Londonderry football comes back in second half to knock off Salem

LONDONDERRY - Ignore the Londonderry High School football team at your own risk. Emphasis on risk.

The Lancers came back from a second-half deficit to score the final 14 points of the game and defeat Salem 28-21 to stay undefeated on the young season and get their first win over the Blue Devils since 2014.

The game featured a pair of lead changes and three ties. Londonderry earned the victory thanks in large part to its stellar line play that kept Salem’s running game in check as well as timely defense when it needed stops.

“We knew (line play) was going to be the difference,” Londonderry coach Jimmy Lauzon said. “Salem is excellent up front. The way they play they come off the ball like nobody else. They’re extremely well-coached, and we knew they’d be tough. We told (the team) all week it would come down to the defensive line. We’ve got to hold our ground, squeeze those gaps, and force them to the outside.”

While Salem did outgain Londonderry 288-168 on the ground, the Londonderry line really did control the game. Three rushes racked up 169 yards for the Salem while the other 32 rushes could only muster 119.

The Lancer line, on both sides of the ball, was anchored by senior Patrick Hagearty. Hagearty had seven tackles on the defensive side and helped block for Londonderry quarterback Evan Cormier on the offensive side.

“Our o-line just works really hard,” Hagearty said. “It’s a complete team effort. We have some mistakes here and there, but we pull through and work together. We came out firing (Friday). That’s what we need to do the rest of the season.”

That work paid off as it let Cormier have a magical night. The senior completed 15 of 17 passes (88 percent) for 231 yards and a score. He also added 64 yards on the ground.

Cormier’s passing set up the ground game which was led by three scores from Jeff Weidenfeld.

Londonderry led 7-0 and 14-7 but couldn’t find a way to pull away. Three fumbles kept the Lancers from fully getting into gear on offense, but they were able to do enough to keep Salem at bay and go into halftime tied at 14.

“We were giving them away in the first half it felt like,” Lauzon said. “It was mistakes that we should have prevented, and that was the message at halftime. I don’t know how they were able to stick with it. I think we’ve worked too hard to lay down.”

Dom Paci put the Blue Devils up with a 2-yard touchdown run with nine minutes left in the third quarter but the Lancers tied it with a Weidenfeld touchdown run six minutes later.

Paci had 84 yards for the Blue Devils while Salem was led by 14 rushes and 117 yards from junior Brandon Wall.

“They executed better than we did down the stretch,” Salem coach Rob Pike said. “But you’ve got to give credit to them. They were excellent.”

Weidenfeld’s last touchdown came with three minutes left and proved to be the game-winner.

Salem marched down the field at the end of the game and had chances in the final minute but a fourth-down pass from Kyle Poulin bounced off the helmet of Michael Ference and dropped out of bounds to ice the win for Londonderry.