Londonderry football holds off Salem to return to D1 championship game (video)

LONDONDERRY - For almost three quarters, the Londonderry High School football team had kept Salem's offense from hitting on a big play.

But in the final minutes of the third, the Blue Devils struck for their first score of the day, turning a game that the Lancers controlled into a one-possession game.

No. 1 Londonderry answered with a big play of its own, getting a 47-yard touchdown run from quarterback Drew Heenan two plays later and the Lancers survived a furious rally by No. 3 Salem to take a 28-21 win in the Division I semifinals Saturday. The win sends Londonderry to the title game for the second time in three years, where it will face Winnacunnet on Nov. 20.

Heenan finished with 195 yards on the ground and Matthew Perron added 66 yards and two touchdowns rushing, as Londonderry (10-1) swung the turnover battle from its previous two meetings with Salem (7-3) and overcame almost a dozen penalties. The Lancers had four takeaways, including three fumble recoveries in the first half, with each one leading to a score.

"It’s gone their way the last couple of times we’ve seen them," Londonderry coach Jimmy Lauzon said. "We’ve turned the ball over to them and finally it went the other way. Credit to our defense, it was nice to get takeaways."

Two of those fumbles gave Londonderry the ball inside the Salem 30-yard line, but on both, the Lancers had to settle for field goals by Dylan Wrisley.

The first of the three ended the Blue Devils' opening drive at Lononderry's 21-yard line, and the Lancers capitalized, going on a 10-play, 79-yard drive to go up 6-0 on a 31-yard touchdown run by Perron.

"We were moving the ball at will," Salem coach Steve Abraham said. "We score first, we win the game. We turned it over and then they scored on a great, long drive. When that happens, momentum changes and our guys start doubting. We had to hold on to the ball."

A week after rushing for over five hundred yards in a quarterfinal win over Bishop Guertin, the Blue Devils had just 71 yards on the ground, including only five in the second half. Salem turned to its passing game in the second half, as Noah Mustapha was 13 of 16 for 248 yards and two touchdowns.

Tommy Ahlers had four catches for 169 yards, including an 85-yard touchdown reception, and Kalen Bates added three catches for 12 yards and another touchdown. Aidan McDonald, who had 341 rushing yards in last week's win, had just 27 with a touchdown and two fumbles lost.

Londonderry took a 12-0 lead into halftime and opened the third with a 17-play drive that got down to the Salem 15-yard line. But a false start on the Lancers pushed them back and the Blue Devils' defense came up with a stop.

Two plays later, Mustapha hit Ahlers for the long touchdown reception that made it 12-7 with 1:07 remaining in the third. Momentum swung to the Blue Devils, but it didn't last long.

Anthony Salcito returned the kickoff to Londonderry's 38-yard line, and after Heenan gained 15 yards on the first play, the junior went up the middle for a 47-yard scoring run that put the Lancers up 20-7 with 15 seconds left in the quarter.

"It was a big turning point in the game," Heenan said. "The offensive line blocked it perfectly."

Salem responded by driving down to Londonderry's 20-yard line, but the offense stalled and the Blue Devils tried to run an option pass on fourth down. Bates was picked off by Trevor Weinmann and the Lancers took over at their own 35.

Londonderry went three-and-out and Weinmann's punt reached the end zone, giving Salem the ball at its own 20, but the Blue Devils couldn't get going and turned the ball over on downs with 6:02 remaining. Four plays later, Perron scored from 4 yards out to make it 28-7 Lancers with 4:14 left.

The Blue Devils went back to the air, with Mustapha leading the way. Salem went 56 yards in eight plays, with the senior completing 4 of 5 passes for 74 yards, with a 27-yard completion to Ahlers setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by McDonald.

That scored made it 28-14 Londonderry with 1:29 to play, and with two timeouts left, Salem successfully attempted an onside kick. With the ball the Lancers' 47, Mustapha hit Damian Gigante for eight yards and McDonald for 14.

Three plays later, Mustapha found Bates in the back corner of the end zone, as Bates made a one-handed catch before falling out of bounds for a 9-yard touchdown. The kick made it 28-21 with 18 seconds remaining.

"(Mustapha) was great," Abraham said. "He was poised. He was getting the crap kicked out of him. We don’t throw the ball a ton. We can, so he has to be patient. He runs our offense really well. He played his rear end off."

Salem tried another onside kick and Londonderry recovered, but a pre-kick procedural penalty gave the Blue Devils another chance. This time, the ball failed to travel 10 yards, giving the Lancers possession and end the comeback.

"I thought we were in pretty good shape up 28-7, but I was wrong," Lauzon said. "Credit to them to have that in their back pocket. If you had told me they would throw for two hundred and we would throw for seven, I’d have told you you were crazy."