The regular season ended for all New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) teams on Saturday and only one team has gone undefeated. That is this year’s NJAC Champions, the Christopher Newport University Captains. They will await their seeding in the NCAA Division III championship along with the Salisbury University Sea Gulls who finished second in the NJAC with a 6-1 record against the conference. Third-place Rowan University Profs await a possible selection to an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Bowl game after finishing the regular season with a 7-2-1 overall record and a 5-2 record against the conference.
This week, there was another very close game as rivals, Montclair State University and William Paterson University battled out their regular season finale in Wayne, New Jersey. Let’s dive in and learn about how each matchup went.
Red Hawks Edge Pioneers in Regular Season Finale
The 55th all-time game between these two rival schools was the closest game of the weekend in NJAC football, as the Montclair State Red Hawks (5-5, 4-3 NJAC) beat William Paterson Pioneers (2-8, 1-6) 24-21 in each team’s final game of 2025.
Like last week, a field goal was the difference although it wasn’t kicked right at the end of the game like in MSU’s 30-27 win in week 10. Roger Rubinetti’s 34-yard field goal kicked with 4:30 to go in the fourth quarter ended up being what separated these combatants after WPU QB Nigel Jennings marched his team down the field for a touchdown (TD) pass and a two-point conversion, on his team’s final drive, which made the score 24-21.
William Paterson’s defense held the Red Hawks to 24 points but couldn’t stop junior RB Diante Wilson who rushed for a season-high 135 yards and his NJAC second-best 16th TD of the season. Wilson also finishes as the leading rusher in the NJAC with 889 yards.
For the Pioneers, QB Nigel Jennings threw 168 yards, a TD and an interception (INT) and WR Duke McDuffie led all receivers with 76 yards on two receptions. On the defensive side of the ball, MSU’s fifth-year linebacker Alex Buchwald showed up big time. On two successive drives, Buchwald made an interception and carried the ball for 35 yards and blocked a punt, in addition to making five tackles and one for a loss.
William Paterson actually outgained the Red Hawks with 249 yards to 236 of total offense but still couldn’t come away with the victory. Montclair State now have 50 wins against their rivals from Wayne and have posted a 50-4-1 all-time record in the matchup. The Red Hawks just managed to finish with a .500 winning-percentage on the last day of the season and 4-3 against the NJAC.
“Really proud of these guys. We went 3-1 down the stretch, and they showed a ton of grit in our last couple of one-score victories. I love our seniors – an extremely loyal, hardworking group. Even though our games are over, it’s time to get back to work Monday as we begin our push toward 2026.”
– MSU head coach Mike Palazzo
Profs Help Bowl Bid with Win in Union
At Alumni Stadium in Union, New Jersey, the Rowan University Profs football team (7-1-1, 5-2) defeated Kean (3-7, 2-5) 47-34 Saturday in each teams regular season finale.
The Profs started the game by scoring 27 unanswered points, before Kean QB Ty Kline found WR Jaylen Gundy with a 29-yard touchdown pass to cut into the deficit. However, Rowan even got their special teams to come up big when Jamir Rowe ran back the kick off 85 yards for the TD right before halftime.
Down 34-6 at halftime, the Cougars answered when Chris Amos managed a 100-yard kickoff return for a TD to start the third quarter. The Cougars kept going as Kline capped off a 13-play, 98-yard drive with a rushing TD to make it 34-20. But the Profs answered with two passing TDs to make it 47-20 and by that time, the game was out of reach even for the Cougars’ claws.
Leading the Cougars in terms of production were Kline who threw for 275 yards, three passing TDs, a rushing TD and an interception. For the visiting Profs, senior WR Shane Martin led all receivers with 99 yards and two TDs and junior RB Tyshawn Bookman had a season-high two rushing TDs. On the defensive side, Rowan’s Anthony Henriquez had a monster game. The senior linebacker had a game-high 12 tackles (TKL), two sacks, one forced fumble (FF), and an interception (INT).
Rowan will await a possible selection to an ECAC Division III Bowl game, which will be announced Monday at noon.
CNU Finish Regular Season Undefeated
On Friday, the No. 7 Christopher Newport University Captains football team (10-0, 7-0) defeated TCNJ (6-4, 3-4) 27-7 at Lions stadium in Ewing.
The first score of the game was a two-yard run by CNU’s Zavier Kennedy halfway through the second quarter. Starting with that TD, the Captains would rattle off 21 unanswered points to take a 21-0 with 12:20 remaining in the third quarter.
Five minutes inside the fourth quarter, the Lions finally cut into the deficit when they capped off a 10-play, 80-yard drive with senior RB Joe Visaggio’s team-best 12th touchdown of the season. However, the already crowned NJAC Champions, CNU scored once more to put the game to bed when junior QB Connor Barry threw a three-yard TD pass to RB Gunner White. The TD was White’s team-leading 15th of the season, which is also good for the third-most touchdowns in the NJAC this season.
In just his fourth season at the helm of CNU football, head coach Paul Crowley captured his first outright NJAC title and first undefeated regular season. Unfortunately, the TCNJ Lions season is over. On the other hand, CNU march on to the NCAA Division III Championship which will see 40 teams compete for the national title. The bracket will be announced Sunday at 5 p.m.
Salisbury Demolish Castleton in Regular Season Finale
The No. 11 Salisbury University Sea Gulls football team (9-1, 6-1) defeated Vermont-State Castleton Spartans (2-8, 0-7) by the score of 63-13 at Sea Gull stadium Friday.
It’s amazing that Castleton’s worst-ranked offense managed to score at all against the top-ranked defense in the NJAC on Friday, but they did. Salisbury set the tone early however, scoring just three plays into their first drive when junior Mason Fisher ran the ball into the endzone from 12 yards out.
The Sea Gulls scored another TD and went up 14-0 with 9:36 remaining in the first quarter. Then, the Spartans answered back with a 26-yard TD pass from junior QB Jhai Vellon to junior WR Daniel Doherty IV. But it was all Salisbury from that point forward as the Sea Gulls outscored the Spartans 49-6.
Leading the way in terms of production for the victorious Sea Gulls was junior RB Darrell Walter who carried the ball 10 times for 77 yards and a game-high and season-high four TDs. Meanwhile, Vellon threw for 249 yards and two TDs and Doherty IV had a game-high 77 yards and a TD among receivers for the Spartans.
Salisbury finished the regular season with one loss, a three-point loss to the NJAC champions Christopher Newport in Week 10. They will await their NCAA Division III tournament fate when selection Sunday comes around tomorrow.
Top Performers of the Final Week
There were several players who stood out for their NJAC teams in their regular season finales. Here they are.
DEFENSE
- ROWAN- Anthony Henriquez (12 TKL, 1 FF, 1 INT)
- MSU- Alex Buchwald (5 TKL, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 1 BLK)
OFFENSE
QB–
- KEAN- Ty Kline (17 of 38, 275 YDs, 3 TD, 1 INT)
RB–
- SAL- Darrell Walter (10 ATT., 77 YDs, 4 TD)
- MSU- Diante Wilson (31 ATT., 135 YDs, 1 TD)
- ROWAN- Tyshawn Bookman (8 ATT., 41 YDs, 2 TD)
WR–
- ROWAN- Shane Martin (5 rec., 99 Yds, 2 TD)
