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# Salem football gains experience, along with a win
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/salem-football-gains-experience-along-with-a-win/
- Published: 2023-09-27T19:00:03.000Z
- Updated: 2023-09-27T19:00:03.000Z
- Description: There isn't enough film to watch nor enough weights to lift to equivalate what the Salem High School football team went through last Saturday.
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, football, NH High School Sports Insider, Salem, slider, Windham, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

There isn't enough film to watch nor enough weights to lift to equivalate what the Salem High School football team went through last Saturday.

Blue Devils coach Steve Abraham knew that after they knocked off Windham, 33-28, and he made sure the players did, too.

"Coach would like you to just finish and stop making things (tough)," Abraham said when asked about his postgame message. "There’s positivity to that. They had to learn adversity.

"For a team that’s all sophomores and juniors, and we have two seniors that we play, that (game), more than the weight room and anything else, that is football experience. That will give us a shot if we get into the playoffs."

Salem also had a few freshmen contributing as well, and with all the considered, where the team stands as the middle of the season approaches is a bit eye opening.

With that victory over Windham, the Blue Devils (4-0 in Division I) have already doubled their win total from a year ago. And with a few more winnable games coming up before the end-of-season gauntlet - Salem finished with Pinkerton and Londonderry - that total could keep growing.

"That was my goal, go 1-0 and each week," Abraham said when asked if he was surprised to be 4-0\. "I told the guys, if we just play with heart, play together, communicate, and play this game with passion and enthusiasm, we’ve got a shot in every game. They’ve done that."

While Salem had seven players record at least two carries, they didn't all run for big yardage. But with Felix Gonzalez (83 yards, two touchdowns) battling injury and Kevin Todisco (135 total yards, three scores) being the focal point of Windham's defense, other players stepped up.

In the third quarter, and the touchdown drive that gave Salem a lead for the first time, sophomore Jordan Zannini and freshman Colin Salkovitz ran for 19 and 9 yards, respectively, on back-to-back plays. That helped set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Todisco that gave the Blue Devils a 27-21 lead.

"We had the freshman and sophomore coming in because Felix was getting banged up and they knew Kevin was getting the ball," Abraham said. "They ran their tails off."

And when the Blue Devils needed a big play, they turned to some seniors to make them.

After Windham had pulled back in front, 28-27, with 6:51 to play, Salem got the ball back near midfield, but went backwards on the first two plays. Facing third-and-21, senior quarterback Nolan Lumley suggested a play to his coaches.

Lumley rolled out to pass and threw the ball up for Todisco to go get. The junior did and took it 62 yards what ended up being the winning score.

"Nolan called it in the huddle and we had run it earlier," Abraham said. "Our guy went up and made a play. That’s what we told Nolan. Throw it up and let our guy make a play. Kevin wanted that ball and he ripped it away."

Windham had one final shot at the win, driving down to the Salem 15-yard line with five seconds left on the clock. Jaguars quarterback Billy DePietro tried to hit Matt Desmarais in the end zone, but senior Caden Smith and junior Talen Walton defended the play well and the pass fell incomplete to end the game.

"They have a lot of fight in them," Abraham said. "They’re tough and they had adversity. We had a couple of things go wrong. We just did stupid things but they recovered and they never quit and they never got on each other. That is what I believed they had in them and they proved it."