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Londonderry pounds away vs. Salem

Friday, September, 12 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

LONDONDERRY — Thanks, first-year coach Jon Rich.

That was the message from the Londonderry linemen and their stable full of power running backs last night after the Lancers defeated Salem 28-14 in a Division 1 opener at Lancer Park.

The Londonderry linemen and backs were grateful that Rich stuck with last year’s compact single wing, which puts a premium on taking direct snaps and pounding the ball inside.

“What lineman wouldn’t like it?” said 5-10, 230-pound returning center Tom Manley. “It’s straight-ahead, smash-mouth football. We just take it to them.”

The direct approach certainly worked well against the visiting Blue Devils. Four backs combined for 275 yards on the ground and three of the Lancers’ four touchdowns. Leading the way was senior Gary Glines, who rushed for 94 yards on just 10 carries and scored on a pair of 13-yard runs.

“I love pounding the ball up the middle and I’m glad we stuck with it (single wing),” said Glines, who was particularly tough to bring down in the second half. “If we had changed, it would have been our third offense in three years. That’s too much.”

The Lancers (2-0) powered their way to a 21-0 lead in the first half during which they ran for 166 yards, or 140 more than Salem.

Anthony Terenzi (16 carries, 76 yards) plowed ahead from the 2-yard-line for the first score, Alex Lambert followed eight straight runs with a seven-yard TD catch for the second and Glines scored on a determined 13-yard run for the final score. That was set up by a 50-yard pass from Conor McKinney to Lambert.

Salem (1-1) rallied in the third quarter, narrowing the score to 21-14 when Max Jacques returned the opening kickoff 85 yards and Cory Lavallee hauled in a nice 40-yard throw from Matt Cannone.

But Glines put the game away midway through the final quarter when, after the Lancers recovered the third of four lost Salem fumbles, he tore through the middle of the line and dragged tacklers 34 yards. Two plays later, he scored on a 13-yard run.

“It’s no mystery what they do, but they have some big kids and good skill players and they do it well,” said Salem coach Jack Gati. “I liked the way we came back in the second half, but we really hurt ourselves with those fumbles.”

Jacques, a speedy 5-foot-5 sophomore, led the Blue Devils on the ground with 54 yards on 13 carries, and Jharid Pratt and Anthony Tudsico had strong defensive games, but Londonderry proved too powerful to stop.

“I think we have an advantage with this offense,” said Rich, explaining why he stuck with the compact single wing. “Nobody else runs it, so it’s harder to prepare for. Also, we had some good offensive linemen (Manley, Sean Ryan and Alex Deyeso) back and I like our backs.”

Among those playing well for the Londonderry defense, which held Salem to just 96 yards on the ground, were Glines, Brandon Edgerly, Kevin Hale and Bill White.