BRAINTREE — To say that the Salem Witches sweated out a win Saturday afternoon would not be an understatement.
On a day that hit 90 degrees on the South Shore, the visiting Witches had to withstand a gutty performance from gunslinging Archbishop Williams quarterback Tom Fitzpatrick. The senior from South Boston was beaten, bruised and batted by a persistent Salem pass rush all afternoon — yet kept firing pass after pass and almost willed his team to victory.
But when it was all over in this ridiculously long (3 hours and 11 minutes) contest, Salem denied a potential two-point conversion attempt by the hosts with 78 second to play, then had senior Kyle Hardy fall on an attempted onsides kick to seal a 34-32 triumph over the Bishops.
"This group of seniors, we know this is our year to make something happen," said senior linebacker Antonio Reyes, who intercepted two passes, including one for the game-winning touchdown early in the fourth quarter. He also caught three passes for 106 yards.
Now 3-0 on the young season, Salem's first road game of 2010 certainly wasn't pretty. The Witches gave up a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown the first time Archbishop Williams touched the ball; allowed an intercepted pass to be run back 47 yards for another score; fumbled a punt away at midfield; gave up an 80-yard scoring toss and let Fitzpatrick throw for 305 yards on 44 pass attempts as the Bishops averaged over 20 yards a catch.
"To be honest, I'm just happy to be getting back on the bus with a win," quipped Salem head coach Sean Connolly, whose club allowed two touchdowns on third down and another on fourth down with just 1:18 to play.
"(Fitzpatrick) was a warrior for them; he just kept taking hits and bouncing right back up. We came in wanting to shut down their running game and we did that (limiting AW to just 9 rushing yards on 14 carries), but their quarterback had a heck of a game."
That's not to take away the good things that Salem did on this day; they did win the game, after all.
Start with Reyes, who had another monster game at linebacker and, by speed rushing and using his powerful frame, easily got the better of his matchup with the Bishops' 6-foot-4, 300-pound right tackle, Steven Evans.
"Big players step it up when you need it most. That's Antonio," said Connolly.
Dan Dobrosielski returned to the lineup and also had a huge game defensively at outside linebacker, as did fellow senior LB Nick Romeo. Salem sophomore Eric Gonzalas also ran back an interception 54 yards.
Offensively, senior quarterback Brad Skeffington again did a fine job directing the Witches' attack. He not only rushed for a game-high 84 yards and had an 18-yard keeper for a score, but also threw for 173 yards on 10-of-20 passing, including a 14-yard TD toss to senior Chris Bozarjian (6 catches, 63 yards).
Another senior, running back, Max Feeley, got into the end zone twice on an inside handoff for 6 yards and an option going right for 4, respectively. In addition, he booted four extra points.
In calling his team "a special group", the 17-year-old Feeley said his teammates hung tough despite the humid temperatures and the three-hour plus game time.
"Give credit to Pat Downey at Gridiron Training; most of us worked with him all summer and our conditioning paid off (Saturday)," said Feeley. "We stuck with it all four quarters."
Salem now looks to begin a season 4-0 for the first time since 1991 when it hosts fellow unbeaten North Andover Friday at Bertram Field (7 p.m.).
