Salisbury Places 14 on 2003 All-ACFC Football Team
DeHaven, Nistler, Wood Receive Individual Awards

Coming off a 7-2 campaign and a second place finish in the Atlantic Central Football Conference, the Salisbury University football team had 14 players recognized on the all-conference teams. The Sea Gulls placed six players on the all-Atlantic Central Football Conference first team and eight players on the second team. The teams are selected based on voting by the conference’s head coaches.

Three Sea Gulls also claimed individual honors from the conference. Junior linebacker Brad DeHaven (Herndon, VA/Herndon HS) -pictured at right -was selected as the ACFC’s co-Defensive Player of the Year in addition to being named to the first team. DeHaven finished tied for first in the nation in tackles for loss per game (2.8) and led the Sea Gulls with 77 total tackles.               

Junior punter Rick Nistler (Herndon, VA/ Oakton HS) - pictured below - was selected as the ACFC’s Special Teams Player of the Year. Nistler set a new Salisbury record with a season average of 39.5 yards per punt, ranking 14th in the nation. Salisbury’s Sherman Wood was named the ACFC’s co-Coach of the Year.

Salisbury placed one player on the conference’s first team offense: sophomore lineman Brett Wehnert (Freeland, MD/Hereford HS). Wehnert helped Salisbury’s offense average 207.9 yards per game rushing and 337.4 yards per game in total offense.    

In addition to DeHaven, other Sea Gulls named to the first team defense were junior defensive tackle Brandon Fields (Annandale, VA/Annandale HS) and junior cornerback Chris Barr (Randallstown, MD/Western Tech HS).  Fields finished the year with 49 tackles, including 14 tackles for loss, and anchored a unit that finished seventh in the nation in total defense and eighth in the nation in rushing defense. Barr finished with 37 tackles, two interceptions and a team-leading nine pass breakups.

Nistler was joined on the special teams first team by Sea Gull placekicker Brock Boland (Newfield, NJ/Delsea Regional HS), who converted 7 of 10 field goal attempts and scored 42 points this season.

Salisbury players named to the second team were:

Sophomore QB Dustin Johnson (Delmar, MD/Delmar HS)
Senior RB Rishawd Watson (Brentwood, NY/Long Island Lutheran HS)
Junior WR Lesley Wills (Largo, MD/Riverdale Baptist HS)
Junior OL Brendan Riley (College Park, MD/Pallotti HS)
Sophomore DT Andrew Deming (Columbia, MD/Oakland Mills HS)
Junior DE Nick Good-Malloy (Annapolis, MD/Annapolis HS)
Senior DE Justin Dominick (Bel Air, MD/Bel Air HS)
Freshman DB James Jones (Hyattsville, MD/Northwestern HS)