If you’ve been to enough physics classes, you’ve probably faced the age-old question: what happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force.

It’s a trick question. Salem is both the immovable object – perched firmly atop the Division I boys volleyball standings for five years running – and the unstoppable force.

Just ask its latest title game victim, Timberlane, which was haunted in straight sets – 25-19, 25-18 and 25-13 – during their Halloween loss to the Blue Devils on Friday, Oct. 31.

And it gets scarier for Timberlane and the rest of the Granite State volleyball landscape. SHS returns six of eight starters.

“It was like the first time for most of these guys, and they want more,” said Salem coach EJ Perry. “That’s why they were so excited, because we had so many guys contribute. Last year, some of the (D-I runner-up) Keene players said it was all Dan Kinney. You can’t say that about this team ... You can’t single out one player.”

That makes some wonder when, if ever, Salem will fall.

“I think it was actually pretty close tonight, and we pushed them well, but we are talking about Salem here,” said Timberlane coach John Duba. “You have to have talent to be able to play with this team.”

Talent alone won’t bring down the Blue Devils, conceded Duba.

In fact, not one team since New Hampshire instituted varsity boys volleyball five years ago has been able to produce the proper formula.

Salem has won every contest in which it has competed and, with its latest triumph, now maintains a 93-match winning streak, 24 more than the previous national record.

“We’re here. We’re still standing,” said Perry. “We’re like that boxer … ‘OK, you’ve given us your best shot, now here we come.’”

That was never more evident than in the first game against Timberlane With his team down, 14-11, Perry called a timeout for one reason.

“It was for Jason (Kinney). At that point I don’t think he had a kill, and I pulled him aside and said, ‘I don’t want to hear any excuses about being an underclassmen, you need to turn from a junior into a senior, and you need to do it right now,’” said Perry.

Kinney finished the match with 14 kills and six blocks, and the result never again seemed in doubt. Meme Okeke added 15 kills and junior Dan Tiner and sophomore Joe Gallant contributed 11 and 10 kills, respectively.

“You know, you’ve got four guys with double-digit kills, it’s awfully hard to get scored against,” said Perry, who now had seven state titles in five years – five volleyball and the last two Class L basketball championships. But he said he only steers the ship.

“The players do all the paddling,” he said. “The guys in the past have said it’s a standard they don’t want to break.

“That’s one of the things that was most exciting about this team … is there’s no connection to the first championship. These guys were on their own, and that’s why I’ve said all along they’re the best team I’ve had,” added Perry. “I tried to leave it on the back burner, but I did let them know that they carried that weight, and if they did screw up, that’s the story.”

There was no problem this year and maybe not for the foreseeable future, which is why senior captain Tim Sullivan admitted, after four years of winning and celebrating, he’s not sure what to do with himself next year.

“I’m probably going to try to stay in high school and come back,” he said. “There’s nothing I’d rather do than play for this team.”

Being an integral cog on a squad that knows nothing but dominance is, after all, contagious. The reasons for the continued success are simple, added Sullivan.

“We train so hard. We go double sessions all summer. We go hard three hours a day, six days a week, and we play as one unit,” he said.

And Perry gave every player on the team an opportunity to contribute throughout the season. That elite list includes Sullivan’s co-captain, Sean Stewart, and his senior classmates Jesse Forrest and Michael Sapochetti; juniors Justin O’Brien, Chris Barnes, Jared Scali, Kevin Delfosse, CJ DeMarco, Matthew Les, Kyle Ruffen and Patrick Sheehy; and sophomore Corey Forrest.