Salisbury determined to make its struggles a thing of the past
There is always music playing in the background at a Salisbury football practice.
It’s intended to create an upbeat vibe as the Falcons go through their workouts. But the best music to the ears of those who care about the program are the words coming out of the mouths of some of the players.
Despite coming off a 2-8 season in which they were outscored 313-171, there’s an air of confidence at Salisbury that this season won’t be the same as the last. The Falcons are looking for their first winning season since 2015, which was their only winning campaign since 2006.
“We’re going to be good this year,” senior running back Tim Buda said. “The senior group has been playing together for a while, all the way through youth and middle school. We’ve got some really good players, some really good speed.”
“As a team, we’re playing real together,” junior Chad Parton said. “We’ve been working on spreading out the offense. We have two quarterbacks who can throw.
“In the offseason, we emphasized playing well together and not putting our heads down when we’re losing. It was a problem in the past, but this year that’s going to be fixed.”
Salisbury averaged just 83.9 passing yards per game last season, and there’s optimism that the Falcons will throw the ball more effectively out of their Wing-T attack no matter who wins the quarterback battle between senior Treyce Weber
and junior Quintin Stephens.
Parton said the team is ahead of where it has been in other years in terms of unity and understanding the offense.
That needs to carry through the first half of the regular season, which features games against Northwestern Lehigh, Saucon Valley and Notre Dame.
This is the last year Salisbury will face four 4A schools and one 5A program; the new cooperative schedule with the Schuylkill League starts in 2020.
Going against schools with larger enrollments and rosters can take a toll.
“We have a lot of really talented players and we believe in them,” coach Andy Cerco said. “But with us, player health is so important.
“Last year for a game against Bangor, we had nine original starters out due to injury. When we suffer injuries, it drastically affects our ability to be competitive. You can’t win with nine original starters out. But if we stay healthy, we’re going to be right where we’re supposed to be.”