PADUA OH- The old adage “it’s not over until the fat lady sings” was never more true for the Salem Quakers than it was last night. After an abysmal first half offensively, they flipped the script in the 2nd half and came away victorious on a last second, 20-yard field goal by Hayden Tomidajewicz to cap the comeback.
Salem would get first crack at things, but a fumble would set Padua up with good field position, and they would capitalize with a 27-yard touchdown score. They would add another 1st quarter score, and go up 14-0 after one.
Salem would get on the board late in the 2nd on a 41-yard scoop and score, but Padua would answer about 40 seconds later on a long touchdown pass from Tyler Tusai to Marquise Hall, giving them a 255-65 offensive yards advantage, but more importantly, a 21-7 lead.
The 2nd half would prove to be a totally different story for Salem, especially the defense, who only gave up one Bruin 1st down in the second half, giving the Salem offense the chance to get things going. In the second half, the defense would force the Bruin offense into a number of 3-and-outs, as well as confuse me frustrate the Bruins, who had just dominated the 1st half of play.
The Quaker offense would capitalize on the defense’s domination by scoring 13 unanswered points on two Jackson Johnson touchdown passes (Swiger, Oesch). Salem would attempt to go for 2 on their second score, however Johnson would be brought down short, leaving the Quakers trailing 21-20 with under six minutes to go in the game.
Once more though, the Quaker defense would stand tall, forcing another punt giving Johnson and the offense one more crack and a comeback. They would put together a great drive mixing in short passes to guys like Cletis Monroy and Ross Davidson, with a couple Johnson runs, to set themselves up in good feld position for Hayden Tomidajewicz to get a shot at kicking a game winner.
Salem ran the game clock all the way down to one second left, setting Tomidajewicz up with a 20-yard chance at a victory. Even after 2 Padua timeouts and an offsides penalty, attempting to try and ice him, he stepped up and buried the game winner, putting the Quaker sideline, as well as those who made the trip, into a frenzy, and completing an improbable, albeit incredible comeback victory.
With the win, the Quakers finish their non-conference schedule 4-1 and will begin EBC play in week 6 as the host the Alliance Aviators (4-1) at Sebo Stadium.
*Contributed By YSN’s Jarrod Niederhiser
