Team

Niles

Record	Div.	Conf.
2/8	Div. III	All-American Conference Red Tier

Team

Salem

Record	Div.	Conf.
5/4	Div. IV	Northeastern Buckeye Conference

By Brandon Judeh

sports@vindy.com

Coming into Friday night’s game against Niles, Salem knew a win would be huge in its push for a third consecutive playoff appearance.

It was a gritty defensive slugfest in the Quakers 7-3 victory over the Red Dragons, but don’t let the score trick you into thinking it was a sloppy game.

Though both offenses struggled to gain any momentum off of the opposing defense, senior Austin Noel of Salem (2-1) broke through for 107 yards rushing and several key runs that ended up being the difference in the end.

“Niles has a great defense, but our offensive line stepped up big and opened up some holes for me and I was able to make some cuts and get some big runs,” said Noel.

Deadlocked in a scoreless game late in the second quarter, Salem had the ball on its 24-yard line. Quarterback Jake Carner ignited the drive with his pinpoint accuracy that led to the game-winning score, a 22-yard pass to wide receiver Zack Penick with 1:09 left in the half.

Though the score came early on, Salem coach Mike Kopachy credited this sequence as the biggest of the game.

“Our drive at the end of the first half was big, to come out of our end of the field and shove it in like that with a nice balance of running and passing was huge. We still need to work on our offensive consistency though,” said Kopachy.

Salem almost beat itself by committing six penalties for 50 yards, however the Quakers’ defense was able to pick them up and hold Niles to just a field goal.

Niles (2-1) gave their offense some hope on the last drive of the first half, when kicker Justin Evans nailed a 46-yard field goal as time expired. Niles did have many more opportunities in the second half, but were unable to capitalize on any of them.

Tommy Duffy carried the load offensively for Niles with 97 yards rushing, which included a 40-yard play in the second quarter.

Perhaps Niles best chance came in their second to last possession of the game. With five minutes left Niles roared down the field with some big runs and catches by Duffy and two fourth down conversion passes by quarterback Zack Bailey.

With one minute left, Bailey’s pass to receiver Darius Harris in the end zone fell inches short of his out stretched hands.

“This was the story of the night, we were passing up opportunities,” said Niles coach Brad Yeager. “We had chances offensively and defensively, we had plenty of chances.”