READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions football team was unable to overcome a red-hot Salisbury offense as they fell 63-28 to the Sea Gulls in the 2019 home opener on a cool Friday night at Shirk Stadium.
 
The Lions suffer a second-straight loss to the Sea Gulls after losing the 2018 home opener at Salisbury last season.
 
Senior quarterback Jimmy Lahay got the start and threw for 147 yards on 16-of-32 attempts with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Sophomore backup quarterback Todd Shelley also saw action as well and threw for 81 yards on 8-of-13 passing with one touchdown and one interception. Senior wide receiver Mike Jordan had a big night as he set career-highs with 133 yards on 11 catches along with three touchdowns. Classmate Zack Miller caught seven passes for 50 yards, while sophomore Malik Bootman caught four passes for 23 yards and one touchdown in addition to rushing for 23 yards on eight carries.
 
Salisbury started fast as they used a 51-yard run on their first offensive play to make it to the Albright 23-yard line. Two plays later the Sea Gulls made it 7-0 on an 18-yard touchdown run. The Lions would then turn the ball over after Bootman got stripped of the ball on a screen pass to set the Sea Gulls up at the Lions 31-yard line. Mike-Ryan Mofor scored one play later on a 31-yard rush to make it 14-0 at the 13:03-mark of the first quarter. Following a Lions punt, the Sea Gulls marched down to as far as the Lions 17-yard line before being stopped on 4^th and 2. Unfortunately for the Lions, Shelley would get intercepted two plays later to give the Sea Gulls the ball right back at the Lions 25-yard line. Salisbury then made it 21-0 following a 19-yard touchdown pass on 4^th and 4 at the 3:06-mark of the first quarter.
 
The Lions finally gained some momentum on offense as they used a 12-play 76-yard drive into the second quarter to score and make it a 21-7 game. Lahay found Jordan three times for 32 yards that was capped by an acrobatic two-yard touchdown catch. However, Salisbury responded with a 6-play 56-yard drive to go back up 28-7 at the 9:57-mark following a 32-yard run from Damien King. Lahay was intercepted on the next Lions possession to once again set the Sea Gulls up in Lions territory, and they would score on one play to go up 35-7 at the 8:04-mark. Salisbury would score in two plays following a Lions punt to take a 42-7 lead, but the Lions finally ended the scoring run with a six-yard touchdown pass from Lahay to Bootman with 45 seconds left in the first half to make it 42-13. The Lions used a 12-play 75-yard drive which included a 4^th down conversion.
 
The second half was begun by a crazy sequence on the kickoff that helped set the Lions up in prime Sea Gull position. Jordan was stripped of the ball after gaining 16 yards, and senior linebacker Ya'Meer Lowery picked the ball up and would run an additional 61 yards to the Salisbury 18-yard line. Two plays later, Lahay found Jordan again for a 17-yard touchdown pass in the right corner of the end zone. Following a two-point conversion pass from Lahay to Miller, the Lions defense forced a Sea Gull punt for the first time in the game. Unfortunately for the Lions, they could not keep momentum going as they stalled on two ensuing drives. Salisbury then used good field position to go up 49-21 following a touchdown at the 3:55-mark before running an interception back 35 yards on the first play of the next Lions drive to make it 56-21. Salisbury scored one more touchdown on their first drive of the fourth quarter to take a 63-21 lead on a 45-yard run from Hopeton Mair. Jordan would then catch his third touchdown pass of the game, this time from Shelley, on a 36-yard pass at the 4:27-mark.
 
On defense, sophomore Sam Viera made a team-high 11 tackles (five solo), and was followed by classmate Daniel Vital with eight (three solo). Junior Nate Steffen finished with five tackles (one solo), and one TFL, while sophomore Ryan Rapp made two stops and had the Lions only sack of the night.
 
The Sea Gulls compiled 360 rushing yards on the evening with 132 of them coming from Mofor with three touchdowns. Quarterback Jack Navitsky threw for 112 yards on 5-of-8 passing and three touchdowns.
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday, September 14^th as they will head down to Texas to face defending national champion, and number one ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor at 6 p.m. CT