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Exeter too much for Salem

Friday, October, 14 By Chuck Frye
Staff writer

EXETER — Too much. That simple phrase describes a lot about last night's game between Salem and Exeter.

Right from the opening kickoff, field position was too much of an advantage for the host Blue Hawks. Salem turned the ball over too much. And when the Blue Devils had the ball, especially in the second half, an aggressive Exeter defense was too much to handle. Add up every "too much" and it becomes a convincing Exeter victory, 32-6.

The Blue Devils fall into a precarious playoff position with the loss, dropping into a tie for fourth place in Division 1 with Manchester Central at 3-2. Exeter is tied for second place with Nashua South at 4-1.

"We gave a good effort, (Exeter) just had a good defensive gameplan and executed it well," said Salem head coach Jack Gati.

Salem was able to hold Exeter to just four yards per carry and 221 yards of total offense, but the Blue Hawks really didn't need to roll up big numbers to succeed.

From a muffed opening kickoff that gave the hosts the ball at their own 48-yard line, a 39-yard punt return by junior Colby Swain deep into Salem territory, and a second half that saw all of its four possessions start on the plus side of the 50, two on turnovers, Exeter didn't have far to move to score. In fact, on its five scoring drives, Exeter's average drive started at Salem's 37.

"At times, I thought we played a lot of good defense," Gati said. "We just gave them too many opportunities with short fields."

Tyler Grant made the advantages pay off, carrying the ball 27 times for 123 yards and three touchdowns after starting off the night with a 7-yard TD pass reception. Colby Swain, who returned to the lineup after missing last week's game against Pinkerton due to injury, added a 4-yard second-quarter end zone run that gave Exeter the lead to stay.

Salem's two-headed offensive monster of Jerickson Fedrick (93 first-half yards including a 12-yard TD run) and Abner Rodriguez (77 first-half yards) got off to an impressive start, but amped-up efforts from Tim Stackhouse (two tackles for losses), Adam Morin (fumble recovery) and Conor Carrier (interception) caused the Blue Devils to lose seven yards on 15 offensive plays in the second half.

"Exeter was athletic in the secondary, their defensive ends did an outstanding job on the perimeter, and they came up high with their outside backers and cornerbacks," said Gati. "We messed up some blocking assignments but it was more their defense."

And next up for Salem is Nashua South in yet another battle with big playoff implecations for both teams.

"South is much more of an athletic team," Gati said. "But if we put up a good effort, we'll be OK. We only have two losses and all (the playoff teams) have some tough games ahead."