Salem football powers its way past Bedford (video)

HAVERHILL, Mass. - The Salem High School football team was at its best Saturday when its defense had it's back against the wall.

The Blue Devils allowed Bedford to move the ball between the 20-yard lines, but when the pressure went up, Salem stepped up.

Three times the Bulldogs moved inside the Blue Devils' 10, and three times they came away with nothing, including the game's opening drive, when Salem made a stand at the 1-yard line.

That bend-but-don't-break defense, plus a dominant ground game, helped the Blue Devils pick up a 34-3 victory over Bedford in a Division I game at Trinity Stadium in Haverhill, Mass.

It's the fifth time this year Salem (6-1) hasn't allowed a touchdown, as the Blue Devils held the Bulldogs to 2.8 yards per carry while outgaining them 400-251. That included 335 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, as Josh Maroun had 114 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 17 attempts and Riley Mulvey added 111 yards on 12 carries.

"We did a lot of things well," Salem coach Rob Pike said. "The defensive and offensive lines did a really good job for us, opening holes on offense and plugging things up on defense.

"You’ve got to play well on the lines to win any football game. They’re good and they had their plays where they beat us, but our kids stood tough and hung in there and played well. We’ve got tough kids in there."

Michael Ference also had three catches for 43 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown reception from Kaleb Bates, while Brandon Wall and Thomas Ahlers also ran for scores.

Bedford (5-2) got its only points midway through the second quarter on a 38-yard field goal by Ryan Bobotas that made it a 13-3 game, but Salem answered with a nine-play, 76-yard drive that ended with Ference's touchdown reception and a 20-3 lead that the Blue Devils took into halftime.

For the Bulldogs, it was the second loss in a row after a 17-game win streak that included last year's D1 championship, and its the first time Bedford has failed to score a touchdown in back-to-back games since 2008, its first year as a varsity program.

"What’s disappointing to me now is how we’re responding to some of that adversity right now," Bedford coach Zach Matthews said. "I think you’re seeing it snowball on us. Something doesn’t go our way and we’re not responding well to it. It’s like we’re trying to do too much ourselves instead of playing together as a unit. That’s something we’ve got to get fixed."

The Bulldogs opened the game by driving 72 yards in 10 plays to get down to the Salem 1-yard line, but on fourth-and-goal, Jack Grogan was stopped for no gain. The Blue Devils responded with a long drive of their own, going 99 yards in 10 plays and taking a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard run by Maroun.

"That was huge," Pike said. "Our defense has been making plays all year like that and standing tall when they need to. That was the case there. Any time you can get a stop inside the 5, that’s great football."

Maroun scored on a 2-yard run early in the second quarter after an interception by Noah Poulin set Salem up with a first-and-goal at the Bedford 4.

The Blue Devils looked like they were going to go on another long drive to start the second half, but a screen pass by Bates was picked off by Bedford's Charles Kneissl-Williams, who returned it to the Salem 13. But two runs by Michael Akstin gained six yards, and after no gain on third down, Joseph Mikol's pass on fourth down fell incomplete.

"The problem is we’re not finishing drives right now," Matthews said. "We’re driving the ball really well from 20 to 20. When you get to that (opponent’s) 20, the thing that happens is the field gets condensed and those are pressure situations where the other team is going to bring pressure. We’re not finding a way to finish those drives."

Bedford's defense came up with a stop and the Bulldogs got the ball back at their own 41. Nine plays later, on fourth-and-1 at the Salem 21, Mikol scrambled for a 17-yard gain, setting up first-and-goal at the 4.

After a 1-yard loss on first down, Akstin raced around the right side for a touchdown, but the score was called back on a hold on the Bulldogs. Joshua Ozoria sacked Mikol on second down to set up third-and-goal from the 24.

Mikol's pass to Timothy Greene gained no yardage on third down, and on fourth down, the sophomore quarterback's pass was caught by Aaron Skaling, but officials ruled the catch was made out of the end zone.

Taking over at its own 24, Salem needed just seven plays to go 76 yards, thanks in part to a 44-yard run by Maroun. That set up Wall's 5-yard touchdown run that made it 27-3 with 5:20 remaining.

Bedford returns home on Friday to take on Timberlane at 7 p.m. while Salem travels to Goffstown for a 1:30 p.m. start on Saturday.