Marblehead shrugs off slow start to beat Salem going away

SALEM – In every game there comes a point where the game is won or lost. For Marblehead on Friday night at Bertram Field, a 35-7 win over Salem was born in the last two minutes of the first half.A sluggish start for the Magicians (5-2), where they were dogged by penalties and a pesky Salem (1-7) defense, yield a 6-0 lead for Marblehead when it took over with 2:28 remaining in the first half.Seven plays later, Will Quigley found the endzone from one yard out to help give Marblehead a 14-0 lead. Quigley set up his own score with a 30-yard romp on the previous play, only to be squeezed out of bounds just before scoring.Salem’s ensuing possession came with 1:15 remaining in the half. After a few short yardage plays, the Witches found themselves with a first down on the Marblehead 42 yard-line. Taking the next snap from shotgun, Salem quarterback Christian Dunston rolled to his right to get his receivers some extra time. Dunston’s pass reached the front of the endzone in the air and was hauled down by Ben Kapanis for an improbable touchdown, bringing the Witches to within a score at 14-7.Taking the field with 40 second remaining in the half, the Marblehead offense was led by quarterback Ian Maag. Completing five of six passes, Maag moved the Magician offense 54 yards downfield. The drive culminated in Maag finding Zac Cuzner for a 15 yard touchdown on the final play of the half. What had just seemed like a simple 6-0 Marblehead lead with just over two minutes remaining in the first half had blossomed into a 21-7 lead for the Magicians.”What we did at the end of the first half is what I am most proud of,” said Marblehead coach James Rudloff. “We’ve had a tendency to hang our heads when we’ve faced adversity. After they scored that touchdown, I thought it said a lot about our football team that we were able to come back down the field and score.”In the second half, Marblehead continued to serve up healthy portions of Maag and senior running back Quigley. In what is starting to become a standard night for the captain, Quigley rushed for 191 yards and four touchdowns.”(Marblehead) started to get Quigley running downhill,” said Salem coach Scott Connolly. “We needed to get him to the outside, but were unable to do so. It’s hard with a running back like him.”