Central ends Salem’s bid for perfection
Posted by: MARC THALER, UnionLeader.com
SALEM — Manchester Central 45, Salem 7.
That’s right, folks. The Little Green unloaded on previously unbeaten Salem tonight (Friday, Nov. 6) at Grant Field. Gang Green scored the game’s first 45 points, and played virtually the entire fourth quarter with a running clock.
The victory earned Central (7-3 overall, 6-2 Div. I) the final berth in the Division I postseason, which begins next week. The Little Green are the No. 3 seed based on tiebreakers involving playoff-bound Nashua North (7-1, 6-1) and Pinkerton Academy of Derry (5-4, 5-2), which play tomorrow afternoon.
Salem’s quest for perfection is over. The Blue Devils are still the No. 1 seed. But they enter the postseason 9-1 overall and 7-1 in league action.
Tailback Mike Cavanaugh was immense for Central. He had 124 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. He also converted a pair of two-point runs.
Central scored on the game’s first drive. It drained 7-minutes, 32 seconds off the clock. Cavanaugh capped the 15-play, 68-yard march — which included two fourth-down conversions — to give Central a 6-0 lead.
The lead grew to 17-0 at halftime. Salem had four second-half fumbles, including three in the third quarter, that ended any chance of a comeback.
4 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
WOW !!!!!! D1 Is now in trouble !!!!! The little Green is for REAL !!!!! I was there, Salem was no match for anything CENTRAL was doing all night. All you doubters be aware the LITTLE GREEN is here to stay !!!!! They are ready and they are NASTY !!!!! Salem looked like a team that was average at best. Central looked like the team on a mission !!!! Londonderry watching in the stands was sorely dissapointed tonight !!!! Sorry coach Rich, maybe you should win more games instead of rooting for someone else to help you out !!!!! Better luck next year, LHS and the rest of D1 !!!!! WOW LITTLE GREEN 2009 D1 STATE CHAMPIONS !!!!!!
Comment by D — November 7, 2009 @ 2:11 am
Central has improved after a slow September and faces a tough match up against North. The D-I playoffs are wide open this year and any one of the four teams can win the title.
Coach Ray acknowledged on WGAM that Salem came to play aginst Central and that Coach Gati pulled his starters when Salem fell further behind in the second half.
It would be nice to see two Manchester schools bring home championships . . . Central and Trinity.
Comment by Sportsfan — November 8, 2009 @ 8:52 am
D, Londonderry beat up Central about 4 weeks ago and ultimately missed the playoffs by losing to North by 1 point in overtime-who beat your team by 24, so take it easy on the Lancer bashing. Thank you.
Comment by D — November 9, 2009 @ 7:16 am
No whining or excuses from this Lancer parent/fan – Central had a tough task to accomplish two weeks ago (beat Pinkerton & Salem back-to-back), got the job done, and truly deserves to be in the post-season. Good luck next week…
Comment by Paul — November 9, 2009 @ 11:16 am