BY RYAN O'CONNOR
The playoffs started a week early for the Manchester West and Salem high school football teams.
The Blue Devils rolled into the contest on Friday, Nov. 2, with a four-game winning streak against state foes and a 5-2 record.
The Blue Knights, on the other hand, clawed to 4-3 after consecutive mid-season setbacks to Nashua South and Manchester Central.
“After that loss to Central we were a little devastated because we had fate in our own hands, but luckily both things happened that we needed (on Oct. 26) – Londonderry lost (at Nashua South) and Central lost (to Salem),” said West coach Travis Cote. “I told the kids this week, ‘When’s the last time everything that needed to happen happened? Here’s the time we need to take advantage of this opportunity. You’ve got a one-game season now, and if you want to go to the playoffs, you’ve got to get the job done.’”
When Salem missed a 31-yard field goal in the closing minute, players on the West sideline erupted, celebrating a 17-14 come-from-behind victory; their opponents hung their heads, reflecting on a season full of potential that had just sailed wide left.
“I feel bad for these guys, especially the (26) seniors. They had high expectations,” said SHS coach Jack Gati. “You know, turnovers hurt us all year long. We played well, but defensively we had a couple breakdowns today.”
It looked like the Blue Devils would run away with this contest, as they had the previous two weeks against Manchester Central, 27-14, and playoff-bound Nashua South, 55-20.
After West quarterback Lyle Smith scrambled 58 yards to the Salem 1-yard line on the Blue Knights’ first drive, Salem’s defense stiffened and forced a Kameron Knowlton field goal.
In response, led by the power running attack of seniors Kevin Sledge and Jim Stewart and junior Chris Najem, the Blue Devils scored on their second and third possessions.
Sledge hammered three yards into the end zone, and, following a Chris Sousa interception, Najem scampered 10 yards to pay dirt.
The scoring ended there for Salem.
West’s Smith followed a 65-yard catch-and-run from fullback Steve Gibson by punching a 1-yard touchdown run into the corner of the end zone, cutting the halftime deficit to 14-10.
The lone second-half score was West’s 85-yard drive, highlighted by a key third-and-long
conversion.
On that play, Smith, who threw for 187 yards and rushed for 97, took the snap, felt pressure from Salem defenders all around him, scrambled out of the pocket and completed a pass to senior tailback Nick Clement, who dashed down the left sideline, cut across the field and was bumped out just shy of the goal line, a 71-yard gain.
Gibson scored the go-ahead touchdown.
Sledge fumbled the ensuing kickoff return, and though the Salem defense forced a three-and-out, it couldn’t put the exclamation point on a long drive that started on its own 20-yard line and ended on the West 15.
“It’s not easy to win on the road anywhere in this league, and we haven’t won on the road all year,” said Cote, who added the victory was the sweetest in his tenure at West. “In order to make the playoffs … you’ve got to win in white (visiting jerseys), and the kids knew that and rose to the occasion.”
West heads toward a playoff showdown with Pinkerton Academy on Nov. 10. Salem goes home for the winter.
“This hurts,” said Gati. “I’ve got to go say goodbye to my seniors.”