SALEM — It seemed to be a race to see which would fall first: the expected rain Friday night at Bertram Field, or the school records that the Salem High football team seemed ready to set.
Adding a few new chapters to the Witches’ record book won out.
For the first time in school pigskin history — which dates back to 1891 — the Red-and-Black put up 50 points in back-to-back games after holding off Greater Lawrence, 50-41.
Salem, which put up 476 yards of total offense, got a school record tying five touchdown passes from senior quarterback Andreas Bernal. He spread the wealth in doing so, hitting four different receivers with scoring tosses and finishing 10-for-16 without an interception.
The Witches (now 2-1) had a pair of 100-yard receivers for what is believed to be the first time in school history in junior Oscar Fernandez (3 catches for 135 yards and a TD) and senior Mikey Curtin (4 for 100 yards and a pair of TDs). Captain Rocco Ryan added 171 yards of offense, including 103 on the ground, and crossed the goal line three times.
Bernal’s five-TD evening tied the Witches’ record set by Rusty Godick against Saugus in 1965 and tied by Corey Grimes (now a Salem High assistant coach) last season, also vs. Saugus.
“Feels great,” said Bernal, a first-year starter under center. “Defensively we came out strong with a big stop on (Greater Lawrence’s first series), and that got our juices going. And offensively we knew we could move the ball; we shot ourselves in the foot a few times early on with penalties, but once we cleaned that up and really were able to get untracked. Our coaches did a great job finding the holes to expose their defense.”
If that weren’t enough, kicker Fionn Coughlin nailed six extra points for the second straight week; that equals the school’s best one-game output, first achieved by Chuck Florence in 1983 against Swampscott.
Salem’s 30 points in the second quarter, coming on four touchdowns and a safety when Angel Nolasco dropped a Reggies’ running back in the end zone, enabled the home team to take a 36-21 halftime lead. That is also believed to be a school record.
“Once we locked it in offensively, I thought we were very good with our ability to execute and play with confidence,” said Salem High head coach Matt Bouchard.
“One of the great things from our perspective is the diversity of talent we have,” he added. “It gives us a lot of weapons. If teams overload to stop Rocco for a bit, we’re going to pause on Roc and go to some of our other weapons and still have success.”
All of this offensive brilliance offense a magnificent showing by Greater Lawrence junior speedster Gustavo Varela, who ran for 231 yards on 29 carries and scored four touchdowns, one of those on an 81-yard kickoff return. While his team kept it close throughout, they never led.
“We just played tight,” said Greater Lawrence (2-1) head coach Tony Sarkis. He then added of Varela, “We’ve had some great backs at Greater Lawrence, and he’s right up there with the best.”
Curtin’s two touchdown catches came within 35 seconds of each other late in the second quarter, turning a one-point Salem lead into a much more comfortable 15-point edge at the break. The first was a post-and-go that went for 50 yards after he broke two would-be tackles at the Reggies’ 20-yard line; then, after the Witches pulled off a successful onsides kick, he ran a straight vertical route and caught Bernal’s pass in stride for a 36-yard touchdown.
“I was out all last year with a shoulder injury, so now I’m back and going 100 miles an hour on every play,” said Curtin, a high scoring midfielder for the Salem High lacrosse team. “I missed football.”
The 88-yard catch-and-run by Fernandez, a concept receiver who normally shorter runs slant and snag routes, came off a broken play in which he beat his man in coverage down the right sideline, and Bernal hit him without his receiver breaking stride.
“Oscar doesn’t seek a lot of attention,” said Bouchard, “but he’s probably one of the best off-ball players I’ve ever had here at Salem. We identified him back when he was a freshman as a kid who high potential. I’m really proud of him.”
Center Julyus Martinez, guards Jayden Benson, a senior captain, and sophomore Aidan Collazo, tackles Chris Teixeira and Matthew Rosa at tackles, and first-time starting tight end Jake Lister — who as recently as two days earlier was the backup QB — did yeoman’s work in the trenches, allowing their teammates to average 11.6 yards per play.
“Those guys deserve the credit,” said Ryan, he of the North Shore leading seven touchdowns through three games. “Plus Elvis Espinal prying holes open for me … just great job by everyone tonight.”
Salem is off this coming week on its bye before returning to Northeastern Conference action Friday, Oct. 4 on the road in Gloucester.
Salem 50, Greater Lawrence 41
at Bertram Field, Salem
Greater Lawrence (2-1);0;21;7;13;41
Salem (2-1);6;30;7;7;50
Scoring summary
S — Rocco Ryan 11 run (kick failed)
GL — Gustavo Varela 20 run (kick failed)
S — Safety, Angel Nolasco tackled running back in end zone
S — Ryan 45 pass from Andreas Bernal (Fionn Coughlin kick)
GL — Varela 50 run (Jayden Moreau kick)
S — Elvis Espinal 22 pass from Bernal (Coughlin kick)
GL — Varela 81 kickoff return (Johan Tamayo pass from Zion Padilla)
S — Mikey Curtin 50 pass from Bernal (Coughlin kick)
S — Curtin 36 pass from Bernal (Coughlin kick)
GL — Varela 12 run (Moreau kick)
S — Oscar Fernandez 88 pass from Bernal (Coughlin kick)
GL — Gabriel Colon 12 pass from Padilla (Moreau kick)
S — Ryan 12 run (Coughlin kick)
GL — Elizardo Melenciano 73 kickoff return (Moreau kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Greater Lawrence — Gustavo Varela 29-231, Dylan Smith 2-37, Johan Tamayo 4-16, Zion Padilla 3-(-5); Salem — Rocco Ryan 17-103, Elvis Espinal 9-64, Mikey Curtin 2-7, Andreas Bernal 3-(-13).
PASSING: Greater Lawrence — Padilla 6-11-106-1-0; Salem — Bernal 10-18-315-5-0.
RECEIVING: Greater Lawrence — Tamayo 3-56, Gabriel Colon 2-42, Smith 1-8; Salem — Oscar Fernandez 3-135, Curtin 4-100, Ryan 2-68, Espinal 1-22.