5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT SALISBURY

1. In an effort to build community interest and support, the Falcons will spend one night per week attending a youth football practice, with each grade level assigned to a different team within the Salisbury Youth Association program. The Falcons also invited the youth football teams to attend a practice during heat-acclimatization week. 2. Geoff Laird, who had been the team’s defensive coordinator, has left to join Tim McGorry’s first staff at Allentown Central Catholic. Josh Lake, who previously coached the linebackers, has replaced Laird as the Falcons coordinator. 3. Salisbury will play two Thursday night games in the first month of the season. The first one is set for Aug. 29 at Northwestern Lehigh, while the second will be Sept. 12 at Saucon Valley. Cerco said the Thursday night games give his team a chance to get a little more exposure outside the normally loaded Friday night schedule. The game against Saucon Valley will be streamed live on www.districtxi.com. 4. Cerco is looking forward to the new scheduling co-op with the Schuylkill League next season. Salisbury will pick up games against Jim Thorpe, Tamaqua and North Schuylkill and still maintain rivalries against Catasauqua, Saucon Valley, Notre Dame and Southern Lehigh among others. “The league is so drastically different than it was when formed with some schools continuing to expand in enrollment,” Cerco said. “It’s going to be good for us to play different teams and travel a little bit. When you play a game against a Schuylkill League opponent, you experience a very different atmosphere. People get excited about football and form long lines to get in long before the games begin. It’ll be good for our kids to experience that kind of excitement.” 5. Parton is the son of former Dieruff High athlete and Lehigh Valley Sports Hall of Famer Todd Parton, who finished second at PIAA championships in the 200 meters and fourth in the 100 in 1979 and was also a key member of a Husky football program that won 25 games over a three-year period from 1976-78.