Salem drops opener

FRIDAY’S COUNTY SCORES
Burlington City 33, Penns Grove 22
Executive Education 42, Salem 19
Schalick 17, Gloucester City 14

By Riverview Sports News

EASTON, Pa. – The Danny Mendoza Era of Salem football got off to a rough start Friday night as Executive Education Academy of Allentown, Pa., played an inspired second half and pulled away from the Rams 42-19 in Lafayette College’s Fisher Stadium.

The Rams were in the game for two and a half quarters, then the Raptors, playing for their starting quarterback Salem knocked out in the first quarter, outscored them 28-6 the rest of the way.

The Rams trailed 14-7 at the half and had a chance for a tie. They were driving for a potential game-tying touchdown late in the second quarter and had it fourth-and-1 from the 16, but a false start knocked them back and they didn’t get it on the next snap.

They did get to within 14-13 on a Ramaji Bundy touchdown pass to Terrance Smith with about seven minutes left in the third quarter, but they didn’t get the extra point and the Raptors started pulling away.

“The backup came in and those guys just rallied around their guy,” Mendoza said. “They really wanted to take care of business for their quarterback so they played with a different intensity and for a different purpose that we didn’t match.

“They just ran the ball down our throat. We couldn’t stop the run. We couldn’t hold contain. Plays were they to be made. They didn’t run anything out of the ordinary. They ran three run plays that we couldn’t stop. It was a game for a good amount. They took the wind out of us.”

Smith scored Salem’s first touchdown and Bundy scored its third to make it 28-19.

“I lost my first game as a head coach (in Florida), so it’s all right; we’ve lost before, you just figure it out,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got some soul searching to do.”