RallyNorth.net

Tiny Jacques has big day

Saturday, November, 01 By J. Tillman Cormier
Staff writer

SALEM — Max Jacques doesn’t look much like a football player. That is, until he has the ball in his hands.

The diminutive halfback blew over, under and through Manchester West as Salem broke out to a big early lead and rolled to a 34-14 victory last night at Grant Field.

“We wanted to use Jacques’ outside game,” said Salem head coach Jack Gati. “And that big pass play (to Cory Lavallee) really opened things up for Max.”

Measuring in at just 5-foot-5 and 145 pounds, Jacques was a big man against West. He rushed for 214 yards on just 14 carries and three scores. On his last carry, of the night, Jacques took a sweep left and ran untouched into the right corner of the end zone for a 56-yard score. Najem added 54 yards and freshman Jerrickson Federick had five carries.

As a team, Salem pounded the Knights for 325 yards an average of 6.8 yards per carry. Behind Jacques, the Blue Devils rolled out to a 27-7 lead in the first quarter.

Chris Najem opened the scoring on a 5-yard run. After Jacques’ first score, Cory Lavallee pulled in a 41-yard bomb from Matt Cannone for a score.

Lanky defensive back Tom Tarallo led the Salem defense. The 6-foot, 175-pounder made a whopping three interceptions.

“We watched game film all week and it played out as we expected,” said Tarallo. “Lavallee provided great coverage on their receivers all night, which allowed me to get those interceptions.”

Jack Matthews pulled in the other Blue Devils interception, as Salem held West QB Beau Breton to just 4-for-23 throwing on the night.

“We practiced these reads all week,” said co-captain Jharid Pratt, “It all came down to execution. We’ve matured each game. Now, next week is our big test (against once-beaten Manchester Central).”