NEWPORT NEWS — Christopher Newport University held off Salisbury University, 45-42, Saturday night at TowneBank Stadium to capture the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship. The Captains, now 9-0 and 6-0 in league play, are assured of the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Sea Gulls fell to 9-1 overall and 5-1 in the NJAC.
“Hats off to our guys, they played really hard tonight,” Head Coach Paul Crowley said following the win in front of 4,563 fans on Senior night. “We talk a lot about the importance of running the football and winning the turnover battle, and those factors played a big role in this win tonight.”
Junior quarterback Connor Barry threw for two scores and ran for a pair of touchdowns, and senior running back Gunner White scampered 28 yards for what proved to be the winning score with 6:22 remaining in the fourth quarter. The touchdown was the 49th in White’s career, as he continued to add to his all-time school record. Barry completed 15-of-29 passes for 254 yards, and also rushed for a team-high 65 yards. Barry hit senior wide receiver Colin Hart five times for 111 yards, including a 36-yard scoring strike to open the second half. Hart’s big game moved him past Rudy Rudolph for the all-time record of career receiving yards.
The Captains fell behind in the early going, and trailed 21-7 at the end of the opening quarter. The Captains rallied in the second quarter to cut the Salisbury lead to two at halftime, 30-28. Christopher Newport then went on to outscore the Gulls in the second half, 17-12, to record the victory in the 250th game in CNU history.
Salisbury out-gained CNU in total yardage, 480-456, but Christopher Newport’s defense forced five Sea Gull fumbles, recovering four including a 21-yard run for a score from senior defensive lineman Charlie Clawson, Jr., in the second quarter. Junior defensive end Connor Estrella recorded two sacks, giving him nine for the season, a new school record. Junior linebacker Maddax Lee led the Captains with nine tackles for the night.
“The defense didn’t have a great game, but they scored and created the turnovers, and playing a team like Salisbury that’s sometimes the best way to get a stop,” Crowley continued. “It’s a great feeling to know we’ll be playing in the NCAA’s again, and hopefully we’ll get some more games here at home at TowneBank Stadium. It takes a lot of people to succeed and the support we’ve gotten has been tremendous from the administration, the community, and everyone on our campus.”
Christopher Newport and Salisbury were two of the top six scoring teams in the country entering Saturday’s showdown of undefeated teams. The 45 points scored by the Captains give them 441 for the year, the most ever in a single CNU season, and an average of 49 per game. The squads were meeting for the 24th time, the longest-running series in CNU football history…which dates back to the very first game the Captains played on September 1, 2001. SU now has a 17-7 edge in the series, but the Captains have won the last two meetings at TowneBank Stadium.
This marks the second NJAC title for the Captains, who joined the league in 2015. CNU captured the crown for the first time two years ago in 2023, falling at Randolph-Macon in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Captains will be appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time in program history, and the second time in the last three seasons. The 40-team field for the tournament will be released next Sunday, November 16th, at 6:00 p.m.
Christopher Newport will conclude the regular season Friday night at the College of New Jersey in Ewing, N.J. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. as the Captains attempt to complete their first undefeated regular season in the 25-year history of the program.TCNJ is 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the NJAC following a 30-27 loss to Montclair State on Saturday.
