SALEM — The Panthers (4-2) marched into Salem and took care of business defeating Salem 22-14. In just eight seasons, KIPP has amassed 50 wins and this win came against a quality opponent.
“Salem is a dynamic offense and a well-coached team. Matt Bouchard has those guys prepped and ready,” Rabbitt said. “That’s probably one of the best regular season wins we had for our program. They’re a really good team.”
In a tight game, fourth down will be critical in winning or losing. In the first quarter, on fourth down, KIPP’s Elai Machado found Jose Echavarria for a 26-yard touchdown pass to give the Panthers an early 8-0 lead.
Machado threw for three touchdowns, but what Rabbitt was happy about the most, was his 61 yards on five rushing attempts.
“He’s really mature for a quarterback. We knew at the beginning of the year that there would be some growing pains as a first-year starter against a really tough schedule,” Rabbitt said. “It was great that he threw for three touchdowns and he made some great reads, but he also put 61 yards on the ground on five carries. He picked his spots and he hits it. He’s really coming into his own as a dual-threat quarterback.”
Salem tied the game a few possessions later as Quinn Rocco Ryan broke free for a 62-yard touchdown. Rocco Ryan then converted the two-point conversion to tie the game at eight with 10:11 left in the first half.
Salem took the lead with 3:41 left as quarterback Andreas Bernal scrambled inside the 10 and found the endzone. The extra point was no good giving the Witches a 14-8 lead.
The Panthers struck back with 30 seconds left in the half as Machado found Echavarria on a screen and Echavarria did the rest, going untouched for a 23-yard score to tie the game going to half at 14 apiece.
“He’s so quick. His first step when he wants to accelerate is so quick. Sometimes size works against you when you’re undersized, but for him, it works for him because when he gets it he’s so quick he’s hard to tackle,” Rabbitt said. “Jose in space has been great for us and he’s made it work this year.”
In the third quarter, the Panthers faced another fourth down scenario and once again, KIPP converted the fourth down with a touchdown.
Machado found Euriel Feliz inside the 10-yard line for a touchdown. After the two-point conversion, the Panthers led 22-14 and kept the Witches out of the endzone.
“When we’re in four-down territory we don’t kick the ball so when we get to a certain spot we know we’re going to go for it. We do a great job as a staff to come up with four or five fourth down plays that we label as ‘Must haves’ for the week,” Rabbitt said. “We executed those plays tonight which was great to see.”
“Euriel Feliz caught his first pass tonight and it was a touchdown pass. It was great from everyone on that play,” Rabbitt said. “Euriel is a great guy in the locker room and to have him score on his first touch of the year was very exciting.”
KIPP’s next game is at Manning Field next Saturday at 4 p.m. against Nashoba Valley Tech.
