Salem football perseveres to get win over Merrimack (video)
It was shaping up to be a bad night for the Salem High School football team.
SALEM – It was shaping up to be a bad night for the Salem High School football team.
But after a first half marred by penalties on the Blue Devils, and a huge momentum-swinging inadvertent whistle erased a touchdown early in the second, Salem somehow found a way Friday night against Merrimack.
Down 20-13, the Blue Devils scored on their next four possessions, coming up with big plays in key situations, and outscored Merrimack 21-6 in the fourth quarter for a 37-26 win in a Division I South Conference game.
Charles Sibanda led the way with 190 yards rushing and two touchdowns while Nick Shumski added 95 yards and another two scores, as the win moved Salem (5-2) into a three-way tie for first after Timberlane’s win over Pinkerton.
“They persevered through so much, and I mean mentally and physically,” Salem coach Rob Pike said. “They really did. I’m so proud of them. Every game is huge and these kids put in so much time and effort.”
Merrimack (4-3) got a big game from quarterback Justin Grassini, as he was 18 of 36 passing for 249 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. Tyler DeNeill caught seven of those passes for 62 yards and two scores while Justin Weiser had three catches for 113 yards and a touchdown.
The Tomahawks took a 20-16 lead into the fourth quarter, but saw it disappear on the first play of the frame on Sean Nartiff’s 3-yard scoring run, and couldn’t regroup in time.
“We had the game under control and our inability to tackle and finish drives kind of did us in,” Merrimack coach Kip Jackson said. “It’s the same thing that happened against Pinkerton. It’s what you need to do when you’re playing against good teams.”
The game was tied 13-13 at halftime, despite 11 penalties (10 accepted) for 110 yards against the Blue Devils. Things didn’t get any better for Salem on its first drive of the third quarter.
Facing second-and-8 at its own 37-yard line, Salem quarterback Matthew Soldano faked an inside handoff to Doug Maroun, then pitched it to Sibanda, who ran around the left end and raced 63 yards through the Merrimack defense for a touchdown.
But the official on the far sideline thought Maroun had the ball, and blew the whistle when Merrimack tackled him. Instead of a score, Salem had the ball at its 45, and two plays later, Soldano was picked off by Merrimack’s Avery Paulson, who returned it to the 18.
“It’s an unfortunate part of running a misdirection offense,” Pike said. “By rule, it’s got to come back to where the ball was. I thought we were further along when he blew the whistle.”
On the next play, Grassini hit DeNeill for an 18-yard touchdown that gave Merrimack a 20-13 lead with 8:15 to play in the quarter.
“Everybody was fired up,” Jackson said. “Unfortunately right after that, they scored on their next drive. We made a nice defensive stand after that to hold them, but they had a big run on that drive.”
Sibanda’s 31-yard run on the ensuing drive helped set up Jacob Bosworth’s 29-yard field that made it 20-16, and after Merrimack went three-and-out, Salem went 70 yards in 10 plays, scoring on Nartiff’s run, to take a 23-20 lead.
“Not much (time) at all,” Pike said when asked if he had a chance to help his players regroup. “Luckily, I know, these kids are going to bounce back. They’ve been through a lot in a lot of games these last two or three years. I had full confidence they’d bounce back. That’s what our kids do.”
Merrimack started to put a drive together on its next possession, but stalled at the Salem 40-yard line, and after Sibanda’s 52-yard run got the Blue Devils into Tomahawks’ territory, the senior finished the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to make it 30-20 with 6:42 to play.
Grassini helped the Tomahawks respond, leading them on a 12-play, 69-yard drive, which ended with the quarterback’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Joe Eichman. On the drive, Grassini was 6 of 7 for 61 yards.
But Salem’s Jacob Fantasia blocked the extra point, keeping it a 30-26 lead, and the Blue Devils recovered the onside kick. Five plays later, Shumski put the game away with a 32-yard touchdown run with 1:23 remaining.
“It was big,” Pike said. “Any conference game is a big one. The whole conference is good. All five teams are very good teams. We knew this was a big one regardless of the outcomes.”
