Salem knocks off Manchester Memorial in D1 football quarterfinals (video)

MANCHESTER - The Salem High School football team found success with its defensive game plan for most of Friday night's Division I quarterfinal against Manchester Memorial.

But when it came to crunch time, the Blue Devils put the game away with an old-fashioned game of keep away, going on a 17-play drive that ate up most of the fourth quarter.

While the Blue Devils didn't score, they put the Crusaders in a tough spot that led to a game-clinching interception return for a score by Jordan Zannini, as No. 7 Salem upset No. 2 Memorial 24-17 to move on to the D1 semifinals.

The Blue Devils (8-3) will go to Derry next Friday to take on No. 3 Pinkerton (7-3), which beat No. 6 Windham 34-6 in the quarterfinals.

“That drive was executed perfectly, and our offensive line wanted us to run the ball, which I love,” Salem coach Steve Abraham said. “I told them before the game, this isn’t a game of inches, and it isn’t a game of this or that. Really, what it’s a game of is heart and will.

“You’re going to get knocked back. It’s do you have the heart and will to, no matter what happens, keep pressing forward for 48 minutes. It’s just like life. You’re not going to win every battle in life, but no matter what hits you, are you willing to get up and put the best foot forward. They did it.”

Salem had just 65 yards on offense in the second half, with almost all of it coming on the fourth-quarter drive, which took up 9 minutes and 27 seconds. Memorial got the ball back on its own 3-yard line with 2:22 left in the game and only one timeout remaining, down 17-14.

On the second play of the possession, Alex Sutherland was intercepted by Zannini, who returned it 23 yards, diving toward the pylon to give the Blue Devils the winning score.

“They needed a score,” the Salem senior said. “They needed to get down the field. I just saw the ball in the air. I thought I was in, I didn’t know if the ref would think I was in.”

The score capped a big defensive night for Salem, as the Blue Devils held Jacob Schuff to 49 yards rushing on 11 carries. Memorial ran for 151 as a team, but turned the ball over four times, three of them on fumbles.

“They did a fantastic job of stopping our outside run game,” Memorial coach Rob Sturgis said. “We would get like three first downs in a row with inside run, and then we’d fumble. It’s stuff that we work on every single day. You could feel the momentum just shifting.”

The Crusaders were able to bottle up Zannini on offense, but the Blue Devils got 32 yards rushing apiece from Colin Salkovitz, AJ Shikrallah and Jacob Beaudry. Van Mason was 7 of 12 passing for 90 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

The pick came two plays after Memorial lost a fumble - its third of the game - on the opening drive of the second half. After struggling with penalties and turnovers in the first half, the Crusaders got down to Salem's 21, but on fourth-and-1, Gabe Felch lost the ball and Jewry Nunez recovered for the Blue Devils on their 10.

But two plays later, Landon Murphy jumped into a passing lane, and despite having a cast on his right hand, was able to snare a throw by Mason. The senior linebacker returned it 13 yards for a touchdown to make it a 17-14 game with 5:33 remaining in the third quarter.

“He’s been out since the Timberlane game,” Sturgis said. “He’s the heart and soul of our defense, honestly. We’ve got really good players, but he’s the energy driver.”

Memorial opened the scoring on its first possession, taking advantage of a short field to score on an 11-yard pass from Sutherland to Joel Gomez for a 7-0 lead with 7:27 left in the first quarter.

Salem answered with a seven-play, 71-yard drive that ended with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Mason to Salkovitz with 3:52 remaining in the opening frame.

The next Crusaders drive ended with a fumble that the Blue Devils turned into a 4-yard touchdown run by Salkovitz on the first play of the second quarter. Salem also turned another Memorial fumble into a 26-yard field goal by Ryan Bryant for a 17-7 lead with 16 seconds left in the half.

“I’m just so proud,” Abraham said. “We’re undersized, but we played tough, tough football and executed. We wanted to put doubt in their mind because they haven’t trailed at halftime this year. We did what we needed to do.”