RallyNorth.net

Salem rolls into playoffs

Friday, November, 05 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

LONDONDERRY —  Max Jacques had the solution for Salem’s second-half blues.
“We talked about it, about just keeping the intensity up the whole game,” said Jacques. “If we do that, we’re tough to beat.”
That was the case last night as the Blue Devils — led by its dynamic duo of Jacques and Jerickson Fedrick — sustained their 34-13 halftime lead, clubbing Londonderry 55-32 to advance into next Saturday’s Division 1 playoff semifinals.
Salem, 6-4, finishes the regular season at 5-3 in division play and will likely be the No. 4 seed and play at Pinkerton next week. That will change, however, if Exeter upsets Nashua North today.
The Blue Devils would have clinched a playoff spot last week, but they blew a 20-7 halftime lead and fell to Concord, 42-29. They would not let that happen twice.
The Lancers (3-7) briefly looked like they might zap Salem in the second half again, however.
Trailing by 21 points at halftime, they scored two quick touchdowns in the third quarter, on a 40-yard run by Michael Weldenfeld (10 carries, 122 yards, two TDs) run and a 41-yard scamper by workhorse Sean O’Gorman (28-195, three TDs) to cut the gap to 34-25.
But Salem’s defense stiffened after that, not allowing a first down on Londonderry’s next two possessions, while the offense kept rolling, scoring the next three times it had the ball.
“As ugly as the score is, I actually thought we played some good defense, especially in the second half,” said Salem coach Jack Gati. “Except for those two long runs, we held them pretty good.”
In addition to Matthews, end Donald Needham, linebacker Joey Dipalma and lineman Evan Sharpe were among the defensive Devils who had strong games. Also, Michael Lorenz had an interception.
“We just have to play more consistent on defense,” said Gati. “We know we can score points.”
Indeed, the Devils — who had 515 yards of total offense last night — finished the regular season averaging 41.3 points game, scoring over 40 six times. However, they’ve also given up an average of 31.1 points.
Jacques and Fredrick, meanwhile, enter the playoffs with a combined 43 touchdowns and 2,871 yards rushing.