen quarterbacks in Maiers and Matt Welsey, the Profs have also seen increasingly strong performances from freshman wide receivers Luke Hoke and Michael Zarfati, who both tallied over 100 yards and a touchdown on the day.

Head Coach Pat Ruley has certainly noticed how well the underclassmen have been performing, as they’ve adjusted to the collegiate level and environment very rapidly.

“These guys were thrust into starting roles very early as 18-year-olds,” Ruley said. “New offense for everybody, but for them the transition of going to college is all part of it, and it’s just the more and more comfortable they got, and they continue to get, the sky’s the limit for those guys.”

“We’re really starting to gel together. That started during camp, after every practice I would go over to Shane Martin’s house and we’d just be watching film and talking it over just to build that chemistry,” Welsey said. “Two freshmen [Hoke and Zarfati] who are putting up the kind of numbers they are, you can’t ask for much more and they got three more years after this, so I can’t wait to see what they do.”

Salisbury rebounded after halftime and scored 15 unanswered points to take a 28-21 lead in the middle of the third quarter, foreshadowing what would be a slugfest the rest of the way.

“We played them hard, we knew it was going to be a 60-minute game that we’d have to play, but we came up short on a couple plays, a couple plays on our end that we didn’t make and they made and that was it,” senior captain Jason Blanks said. “We played a great game, battle-tested, the full 60 minutes showed them we were bringing the fight to them and we weren’t backing down.”

Scores were traded back and forth the rest of the way. A 30-yard touchdown pass from Welsey to Hoke tied it up at 35 with three minutes left, then Salisbury immediately drove down the field to score a rushing touchdown and take the lead with 17 seconds remaining, giving the Profs little time to respond and cementing their defeat in an amazing effort. 

“The margin for error in a game like that is super small,” Ruley said. “I thought the offense played well. We had a plan; obviously, there’s plays and series we want back, but obviously 35 points, the way we feel as a defense whenever we score 35 points offensively, that should be enough.”

The Profs will now return home for a two-game homestand beginning with Montclair State on Saturday, Nov. 2 for Rowan’s annual homecoming weekend. 

The game is also the inaugural “Breakfast Bowl,” which will decide whether the popular breakfast food will be called “Pork Roll” or “Taylor Ham” for the rest of the year leading up to next season’s matchup. Donations can be made on the day of the game at Coach Richard Wackar Stadium as both schools aim to fight food insecurity.

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