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Strong defense and ground game pace Salem football to shutout over Danvers

Friday, September, 07 By Phil Stacey
Sports editor

DANVERS | Here's how you know expectations are plentiful for the Salem High football team this fall.

The Witches went on the road to Deering Stadium in Danvers, got 227 yards rushing and two touchdowns from star junior tailback Melikke Van Alstyne, and were dominant defensively in pitching a 26-0 opening night shutout over the host Falcons before a crowd of better than 2,000 fans.

And still, the Witches felt as a collective group they could have done better.

That's how you know you're a good team.

"There are a lot of things we need to work on," said senior captain Garrett Cauley, a right guard who anchored a line that allowed Salem to ground up 323 yards and almost 10 yards a carry last night. "We're happy with the win, for sure. But still, there'll be things we need to do to improve on this one."

Standing next to him, Van Alstyne | who scored on runs of 43 and 23 yards | was happy with the end result, but ultimately agreed with his teammate.

"I think we're all happy that we played well enough to win," said Van Alstyne, "but there's always room to improve. Coach will find some things for us to work on."

Van Alstyne looked to be in midseason form, even on a muggy night where temperatures hovered in the high 80s. He had 100 yards rushing before the game was 15 minutes old and cracked the 200-yard mark midway through the third quarter. He finished with 25 carries, all but one of those coming in the game's first two-and-a-half quarters.

Up front, his blockers did a fine job of opening up holes against a smaller, less experienced Danvers defensive front, taking advantage by running Van Alstyne successfully on sweeps and traps.

Senior quarterback Colby Boulay, in his first game for Salem High since transferring over from North Shore Tech, also had a fine game running the offense. He had a 6-yard first quarter touchdown pass to fellow senior Chris Maxson, then put the icing on the proverbial cake with a pretty 85-yard QB keeper down the right sideline in the fourth quarter.

"We definitely executed offensively. Our line was really clicking," said Salem head coach Scott Connolly, after his program's first shutout victory over the Falcons since 1990 (a 50-0 Salem home win). "And Melikke, he really opened up some holes with his running and did a fantastic job.

"Still, we need to get better. The expectations that I have, that the coaches have and that the players have for themselves is very high. There were a number of small things that we need to improve upon. Still, this was a good first step."

For a young Danvers team, it was a tough opener | especially going against one of the most improved clubs in the area, a Witches squad that figures to be a player in the Northeastern Conference Large race this autumn.

The Falcons played hard throughout; no one could question their heart or desire to succeed. Rather, it was their execution that didn't always go as planned. Many of Danvers' players played on both sides of the ball, and the humidity seemed to take its toll in the second half as well.

"I felt good about some of the stops we made (defensively)," said head coach John Sullivan, "but we had trouble blocking up front against them.

"We come into every game believing we're going to win, but they played better than we did tonight. We're also young in recognizing some things (i.e., looks), and it takes time to get that stuff down. When that experience comes, it'll be in our players' memory banks and they'll be able to recognize (formations) quicker."

Danvers captain Chris Martin played well on both sides of the ball at fullback and linebacker, while sophomore quarterback Greg Ladd held his own in his first varsity start, completing six first-half passes for 33 yards.