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West stuns Salem for final playoff berth

SALEM, N.H. | Salem was left feeling blue last night, as well as out of the Division 1 playoffs, after three long second-half drives into the red zone came up empty.

Leading Manchester West 14-10 at halftime, Salem held the ball for nearly 16 minutes in the final two quarters and advanced on potential scoring drives of 46, 57 and 55 yards without anything to show for it in a heartbreaking 17-14 loss to the Blue Knights.

The victory qualified West (6-4, 5-3 in Division 1) for the Division 1 tournament and eliminated the defending two-time state finalist Blue Devils (6-4, 5-3), who had entered the season with the return of their entire offensive backfield and high hopes to finally reach the top.

"I feel bad for my seniors because they had very high expectations," said Salem coach Jack Gati. "I thought we played pretty well but turnovers, which has been a big problem all year, and big plays really hurt us."

Both proved decisive in the second half. Offensively, Salem lost a fumble on fourth down, fumbled again on a kickoff return, failed to convert on fourth-and-one at West's 14-yard-line early in the fourth quarter and was wide on a 32-yard field goal try with 37 seconds remaining to play.

After the missed first-down try, West advanced all the way to Salem's' 1-yard line six plays later on a 71-yard screen pass from Kyle Smith to Nick Clement. And two plays after that, with 5:15 to play in the game, Steve Gibson scored for the decisive points and final score.

Salem fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, but got the ball back with 2:49 to play and advanced from its own 21 all the way to West's 14-yard-line with 51 seconds still remaining. But three incomplete passes, followed by Nick Cavallo's missed field goal try (his first of the season after breaking his foot in the first game), sealed the Blue Devils' fate.

Big plays also accounted for West's two scores in the first half. A 58-yard run by shifty quarterback Lyle Smith set up a 30-yard field goal by Kameron Knowlton in the first quarter and, after falling behind 14-3, a 55-yard pass play just before halftime led to a 5-yard scoring run by Smith, making it 14-10 at halftime.

Of West's 313 yards of total offense, 180 came on three plays.

Salem scored both of its touchdowns in the second quarter on a 3-yard run by Kevin Sledge (16 carries, 90 yards) and a beautiful 10-yard counter-play run by Chris Najem, set up by a Chris Sousa (who also had a sack and was a force n defense all evening) interception.

But, unable to convert pivotal plays in the second half, that was all the scoring that Salem could muster.

For West, the victory was its first on the road all season and put it in the playoffs for the second time in three years.