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Salem rolls past defending D1champ, No. 3-ranked Bedford

Saturday, October, 19 By David Willis

HAVERHILL - With the opportunity to make a major statement, Salem sent a message, loud and clear, across New Hampshire football.

The Blue Devils halted a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line on the game's opening drive, then scored on three of their first four possessions on the way to rolling past defending Division 1 champ Bedford, 34-3, on Saturday in a battle of state powers at Haverhill's Trinity Stadium.

"We're all so hyped for this big win," said Salem senior Michael Ference. "We were thrilled to take them on. It was a huge game, and it give us a lot of momentum."

The win firmly established the Blue Devils (6-1) as a state title contender, beating a Bedford (5-2) team that entered the game ranked No. 3 in the New Hampshire Union Leader Power Poll. Salem was one spot behind at No. 4.

"This was a big win," said star Josh Maroun. "We worked so hard and we deserved this one. We were ready for a dogfight, and we just out-played them today." 

It was Salem's defense, after a slow start, that set the tone in a big way on Saturday.

Bedford took the opening kickoff and marched quickly to the Blue Devil 1. But Salem held strong, and on fourth down Josh Ozoria and Aidan McDonald led a pack of Blue Devil tacklers that stuffed the Bedford running back inches from the goal line.

"That stand was huge," said running back/defensive back Riley Mulvey. "Bend but don't break, and we stood our ground. We were so hyped to get a stop there. We were ecstatic. It was a huge shift in momentum."

Standing 99 yards from the opposing end zone, the Blue Devil offense went to work.

Maroun opened with a 10-yard gain, then Mulvey broke free for a 54-yard run. Seven plays later, Maroun plunged in from a yard out to give Salem a lead it would not surrender.

Blue Devil Noah Poulin followed by intercepting a pass and returning it to the Bedford 5-yard-line, setting up Maroun's second 1-yard TD.

Any hopes Bedford had for a rally were firmly squashed by Ference with 1:33 remaining in the first half.

The 6-foot-2 receiver out-jumped a defensive back, wrestled the ball out of his hands and lunged into the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass from QB Kaleb Bates.

"It was amazing," said Ference, a key member of the defending Division 1 finalist basketball team. "(Bates) put it in the right place, and I jumped for it. (The defensive back) had his hands on it and I had my hands on it, and I ripped it out of his hands. It was awesome."

Firmly in control, the Blue Devils used their running game - led by Maroun (15 carries, 115 yards) and Mulvey (12-110) - to eat up the clock in the second half.

Salem iced the victory in the fourth, with touchdown runs by Brandon Wall (5 yards) and Thomas Ahlers (2 yards).

"We are confident every week that we can move the ball on anyone," said Mulvey. "The blocking was great, and we hit the holes hard."

Maroun (12 tackles, sack, fumble recovery) led a Salem defense that didn't allow Bedford to cross its 20-yard line after the game's first possession. Ozoria added a pair of sacks, Jacob Brady and Andrew Sullivan each chipped in with one sack and Poulin caused a fumble.

Salem will look to keep rolling as it closes out the regular season by traveling to Goffstown (5-2) next Saturday (1:30 p.m.) then hosting Manchester Central (2-4) scheduled for Nov. 1.

"We did very good job today," said Salem coach Rob Pike. "We were faced with some adversity on that first drive, and the guys held them out of the end zone. It was huge. It changed the game. There's stuff that we can do better, and stuff we did well. But we are very happy with the win."

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Contact David Willis at @DWillisET or DWillis@eagletribune.com.