Montclair, NJ  - It's the start of the New Jersey Athletic Conference schedule and it begins with a good one as Montclair State hosts No. 14 Salisbury University at Sprague Field. It's a battle between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the conference's Preseason Coaches Poll.

The Red Hawks picked up their first victory last week, beating WPI, 31-10. Quarterback JA'QUILL BURCH threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns while running back MAKAI MICKENS ran for 120 yards and two scores. MSU needed just two plays to put points on the board as Burch connected with REILLY NELSON for a 41-yard strike. ERIC COWAN hauled in a 19-yard pass for another with Mickens adding the first of his two TDs helping Montclair to a 21-7 halftime lead. Safeties BRENNAN RAY and MIKE RAMOS finished with 10 and nine tackles, respectively. ADENS GEORGES added eight and a sack.

The Sea Gulls returned from a week off, but showed no signs of rust as it rolled past Western New England, 40-14. Salisbury tallied 400 yards of total offense, 359 of which came through the rushing attack while holding WNE to 193 yards. Jack Lanham accounted for 127 yards of offense for the Sea Gulls. He carried the ball 20 times for 86 yards with a career-high four rushing touchdowns

This will be the 15th meeting between the Red Hawks and Sea Gulls with Montclair State leading 8-6 however Salisbury has won the last five meetings. The Sea Gulls won the first contest 13-7 in 1986 before MSU won the next eight contests. Salisbury snapped that streak in 2015 with a 46-16 win at Sprague Field in the first meeting since 2006 and also prevailed in the last meeting in 2019, a 27-24 win in Montclair.