RallyNorth.net

Fri, Aug 31, 2018 07:00 PM @ Salem

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Exeter	0	0	0	7	7
Salem	0	14	7	7	28

Blue Curtain: White, Salem shut down Exeter

Friday, August, 31 By Kyle Gaudette

SALEM - Exeter is a tough football program.

The Blue Hawks haven't missed the playoffs since 2010, and a recent article by Seacoast Online billed this year's offensive and defensive line as the strength of the team.

That makes sense considering that Exeter has thrived as a ground-and-pound team under head coach Bill Ball, now in his 26th year.

But Friday night, Exeter had nowhere to run against Salem.

Senior Jared White anchored a defense that allowed only 147 total yards as Salem bullied its way to a season-opening 28-7 win. And when Exeter turned to the air, trying to avoid getting hit behind the line of scrimmage again, senior Zach Gibbons came up with a 43-yard interception return to put Salem up 28-0 early in the fourth quarter.

That was the exclamation point.

"Yeah, we were pretty good," said the 5-11, 190-pound White. "I mean, a lot of guys were pursuing the ball, were quick, and that one pick at the end was pretty amazing. I loved seeing that.

"We all played well, on defense especially, against a team like Exeter where they're quick with handoffs. But we were able to hold our own, especially on the D-line which stepped up pretty big today."

White, Joshua Ozoria, Beau Dillon and Jordan Labossiere controlled the line all night. When the play got by them, linebackers Sebastian Johnson, Sebastian Mosher and William Michaud made sure to clean it up. Exeter's longest play was 16 yards, and it only had four plays that went for 10 yards or more.

Salem's defense just made plays.

Case in point, a 14-0 game at the break was shifting in momentum after Exeter stopped Salem on the first drive of the third quarter. The Blue Hawks were at the Salem 43-yard-line, and a score would have cut the lead in half. But co-captain Michaud sacked the quarterback for a 16-yard loss and Exeter had to punt.

On the ensuing drive, Salem drove 82 yards on 11 plays and scored on a Brandon Wall 7-yard rush to make it 21-0 with 23 seconds left in the third.

"The defense played really well," said Salem coach Rob Pike. "Those kids played physically, as they had to because Exeter is a physical team. But we stood up well to them."

Mulvey unknown no more

Last week, heads turned when Riley Mulvey rushed for three touchdowns in a scrimmage. 

The junior was set to get some touches this fall for Salem, the question was just how many with backs Dom Paci, Josh Maroun and Wall on the roster already.

But Friday night Mulvey showed that the scrimmage was no fluke.

The junior rushed for a game-high 116 yards on 11 carries. He made many great cuts through the Exeter defense, and showed his burst on a 55-yard TD to make it a 14-0 game with 55 seconds left in the first half. He even hauled in a 35-yard pass from Kyle Poulin, who also was sharp in his first career start behind center.

A man of few words, Mulvey says to expect this from him moving forward.

"I felt pretty good," he said. "We really wanted to win this game. We worked all preseason and all offseason to beat Exeter."

 

Salem 28, Exeter 7

Exeter (0-1):     0  0 0 7 -  7

Salem (1-0):     0 14 7 7 - 28

Second Quarter

S - Kyle Poulin 1 run (Zachary Gibbons kick), 6:58

S - Riley Mulvey 55 run (Gibbons kick), :55

Third Quarter

S - Brandon Wall 7 run (Gibbons kick), :23

Fourth Quarter

S - Gibbons 43 interception return (Gibbons kick), 10:21

E - Michael Cilia 3 run (Sam Wolff kick), 4:33

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: SALEM (43-236): Riley Mulvey 11-116, Domenic Paci 15-46, Brandon Wall 11-44, Kyle Poulin 3-22, Jackson Burns 2-5, Noah Poulin 1-3; EXETER (36-133): Derek Edmiston 11-39, Adam Gray 8-30, Ryan Grijalva 4-20, Zach Tucker 6-23, Michael Cilia 4-9, Cam Knight 2-9, Josh Morissette 1-3

PASSING: S - Kyle Poulin 5-9-0, 91; E - Ryan Grijalva 1-1-0, 5; Josh Morissette 1-2-1, 9

RECEIVING: S - Brandon Wall 1-35, William Michaud 2-17, Sebastian Mosher 1-20, Riley Mulvey 1-19; E - Derek Edmiston 1-9, Zach Tucker 1-5