Big plays power English past Salem

SALEM – The thing with Lynn English’s offense is that regardless of the overall execution, the threat of a monster play always looms. That was apparent again Saturday night as the Bulldogs pulled away from Salem, 35-14, at blustery Bertram Field.While coach Peter Holey expressed concern about inconsistency, English still scored four touchdowns on plays ranging from 21 to 65 yards and totaled eight double-digit yardage plays that accounted for 269 of its game-total 352 net offensive yards.”There’s something about Bertram Field that lulls us to sleep. We didn’t play well here two years ago and we didn’t play well tonight. We’ve got to get better. We have to work on our tempo on offense. We’re not running enough plays from the no-huddle. We’re going to have to simplify and clean up our packages,” he said.Senior captain P.J. Dorsey, whom Holey regards as “the best player in the conference,” carried 14 times for 158 yards and touchdowns of 28, 21 and 65 yards. Senior quarterback Jermaine Kelly added runs of 56 and 45 yards and a backbreaking 44-yard touchdown to Josh Batista on fourth-and-7 that extended English’s lead to 28-14 with 8:22 to play.”That was the key play. We caught them in a mismatch with a linebacker on Josh and we executed,” said Holey.The Bulldogs (4-2) put it away little more than a minute later after recovering a fumble at the Salem 20. Jevon Brown-Simpson punched in from the one and tacked on his fifth PAT to account for the final.Though outmanned, the Witches (1-5) had their moments, none better than mercurial junior quarterback Christian Dunston’s Flutie-esque scramble and 11-yard touchdown pass to junior Ben Kapnis on the final play of the first half. Dunston rushed for 105 yards on 20 carries, completed 9-of-20 passes for 101 yards and added a pair of interceptions on defense. Senior David Walsh had 72 yards rushing and three receptions for another 28.English recovered a fumbled opening kickoff and, after an incompletion, Dorsey dashed in from 28 yards for a 7-0 lead with just 14 ticks expired. Dorsey doubled down with 2:51 left in the quarter, bouncing in from 21 yards one play after Kelly’s 56-yard burst.Dunston worked his magic to close the half. He rolled left, reverse pivoted, crossed the width of the field to his right and found Kapnis for a leaping grab in the back of the end zone. The PAT failed but the Witches were in it.”That’s what Christian does. To be able to scramble like that and then see Ben in the back of the end zone, that’s just a great play. And Ben made a great catch,” said Salem coach Scott Connolly.Dorsey delivered from 65 yards to make it 21-7 with 7:18 left in the third quarter but Salem matched that 2:14 later. One play and two penalties after having a 58-yard touchdown wiped out, Walsh rumbled in from 49 yards and caught a two-point conversion pass from Dunston, pulling Salem to within 21-14.”David Walsh has a motor that doesn’t stop – he has great heart and is going 100 miles per hour all the time. He’s the type of kid you just love to coach,” said Connolly.