SALISBURY, Md. – The TCNJ football team came home from Maryland with a monumental victory in tow, scoring 20 unanswered points in a span of less than five minutes bridging halftime to spoil Homecoming Saturday at Salisbury with a 36-27 victory that marked the program's first over the Sea Gulls in over two decades.

Trevor Bopp matched his career high with four touchdowns and played a brilliant, mistake-free game to engineer the third consecutive win for the Lions (4-4, 2-2), who had not upended Salisbury (4-4, 2-2) since 2001 and were winless in six meetings since the series resumed in 2016. TCNJ also returned the favor in avenging a 70-17 loss to the Sea Gulls on Homecoming a year ago.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The tone was set early in this one, as Brandon Kuse forced a fumble and Cole Groschel recovered on the first play from scrimmage to set the Lions up on the plus 27-yard line. Three plays later, Bopp hit Malin Jasinski over the middle for a 6-yard touchdown to put TCNJ on top just 54 seconds into the contest
• Salisbury answered with a long touchdown drive of its own, but the Lions nosed back in front on a 35-yard strike from Bopp to tight end Thomas Burke about a minute into the second quarter
• The Sea Gulls once again responded with a touchdown, taking a 14-13 lead at the 8:20 mark, but it was all Lions after that
• Vito Finetti's first career interception put the Lions in business at the Salisbury 38, and Jayson Schmidt scored on a 3-yard touchdown run to put the visitors back on top. Bopp converted a two-point conversion try with a completion to Burke, making it 21-14 with 4:09 before halftime
• After forcing a three-and-out, the Lions had the ball back at their own 15 with 2:49 before intermission. They picked up a 3^rd-and-10 on an 18-yard catch by Ryan McKinney, and a 13-yard strike from Bopp to Burke extended the margin to 27-14 in the final minute of the second quarter
• TCNJ doubled up to start the third quarter, going 75 yards to pay dirt in just two plays – a 47-yard run from Schmidt and an impressive 28-yard catch-and-run by Ryan Gill, who took a pass near the sideline, got a block and maneuvered his way down the sideline for a touchdown and a 33-14 advantage just 28 seconds into the second half
• The Lions never got into the end zone again, but the damage was already done. Salisbury pulled within 33-21 with 4:34 to go in the third, but a 16-yard dash by Joe Aliano on a fake punt kept the ensuing possession alive for TCNJ. Bobby Wortman ended it with a 32-yard field goal to make it 36-21 on the final play of the third
• Looking to get within one score, the Sea Gulls marched down to the TCNJ 18 but turned it over on downs as Jack Young broke up a fourth-down pass
• Salisbury got inside Lion territory again on its next possession, but Teddy Osei and Jameson Sessa combined for a huge sack on fourth down to kill the hosts' promising drive
• Mark Pierro's 15-yard sack ended the next Sea Gull possession, and TCNJ picked up a crucial first down on its next possession, leaving Salisbury just 34 seconds on the clock. The Sea Gulls did manage to get into the end zone on the final play, but the points were moot

FOR THE FOES

• Ben Hutchins (129 yards) and Joey Bildstein (126 yards, 2 TDs) combined for over 250 yards rushing to lead Salisbury's vaunted triple option, but the Lions limited the hosts to five completions in 17 passing attempts

FOR THE LIONS

• Bopp was terrific, completing 22-of-36 passes for 239 yards and the four scores. It was his first game this season without an interception
• Schmidt picked up 72 yards on just eight carries and scored his third touchdown in the last two games. He also had three catches for 37 yards to go over 100 yards from scrimmage.
• Burke caught the sixth and seventh touchdown receptions of his career
• Jasinski had seven receptions for 43 yards and has snagged 17 balls in his last three games
• Brayden Messinger led the defense with nine tackles and two sacks, with Dave Giulian adding nine tackles and a sack of his own
• Bill Westerby (8 tackles) also had a sack
• Pierro's sack was his first of the season, and Osei's half-sack was the first of his career

NOTES

• Bopp became the sixth TCNJ quarterback to eclipse 3,000 passing yards, and the four touchdown passes gave him 21 for his career
• Schmidt surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for his career
• Groschel moved over 200 tackles for his career, and the fifth-year captain is closing in on the top-five on the program's all-time charts
• Ryan McGuire recorded the 100^th tackle of his career
• Messinger now leads the team with 4.0 sacks on the season. He also had two against Rowan.

UP NEXT

• The Lions play host to William Paterson on Saturday