FULL GAME NOTES (PDF)
 
Albright (0-0, 0-0) vs. Salisbury (0-0, 0-0)
• When: Friday, Sept. 6, 2019
• Where: Reading, Pa.
• Stadium: Shirk Stadium (5,000)
• Kickoff: 6 p.m.
• Live Video: VIDEO
• Live Stats: STATS
Live Audio: AUDIO
 
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Salisbury leads 5-3
• First Meeting: 1995 – Albright won 20-10
• Last Meeting: Aug. 31st, 2018 @ Salisbury – Salisbury won 48-14
• Streak: Salisbury +1
 
The Albright Lions will open the 2019 season by hosting Salisbury tomorrow night at 6 p.m.
 
Albright is coming off a 0-10 overall record and 0-8 mark in MAC Conference play. The Lions will return 14 starters from last season's squad which saw a starting lineup that consisted of at least nine freshman for the majority of the contests.
 
Salisbury finished the 2018 season 8-3, but lost their final three contests. The Sea Gulls rose to as high as No. 18 in the national Division III polls before the final stretch of games. Salisbury qualified for an ECAC Bowl game where they fell to Alfred, 14-7.
 
LAST SEASON'S MATCHUP
Despite two weather delays, the Sea Gulls downed the Lions 48-14 behind 34 unanswered points. Senior quarterback Jimmy Lahay went 14-of-36 through the air for 157 yards and had no touchdowns or interceptions. Former Lion Kyle Dickerson had 59 total offensive yards and one rushing touchdown, while sophomore Kevin Zehner added 53 yards in his collegiate debut.  Salisbury amassed a whopping 654 rushing yards as a team, averaging 10.5 yards a run.  Of these yards, 237 and two touchdowns came from Michael Mofor.  Two more touchdowns were scored by Jacob Philip and Kaddarius Campbell added 108 yards on the ground.
 
RETURNING LIONS
Lahay leads the Albright returnees for his senior season after a breakout junior season.  In 2018, Lahay started nine games, completing 179-of-337 passed for 2,228 yards and 21 touchdowns.  The Albright quarterback was ranked third in the Middle Atlantic Conference in yards and touchdowns.  At Wilkes, Lahay completed 29-of-42 attempts for 385 yards and a career-high five touchdowns, the most in a game since the Lions' NCAA appearance in 2015 led by QB Mike Knight.
 
The Lions will also return three out of their top five defensive players from the 2018 season. Sophomore linebacker Sam Viera will lead the way after posting 77 total tackles last season and three sacks for a total of 14 yards.  Junior linebacker Nate Steffen notched 73 tackles and recovering one fumble.  Sophomore linebacker Ryan Rogers concluded 2018 with two sacks and 62 tackles.
 
EYE ON THE BALL
A pair of key members in the secondary will look to build on career-best seasons in 2018. Senior Kaamal Stewart led the Lions with three interceptions and five pass break-ups last season as one of the two Lions primary cornerbacks. Junior safety Armon Jefferson ranked second on the team in interceptions with two in 2018 as he started all 10 games at free safety.
 
MOMENTUM BUILDER
No other Lion had a better end to the 2018 season than sophomore running back/wide receiver Malik Bootman did. In his final four games, Bootman amassed 296 yards on the ground and one touchdown. He was the team's leading rusher in the final three games of the season.
 
His finest performance came against Misericordia where he ran for 148 yards on 22 carries in his first collegiate start. The yardage total was the most rushing yards from a Lions player since the 2014 season, and had a 68-yard run in the contest that was the longest by any Lions player since 2012.
 
IN THE TRENCHES
The Albright Lions offensive line has emerged as one of the most experienced units on the team heading into the 2019 season. Three starters return for Albright led by senior captain Ethan Jones. Jones started all 10 games in 2018 with the majority of them coming at right tackle. He will move to left tackle this season to replace 2018 All-MAC Second Team offensive lineman Kyle Ryan. Senior Bryce Emsley took over starting guard duties just over halfway into the 2018 season, and his classmate Marc Antony-Ocasio started all 10 games on the Lions offensive line last season.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
Each of the last five contests between the Lions and Sea Gulls dating back to 2014 have been won by the home team. Albright won 38-35 in the last meeting between the teams at Shirk Stadium that was decided in overtime, and defeated the Sea Gulls by one point in 2015 by a score of 24-23 after scoring 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
 
PRESEASON POLL
Albright was picked to finish ninth in the annual MAC Coaches' Preseason Poll. Albright finished with 32 points, just five points behind eighth place FDU-Florham. Of the 11 first-place votes, two-time defending league champion Delaware Valley picked up nine to place first in the poll, while Stevenson had the final two in second place.
 
DYNAMIC DUO
Senior Zack Miller and sophomore Kevin Zehner will lead the Lions receiving corps this season after each started all 10 games in 2018. Miller ranked second on the team with 533 receiving yards and five touchdowns. Zehner followed with 386 receiving yards along with two touchdowns. His big moment came on the opening play against FDU-Florham last season when he hauled in a 56-yard touchdown pass from Lahay.
 
 
CENTENNIAL-MAC BOWL SERIES CHANGES
The format for the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series has adjusted for 2019. The No. 1 seeds will revert back to having host duties as they did through the first three years of the bowl series. The Centennial Conference's top seed will host the MAC's No. 2 seed, and the MAC's top seed will host the Centennial Conference's No. 2 seed. The two conference's No. 3 seeded teams will face each season, with the MAC hosting in odd years and the Centennial hosting in even years. The Centennial has won the last five meetings over the past two seasons after the MAC won the initial four.
 
This season (2019), the bowl games are scheduled for Saturday, November 23. The MAC will have hosting duties for the No. 3 vs. No. 3 bowl game.  
 
ABOUT SALISBURY
Salisbury was picked to finish second in the preseason NJAC poll behind Wesley, and received one first-place vote. The Sea Gulls return five All-NJAC honorees from the 2018 season, headlined by senior linebacker Patrick Bernardo. Bernardo earned first-team honors after finishing the regular season as the team's leading tackler, racking up 66 total tackles including 27 solo tackles. He also added in a sack, three tackles for loss, a forced fumble, four fumble recoveries, and an interception.
 
Senior defensive lineman Matthew McFarland earned second team All-NJAC honors finished the regular season posting nine tackles for loss, which was good enough for second on the team, while senior linebacker Harold Kwigova also earned second-team honors. Kwigova finished second on the team in tackles with 62, while adding in three and a half sacks and a team-best 10 tackles for loss.