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EXETER — In a matter of moments, the Salem sidelines turned from amazing joy to extreme sorrow.

Charles Sibanda plowed into the end zone from 2 yards out with 7:10 to play in the game, completing a 14-point comeback to tie the game 21-21 and giving the Blue Devils all the momentum.

LONDONDERRY — With the memory of last year's controversial playoff finish still seared in their minds, the Salem football team exacted revenge on Londonderry, taking a five-score lead en route to a dominating 35-8 win. Charles Sibanda led the way for Salem with 69 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and Nick Shumski, Corey Ortiz and Doug Maroun each had touchdowns to help the Blue Devils pull away. "Our kids came out and played hard and it continued right through the third quarter," said Salem coach Rob Pike. "Londonderry is a good team and we didn't want to leave any doubt. So it was good to see our kids stay focused and play hard." Sibanda started things off with a 3-yard touchdown run with 4:20 to play in the first quarter, and in the second quarter, Shumski and Sibanda scored from 5 and 1 yards out within two minutes of each other to make it 21-0. Coming out of the halftime break, Corey Ortiz rushed for a 14-yard touchdown to make it 28-0, and then with 3:17 to play in the third, Doug Maroun finished things off with a 9-yard rush. Londonderry got on the board late in the fourth with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Jake Stevens to Cameron McDonald. Salem improves to 7-2 and will be at Exeter in the first round of the playoffs next Saturday, while Londonderry falls to 2-6.

When Rob Pike said "We ran the ball real well tonight," the Salem coach wasn't being superfluous.

With senior Charles Sibanda doing the bulk of the ground damage, the Blue Devils remained tied atop New Hampshire's South conference with a convincing 47-19 road victory over Portsmouth.

SALEM — Between the backbreaking penalties early and the big touchdown run that was called back for an inadvertent whistle, it looked for a while like it wouldn't be Salem's day, but the Blue Devils fought back and came away with the 37-26 win over Merrimack on Friday night. The difference for Salem was Charles Sibanda, who exploded for 193 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries after being held to just 26 yards rushing in the first half. Sibanda's second half performance was critical for a team that just couldn't seem to catch a break. Down by one early in the second half, Salem saw a great scoring chance undone by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which sent the Devils all the way back into their own red zone. Within three plays, Merrimack forced a turnover on downs and then scored on its very first play to make it 13-6. Salem was able to recover going into halftime, with Nick Shumski tying the game on a 15-yard touchdown and Matt Ayotte preserving the 13-13 tie at halftime with an interception with 3.2 left in the half, and early in the third quarter, Sibanda broke free for a 61-yard touchdown run that came on a play fake so good that it even fooled the referee. Unfortunately, the ref blew the play dead when the player he thought had the ball was tackled, costing Salem the score. "It was an inadvertent whistle, so by rule the ball has to come back," said Salem coach Rob Pike. "It's an unfortunate thing to happen on a misdirection play." Salem wound up throwing an interception two plays later, and just like before, Merrimack only needed one play to capitalize, scoring on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Justin Grassini to Tyler DeNeill to make it 20-13. The game could have gone either way from that point, but from that point on, it was all Salem. The Devils marched down the field on their next drive, chipping away at the lead thanks to a 21-yard field goal by Jacob Bosworth, and after forcing a three-and-out, they ran the ball right down right down Merrimack's throat, taking the lead on a 3-yard run by senior captain Sean Nartiff. Sibanda carried the Devils down the field on the team's next drive, breaking loose for a 62-yard gain to set up a 3-yard score midway through the fourth. Merrimack scored once more with 3:24 to play, but Salem picked up the first downs it needed to run out the clock, and then scored one more time anyway on a 31-yard Nick Shumski run, his second of the day. Salem improves to 5-2 with the win and is at Portsmouth next Friday at 7 p.m.

ROCHESTER — Spaulding scored with just 1:10 left to make it a one-possession game, but Salem's Sean Nartiff recovered the on-side kick and the Blue Devils ran out the clock for a 27-20 victory Saturday.

SALEM — Brett Dattilo and his Pinkerton teammates heard the doubters and read the stories picking Salem to score the upset over the defending champions and take control of the New Hampshire Division 1 standings. Their reaction?

SALEM, N.H. — Salem High coach Rob Pike made it a point of emphasis to get off to a good start against Dover High, which was coming off a blowout loss last week.

Senior Nicholas Shumski apparently kept good notes. It took him all of seven seconds to go 85 yards and put Salem on the scoreboard. The cherry on top was that immediately following the TD, Shumski picked up a botched snap on the extra point and he sprinted to the right sideline barely getting the two-point conversion and 8-0 lead.

SALEM — When he looked downfield after taking a pitchout near midfield late in the fourth quarter Friday night, Salem senior Nick Shumski didn’t see an excess of daylight.

But he saw something better.