By Jon Moffett

sports@vindy.com

MINERAL RIDGE

The key to a happy life is balance.

The key to winning a football game is, well, also balance. And it was that balance that earned a victory for Salem in its season opener against host Mineral Ridge at E.Z. Whittaker Field on Thursday night.

The Quakers used a patient and deliberate attack to earn a 28-7 victory. The offense lit up the scoreboard while the defense lit up the Rams in a physical fashion. Salem head coach Ron Johnson said the balance is something the team has been working on since last season ended.

“I think we were right at 50-50 [run-to-pass] for the night and we have to be,” he said. “But we’ve got to continue to make plays when we do it, and we left a lot of points on the field.”

The balance came off the arm of junior quarterback Matt Weingart and the legs of junior tailback Kade Byland and sophomore receiver Cooper Bezeredi. Byland did the heavy lifting, gaining 76 yards on 17 tough carries Byland reached the end zone on the ground twice, once on a 2-yard carry and the other from four yards out.

Bezeredi added a speedier dynamic on end arounds and sweeps. He finished with 86 yards on 7 carries, including a 37-yard run to put the game away in the fourth quarter.

Weingart said having such a potent rushing attack made him able to see the field easier.

“It was huge. We ran the ball great, and running the ball opens up the passing game,” he said. “And the offensive line did a great job up front.”

The front may have been the deciding factor for both sides of the ball.

Salem operates with a “two-platoon” system, meaning players are designated to either offense or defense. Many schools have players who alternate to both sides. Johnson said the ability to rotate in fresh players kept both units from getting run down, especially so early in the season.

“That’s what we do as a program,” he said. “With the exception of a couple packages, we can run fresh bodies out there all the time. And that’s going to take its toll on people. I just with it would’ve stayed 85 degrees and humid tonight.”

The weather hardly made a difference. If there was a chill in the air, it was because the mammoth linemen for Salem blocked out the sun. The stifling defense was led by monster nose tackle Daemin Robinson, who is generously listed at a lean 260 pounds.

The Quaker defense did its part to shut down any hope for a Rams win. Mineral Ridge was held to just 37 yards rushing on 26 carries and gave quarterback Mac White little time to make decisions.

The Rams’ only score came off a 60-yard pass to tailback Sam Kooyman took them down to the Quaker 5-yard line. Kooyman ran it in from a yard out three plays later.