Shorthanded Salem football cruises past Bishop Guertin

NASHUA - Even without its top running back, the Salem High School football team found a way to rush to a 41-22 victory over Bishop Guertin on Saturday night at Stellos Stadium.

Senior running back Adam Maroun ran for three touchdowns, and his brother, sophomore Joshua Maroun, also ran one in for a score in the victory for the 6-0 Blue Devils, who were without Josh Sibanda for the third straight game.

“They’re doing an excellent job,” said coach Rob Pike. “They both ran really hard tonight and gave us some big plays and we needed them.”

In what ended up a Salem rout, the Blue Devils fumbled the ball on their first possession. After the Cardinals (1-5) couldn’t take advantage of the free possession, the visitors found their offense.

Maroun ran in one touchdown from 29 yards down field to make it 7-0, then he scored from the 1-yard line to double the lead.

Junior Domenic Paci extended the lead to 21-0 with a 13-yard TD run, before the Cardinals finally found a way to get on the board.

Senior kicker Matt Hauntsman sent a 40-yard kick between the uprights for the team’s first field goal of the season, and cut the deficit to 21-3 at the half.

But in the second half, the Blue Devils offense that has ran rampant all season long had arrived.

Sophomore Beau Dillon jumped on a Cardinals blocked punt to give the Devils’ a 27-3 following a missed field goal.

“Some of them made some really nice plays,” said Pike of his secondary defenders who saw action on the night. “Some of them like Beau Dillon blocked a punt, Owen Gormley is another guy who played really well, so did Joey Calabrese. We have a lot of guys who did well.”

From there, the Cards were able to move the ball, with Joey Lupo running back the ensuing kickoff 89 yards.

That was one of a few miscues on the Devils’ side they feel they need to work on.

“Like every week, there’s ways to be better and things to be better at,” said Pike. “But, just happy to come here and get the win.”

On the next possession, Mauron ran in his third TD of the game to give Salem some breathing room. His brother scored from 3-yard line the next time the offense took the field, extending the Salem lead to 41-9.

Two straight Cardinals TDs closed out the scoring; Austin Hiscoe picked up a 22-yard touchdown catch and quarterback Sam Raitt ran in a score from the 1 as time expired.

Even though it was a strong showing for Salem, there’s still plenty for the undefeated Blue Devils to learn.

“There’s always stuff we can work on and get better at,” said Pike. “There’s a lot of things we can get better at. The difficult thing is are we going to play well when we face adversity and play in a close game.”