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Salem's defense steps up

Saturday, October, 09 By Chuck Frye
Staff writer

SALEM — With a triple threat attack of Jerickson Fedrick, Max Jacques and Matt Cannone, Salem's offense is above reproach and virtually unstoppable. The Blue Devil defense, however, had not risen to the same standard over the first half of the season.

With area-leading running back Nick Lawrence and Division 2 Timberlane invading Grant Field yesterday, Division 1 Salem met its challenge head-on and dominated. Defensive captain Joey Dipalma led a hyperactive effort and the Owls could get nothing going at all.

Meanwhile, the Blue Devil offense was its usual productive self, churning out almost 400 yards and 16 first downs in the first half alone, literally running away to a 48-6 victory.

"We were concerned with our defense going into this game," Salem head coach Jack Gati said. "Timberlane has a good running game, runs play-action passes ... the things they do are effective. But we came out and played great."

Challenging the Owls with nine defenders in the box, Lawrence was shackled to a mere five yards on nine carries and windy conditions took the passing game out of the mix. Timberlane generated just 27 yards in the first half, punting four times and turning the ball over once.

Dipalma led a monster effort with two sacks and two other tackles for negative yardage, one of which forced a fumble recovered by teammate Dan Stacey late in the first half.

"Our offense is together so we really worked hard all week on our defense," said Dipalma, who also cleaned house as an effective pulling guard on running plays. "It was a big challenge, we prepared for it and did a good job."

Jared Matthews added a forced fumble that he also recovered as well as a sack.

Offensively, Salem came within one yard of having three 100-yard performers in the opening 24 minutes as QB Cannone hit on 3 of 4 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown.

Jacques (156 yards on 11 carries and three touchdowns) sprinted past Lawrence and into the top spot for local running backs with 906 yards and 13 TDs.

Fedrick matched his teammates' total on 19 attempts, adding a pair of scores.

Salem's player/coach

On Timberlane's third play of the game, fullback Luke Ouellette went in motion to his right. Salem linebacker Joe Dipalma immediately called out, "Counter! Counter!" Back Nick Lawrence took the handoff to his left and met up with defensive end Jacob Burke, who broke through the hole meant for Lawrence and dropped him for a seven-yard loss in an early sign of Salem's defensive dominance to follow. 

"Joey did some great studying this week," observed Salem head coach Jack Gati. "He's our defensive captain, he recognized the formations and made the calls and the changes. It's good to have that, someone who can make the adjustments on the field."

"I love playing defense, it's a lot more fun," Dipalma said. "We worked hard to use good technique (yesterday), and the linemen deserve a lot of credit for their help running our packages." 

Additional stories:

• Salem's defense steps up