Salisbury’s returning tandem of senior quarterback Quintin Stephens and senior halfback Chad Parton provide a scary one-two punch for opposing teams.

After qualifying for the Division 3 Eastern Football Conference playoffs in 2019 with a 6-4 record in the Colonial League, head coach Andy Cerco and the Falcons certainly had high hopes for this fall.

Then Covid-19 hit the United States, forcing numerous changes to sports across the country. Salisbury’s regular 10-game schedule has been reduced to just six contests in 2020. And any kind of high school football postseason play looks unlikely.

Despite the uncertainties, Cerco and the Falcons are preparing for each game as they normally would, focusing on what they can control. They’ll open play at Notre Dame (Green Pond) on Friday night at 7 p.m. for their first test of 2020.

“It is a little bit different, but we’re just trying to look at it like this is where we are at, this is what we can do, and this is what we can control,” Cerco said. “We got practice and we can control that right now. We can’t control what happens the rest of the week. That is our mentality and focus-take it one day at a time.”

Stephens returns under center after posting a stellar season in 2019. The senior signal caller erupted for just under 1,900 passing yards and 19 touchdowns a season ago. He is also a gifted runner, carrying the ball 62 times for 280 yards and two more touchdowns last season in Cerco’s run-pass option style offense.

Stephens has plenty of weapons at his disposal. Last year’s leading runner Timmy Buda, who ran for a team-best 471 yards and seven touchdowns, has graduate, but a number of Falcons are ready to fill that void. He also caught 30 passes for 537 yards and seven more touchdowns through the air. Senior Gio Hines, a transfer student from North Carolina, is expected to play a major role in the backfield.

“[Hines] is going to take off and get a lot of plays this year,” Cerco said. “He played really well [in a scrimmage] against Allen. He’s understanding our offense well, so that’s an added bonus there.”

Parton, however, is the main returning playmaker after posting a noteworthy season as Stephens’ top threat. Parton, who will line up anywhere from half back, to slot receiver, to outside receiver, led Salisbury in catches (57), receiving yards (872) and receiving touchdowns (10). He also scored three times on the ground and ran for 259 yards.

“[Parton and Stephens] performed really well last year,” Cerco said. “We’re hopeful that continues. Chad and Quintin really set the tempo at practices, during our weight room workouts and in the classroom, too.

“Our scheme really tries to distribute the ball equally to a lot of different people. The philosophy is to take what the defense gives them.”

Up front Salisbury is largely experienced, both on the offensive and defensive lines.

Offensively, junior Brandon Brotzman and senior Matthew Butz will hold down the left side, senior Gaige Marks returns to play center, and juniors Ben Krauss and Paul Spann will anchor the right side.

Juniors Chase Fenstermaker and Hunter Bleam are expected to play key roles on the outside as receiving threats, and Cerco anticipates sophomore Josh Brooks to see significant varsity time as well.

Salisbury regular season schedule rounds out with games against Palisades, Pen Argyl, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh.

Friday’s game will be streamed live on d11sports.com.