Salem football starts fast, hands Londonderry first loss (video)

SALEM - Defense hasn't been a strength for the Salem High School football team for parts of this season.

Blue Devils coach Steve Abraham bet on that side of the ball to start Friday night's game and it paid off.

Salem forced a three-and-out by Londonderry, and two plays later, Tommy Ahlers rushed 75 yards for the first of his three touchdowns, setting the tone for the Blue Devils as they handed the Lancers their first loss of the season, 35-21, in a Division I South Conference game.

Ahlers finished with 124 yards and two scores on 11 carries and added three interceptions on defense, two of which came late in the fourth quarter, including a 42-yard pick-6 that put the game out of reach.

"Their record really meant nothing to us," Ahlers said. "Deep inside we knew that if we played our hearts out and played to the fullest potential that we could compete and beat this team. That’s what we did, but we’ve still got work to do."

Aidan McDonald added 86 yards and a touchdown for the Blue Devils (5-2) and David Jacques had 27 yards and a score. Salem outgained Londonderry (7-1) 355-308, including an edge of 246-169 in the first half.

"We deferred and I told our guys everybody is probably thinking we need to score first on them and our defense stinks," Abraham said. "I said I think we’re just learning and I believe in you. Let’s kick off to them, let’s get the ball back and let’s come right down and score. That’s what we did. Our kids answered it."

Salem's defense finished the game with five interceptions of Londonderry's quarterbacks, as Kaleb Bates and Matt McCloskey also had picks. Three of those came in the first half, all on the Blue Devils' side of the field.

"It’s uncharacteristic of us," Londonderry coach Jimmy Lauzon said. "We have turned the ball over more in the last couple of games than we did earlier in the year, so it caught up to us. We’ve got to have more attention to detail. It could be a great learning experience."

The Lancers got quarterback Aidan Washington back after he'd missed most of the previous four games due to injury, but he was just 5 of 13 for 50 yards and four interceptions. Drew Heenan played in the second half and was 3 of 9 for 37 yards and a pick.

Matthew Perron had two rushing touchdowns for Londonderry to go with 39 yards on the ground while Jake Schena led the team with 72 yards and a touchdown.

But Ahlers first touchdown run put the Lancers in an early hole, and after moving inside Salem's 25-yard line, the Blue Devils senior picked off Washington to give his team the ball at its own 35.

Salem went on a 16-play, 65-yard drive that took up 8:19 and ended with McDonald's 1-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 with 9:55 left in the half. Londonderry answered quickly, getting a 19-yard touchdown run from Perron just 1:29 later, but Washington was intercepted by Bates on the Lancers' next drive.

Two plays later, Noah Mustapha hit Bates for a 53-yard gain, helping set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Jacques to make it 21-7 with 1:14 left in the half.

Perron's 5-yard touchdown run with 1:29 to go in the third quarter made it a one-score game. Salem put together another long possession, eating up 6:03 with a 14-play, 50-yard drive, but came up short, turning the ball over on downs at the Lancers' 10-yard line with 6:09 to play.

But four plays later, Ahlers picked off Heenan, giving Salem the ball back on Londonderry's 21, and the senior scored from 10 yards out moments later to give the Blue Devils a 28-14 lead with 2:52 to go.

On the second play of Londonderry's ensuing drive, Ahlers got his third interception of the game, and this time, returned it 42 yards for a 35-14 lead.

"For us, it’s life or death," Ahlers said. "We stop them here or we could lose, so that was our mentality and we had to stop them. (The turnovers) gave us more momentum. We were able to finish it and that put a stamp on it."