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SALEM — On a day dominated by the offenses, Chris Pena broke Salem’s back with a defensive gem.

Midway through the third, the Lawrence High junior ripped the ball from Salem superstar Jerickson Fedrick’s arms, spun and raced 19 yards for his first career touchdown. Trailing 39-16, the Blue Devils never recovered, falling 46-28 before about 450 fans here at sun-splashed Grant Field.

See plenty of highlights and video interviews from Pinkerton's semifinal victory over Salem.

DERRY — For a fraction of a second, the football began to slip out of Ryan Coombs’ outstretched arms.

But it was comfortably tucked away before the diving Coombs hit the ground and was mobbed by teammates.

SALEM, N.H. — The Salem defense seems to enjoy playing its best in the second half. For the second straight game and third in a month, the playoff-bound Blue Devils (7-3) shut out their opponent after halftime, which last night resulted in a 30-13 victory over Londonderry. In three other games, Salem allowed just one score in the second half. “We know we have to pick it up (after halftime) and we usually do,” said outside linebacker Mike Downing. “I thought we played really well (in the second half) but we have to play a lot  better next week against Pinkerton (Division 1 semifinals, starting at 1 p.m.).” Salem’s defense held Londonderry standout Sean O’Gorman (32 carries, 168 yards and two TDs for the game) to 54 yards in the second half and, taking into consideration plays for negative yardage, 37 yards of total offense. With Salem ahead 22-13 early in the fourth quarter, Downing made a pivotal tackle to help contain the Lancers and preserve the Blue Devils’ lead. On first down, he blasted through the line and sacked Londonderry quarterback Dylan Cole for a 15-yard loss.. Two plays later he knocked down a pass, forcinf the Lancers to punt and not threaten again. “The defense is still a work in progress, but it’s getting better every week,” said Salem coach Jack Gati. “That’s what you’re looking for. “We made a little adjustment at halftime to stop their wide runs and it worked Michael (Downing) was a big part of that.” Also playing particularly well up front was senior linebacker Kevon Dembkpski, Daniel Stacy and Chris Fancy. Offensively, Salem rode the back of senior star Jerickson Fedrick. He scored on a 62-yard jaunt on the third play of the game and finished the game with 211 yards and three TDs on 22 carries. Abner Rodriguez chipped in with a touchdown and 27 yards rushing. For Londonderry, Sean O’Gorman rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns despite not playing in the first quarter. Michael Wiedenfeld (7-66) also ran the ball hard.for the Lancers, who also played much better in the second half, holding Fedrick to 33 yards on right carries. But, by then, the damage was already damage.

CONCORD — After struggling defensively in recent weeks, Salem tossed a shutout over the final three quarters of last night’s 22-6 win over Concord.
“That (defense) is something that we have not done too well lately,” said Salem head coach Jack Gati, who formerly coached the Crimson Tide. “Today we put it all together. After they scored on the first drive, we shut them down. Defensively it was a good team effort.”
That team effort led to on each of Concord’s final five drives. Joe Lemenager and Ryan Foster each had  two interceptions.
Jerickson Fedrick had the other.
Previous to this week, the Blue Devils (6-3) had been allowing 29.9 points per game. During its recent two-game losing streak, Salem had surrendered 32 and 49 points, respectively.
Fedrick rushed for 108 yards and scored a touchdown. Steve Bemister took in a 7-yard pass from Jonathan Soldano.
Salem hosts Londonderry on Friday (7 p.m.) with a potential playoff berth on the line.

SALEM, N.H. — The good news for Salem last night was that senior standout Jerickson Fedrick went over 1,000 yards for the third straight season. Boosted by long third quarter TD runs of 80 and 68 yards, Fedrick rushed for 248 yards on just 19 carries, giving him 1,191 yards to go along with 20 TDs. Unfortunately, there was little else of a positive nature for the Blue Devils (5-3), who fell hard to Nashua South, 49-20. At 3-3 in Division 1 play, they remain tied for the fourth playoff spot with Manchester Central, which fell to Exeter 24-14 last night. Although Fedrickson’s rushing totals were impressive, 193 of his yards came on three runs, and the Panthers controlled him fairly well otherwise. “We knew he (Fedrick) would bust one or two, but generally I thought we made him work for it, and our defense did a pretty good job,” said Nashua South coach Scott Knight. In addition to containing Salem on the ground, South intercepted two of the four passes attempted by the Devils. The first set up Nashua’s second touchdown and the second was returned 42 yards for a TD. The Panthers also returned a fumble 39 yards for a score. Offensively, South (7-1, 5-1) had too many options for a Salem defense which has not been consistent. Shifty back Armand McRae rushed for 134 yards and scored three touchdowns and sophomore QB Trevor Knight (the coach’s son) completed 11 of 16 passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Impressive kicker Chris Dennis, meanwhile, was 7 for 7 in extra points and booted four kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. “They have a lot of talent and it’s hard to keep everything covered,” said Salem coach Jack Gati. “At times we played well, but we just have to play better defense.”

EXETER — Too much. That simple phrase describes a lot about last night's game between Salem and Exeter.

Right from the opening kickoff, field position was too much of an advantage for the host Blue Hawks. Salem turned the ball over too much. And when the Blue Devils had the ball, especially in the second half, an aggressive Exeter defense was too much to handle. Add up every "too much" and it becomes a convincing Exeter victory, 32-6.

See highlights and video interviews from Salem football's victory over Timberlane.

PLAISTOW — Even Jerickson Fedrick’s teammates weren’t sure if the senior was ready to play following his injury a week ago — right up until his second carry.

“I thought he would just play a few plays and out,” said Kevin Dembkoski. “But when he popped that first big run, I knew he was just fine. That shocked me.”

NASHUA – What began as another slugfest between two high-scoring, familiar rivals, ended in a Salem rout. And the Blue Devils did it without arguably the state’s best player.