RallyNorth.net

Salem routs Owls

Friday, August, 31 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

SALEM, N.H. | The fun continued for Salem in the second half of its season opener against Timberlane last night, but senior Nick Cavallo's enjoyment of the Blue Devils' 48-8 romp over Timberlane was definitely tempered.

Cavallo was instrumental in helping Salem roll to an early 21-0 lead in the first quarter, intercepting two passes and kicking three extra points but, after injuring his foot on the return of his second pick, he was on crutches for much of the rest of the game.

"It was nice to see us keep pouring it on, but I was upset I wasn't out there," said Cavallo, who speculated that he might have a bone fracture in his foot, "I was so excited for this game."

A cornerback on defense, Cavallo also plays tight end on offense and is both Salem's placekicker and punter, a situation that Salem coach Jack Gati is well aware of.

"I hope he's okay because losing a two-way player of his caliber would be a big blow," said Gati. "As a punter, he's been booming them in practice. We had a good punter last year in John Emerzian, but Nick might be better."

Cavallo's injury was the only negative to a resounding victory by Salem, which set the tone immediately.

Timberlane received the opening kickoff and was stopped twice for losses, fumbling away the ball on the second loss. On the next play, Salem quarterback Hal Landers rolled around the left side for a 17-yard TD to start the scoring parade at just 11:02 of the first quarter.

Cavallo's first interception on the next series led to a 24-yard Kevin Sledge TD run and a blocked punt four plays later was followed by a Shane McMahon 17-yard scoring run and Cavallo's third straight extra-point kick.

Timberlane stepped it up in the second quarter, but McMahon's second touchdown run, this time from 13 yards out, made it 27-0 at halftime.

Salem left its first team in the game for just one more series after the intermission and that resulted in another score when Chris Sousa hauled in a 14-yard TD pass from Landers, making it 34-0.

The final quarter was basically a battle of JV teams. Salem went up by a whopping 48-0 on touchdowns by Chris Najem (six yards) and Michael Rocheleau (a 59-yard gallup) before Timberlane finally found the scoreboard on a 74-yard pass play from Erik Hatton to Dave Mezquita.

The Salem offense piled up 334 rushing yards on the day and added 53 yards through the air, but it was the defense that most pleased Gati. Timberlane, with eight players back on offense including fine backs James Dionne (10 carries, 53 yards) and Derek Furey (11-39(, rushed for only 72 yards on the night.

"We've been a little concerned with our defensive line, but it came up big tonight," said Gati. "Our ends, (Shawn) Stoodley, (Mitchell) Baldwin and (Shane) Mattogno, played hard and did a nice job. And, of course, our linebackers had a big game.

"If we play defense like this all year, we'll do real well."

As for Timberlane, head coach Mike Pariseau opted to look for a silver lining.

"We're so young, but I thought between the first and second quarters we grew up three years," said Pariseau. "Salem is just very, very good, but we'll learn from this and I think we'll be okay."