LYNN— Friday night’s game between the Classical and Salem football teams at Manning Field brought two tests for the Rams.
On one hand, Classical coach Brian Vaughan was hoping his Rams would respond after falling at Somerville last week for their first loss. On the other hand, Salem stood tall as a formidable Northeastern Conference opponent.
Salem didn’t make it easy, but Classical held off a late Witches rally for a 44-20 win. Rams quarterback Keith Ridley ran for two touchdowns and threw for another. Running back Malcolm Best also ran for two touchdowns.
“At any level, after you lose your first game you’re challenged,” Vaughan said. “We challenged our guys starting with our film session last Saturday. We got back to practice at the beginning of the week and challenged our guys. I think they responded in a good way.”
Best got the Rams going with a one-yard touchdown run to cap the game’s opening drive. Ishmael Johnson added the PAT for the 7-0 lead. The teams swapped multiple punts and Classical’s lead stood at 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Ridley found the end zone on a 12-yard keeper in the opening minute of the second quarter. Johnson split the uprights on the PAT to boost Classical’s advantage to 14-0. Ridley then linked up with Nashaun Butler for a 44-yard touchdown pass with 2:59 to play in the half and the Rams led 20-0 at recess.
“We were able to move the ball,” Vaughan said. “We caught them off guard with some of the things they were doing on defense. We missed some home run opportunities but because we even missed those, we put Salem on its heels a little bit.”
Things turned around for Salem in the third quarter. Vincent Gaskins put the Witches on the board with a 73-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half. And when Salem quarterback Thomas Beauregard scored on a two-yard keeper, Classical’s lead dwindled down to 20-12. Johnson booted a 32-yard field goal and the Rams led 23-12 through three.
The lead shrunk to three, 23-20, after Beauregard hit Chris Ngarambe for an eight-yard touchdown pass and added the the two-point conversion on a keeper.
“Salem’s a good football team,” Vaughan said. “They have some great players. We tried to contain them as much we could. When we didn’t contain them, they hit some home runs.”
Needing big plays to put Salem away, Classical rose to the challenge. A Ridley seven-yard keeper and a Best 28-yard run, both for touchdowns, placed the Rams ahead 37-20 midway through the fourth. Johnson capped the scoring with a 21-yard interception return for the 44-20 win.
“We talk about having anywhere between two to three big plays a game,” Vaughan said. “I think that changes the outcome towards the end. Salem had the big plays in the third quarter. Fortunately we were able to counter back with some big plays.”
The Rams now await the playoff matchups which will be announced on Sunday.
Classical celebrated its senior night with a pregame ceremony honoring the 17 seniors on the Rams roster.
“Our seniors are a great group of kids,” Vaughan said. “They’re the leaders of this team. Without those guys we wouldn’t be in this position. They had a tough time through their high school careers and they were able to turn it around through their hard work. I couldn’t ask for a better group of kids.”
