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Salem Blue Devils Football '07

Sat, Oct 06, 2007 03:00 PM @ Xaverian
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Salem 0 7 6 7 20
Xaverian 7 3 7 7 24

Salem beaten late by Xaverian, 24-20

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Sunday, October, 07 By Tim Donovan
Staff writer

WESTWOOD | Down 10-0 early in the second quarter and sinking fast, the Salem Blue Devils were desperate for a big play to swing the momentum in their favor. The play came in the form of a Shawn Stoodley fumble recovery on a Xaverian red-zone drive.

Stoodley's snatch set up the Blue Devils' first scoring series, which culminated in a nine-yard Kevin Sledge (80 yards, 7 carries) touchdown scamper.

The play supercharged the struggling Salem defense as Stoodley's teammates followed his example.

"Our ends played a great game." Blue Devils coach Jack Gati remarked following the game. "And our linebackers, (Jharid) Pratt, (Jimmy) Stewart and (Chris) Sousa each had a great game."

Despite Stoodley's effort, a late-game touchdown by Xaverian Brothers High School was too much for Salem to overcome as the Blue Devils (3-3) were handed their third loss of the season, 24-20.

The sub-par defensive play early on by Salem was due in part to its unfamiliarity with the defensive scheme.

"We weren't running our usual defense; we changed from the 4-4 we usually run to a 3-3 defense," said Gati, who made the change to counteract Xaverian quarterback Anthony Varrichione's accurate throwing arm. "We made the change to help defend against their short-passing game."

The change was eventually effective, however, and the tide turned in Salem's favor late in the third quarter when Peter Allain grabbed an interception at mid-field and ran it to the Xaverian 9-yard-line.

Salem looked sharper and sharper as the game progressed and, when the Blue Devils went up 20-17 early in the fourth quarter, they were determined to hold on to the lead. In his huddle, a calm Gati stressed containing the Xaverian offense and making tackles.

Senior Shane McMahon took Gati's words to heart and emerged as a force on the Hawks' final drive. He was quick off the line and in the Xaverian backfield on every play. But it wasn't enough as Xaverian scored the winning TD with 3:01 to play, culminating a 68-yard drive.

Despite the loss, Gati remained positive. "We played hard," he said. "Our effort was definitely good."

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