In some ways, Friday’s game against Pen Argyl was kind of a mirror image to Salisbury’s game at Palisades a week earlier. Salisbury faced the mercy rule early in the third quarter of both games, falling behind 35-0 in back-to-back weeks.

But in some ways it wasn’t. Despite falling 35-7 last Friday night at Salisbury High School, the Falcons showed much more intensity on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately, the result was kind of similar after falling 42-20 the week prior.

“Our intensity level was better and our focus was better,” head coach Andy Cerco said. “In the first half we moved the ball. I don’t know how many offensive plays we had in the first half, however, what I do know is they had 11 offensive plays.”

Salisbury fell to 2-5 with the loss and has now lost its last four games. Pen Argyl improved to 5-2 with the win.

The Falcons may have controlled time of possession in the first half, but Pen Argyl was the team that took a 21-0 lead into halftime. And much of that came from Salisbury turnovers and a quick-hit offense from the Green Knights on the ground.

Two weeks ago against Palisades, Salisbury saw a lost fumble result in a quick six points for the opposition. On the Falcons’ second drive against Pen Argyl, Logan Ruppert returned a Cam Vaka interception 58 yards for the game’s first touchdown.

Salisbury missed back-to-back field goals on its next two drives, both from 40 yards or more, and Pen Argyl running back Logan Sterner took the second play on the ensuing drive 76 yards for a touchdown.

“That never helps,” Cerco said of the early turnover. “Even with that, we got it back and moved the ball.”

Instead of cutting into Pen Argyl’s lead, however, the Falcons continued to fall behind. Three plays into the Green Knights’ next drive, Sterner (167 rushing yards on nine carries) sprinted around the right end for a 3-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead. Austin Heisler (127 rushing yards) set up that scoring opportunity with a 90-yard run to begin the drive.

“At halftime we walked in and we were like, ‘We’re controlling this game,’” Cerco said. “We had four scoring opportunities, but what we need to do is focus in critical situations. That’s just the bottom line.”

One of those scoring opportunities was a 47-yard touchdown run by Tim Buda that was called back in the second quarter due to a Falcon holding penalty. That would have likely cut Pen Argyl’s lead to 14-7, but instead the Green Knights tacked on their third touchdown minutes later.

It didn’t take long for Sterner and the Green Knights to get rolling in the second half. Pen Argyl’s first offensive play in the second half was a 27-yard run from Sterner. He took the next play 48 yards to the house for a touchdown and a 28-0 lead just 44 seconds into the third quarter. Ruppert then connected with Heisler on a 39-yard screen pass to put that mercy rule into play.

“He was running straight forward and we did not get off blocks and we did not tackle,” Cerco said. “That’s the bottom line. You could see when we were getting off blocks and tackling, he did not go anywhere. It gets to that consistency in critical situations and focusing in critical situation.”

Salisbury’s first five rushing plays netted zero yards on the ground. But on the sixth run, fullback Eric Frankenfield burst up the middle for 14 yards. From that point on, the Falcons’ offensive line opened some holes for one of Frankenfield’s biggest days of the season. He finished with 112 rushing yards on 27 carries. Frankenfield saw more action than normal in terms of rushing attempts with running backs CJ Wittman and Pete Forestieri held out due to injuries.

“Our offensive line found their groove; that’s the answer there,” Cerco said. “Eric does a great job for us as a football player and as a leader of the team. His effort is unmatched.”

With the final stretch of the regular season coming up, Salisbury will need to win out over the final three weeks just to get back to the .500 mark. Up first is a matchup at Northern Lehigh on Friday.

The Bulldogs (2-5) are the eighth in the District 11 Class 3A rankings, behind Jim Thorpe (4-3) and Lehighton (4-3). The top eight teams will get into the district playoffs.