Salisbury and Northwestern came into Friday night's game on different paths.

The Falcons picked up their first opening-game win in their last 10 tries with a come from behind win over Bangor. The Tigers, meanwhile, were downed by Palisades to open their season, making the meeting between Salisbury and Northwestern somewhat of a measuring stick for two teams looking to battle through the Colonial League schedule.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, Northwestern came out firing on all cylinders and didn't let up until the game was well in hand as the visiting Tigers evened their record at 1-1 with a 43-8 win over Salisbury (1-1).

The Tigers got a big special teams play with a blocked punt deep in Salisbury's end of the field and five plays later, Northwestern was in the end zone and converted a two-point conversion for a quick 8-0 lead over Salisbury.

Salisbury struggled with a couple of bad snaps in the game, the first of which put the Falcons in a third-and-seven. Troy Parton dropped back to pass, but had no time thanks to Jacob Najarian who broke free and sacked Parton at the Salisbury 29-yard line.

Northwestern pounded the ball on the ground and mixed in some key pass completions as it marched 46 yards in nine plays, wrapped up by a one-yard run by Harry Hall as Northwestern fought its way to a 15-0 lead.

It was all downhill for Salisbury from there.

First-year Salisbury coach Andy Cerco wasn't surprised by anything that Northwestern did on the field and credited the Tigers with being very physical and executing well.

"Northwestern didn't do much differently than what we saw on film," he said. "It was no surprise what they wanted to do and that didn't change at game time. They were a big, physical team that played a good game."

Northwestern scored three more times in the second quarter to go up 36-0 as the two teams headed for the locker room. The Tigers opened the second-half at their own 32-yard line and put together a 12-play, 68-yard drive.

The Falcons regrouped and mounted an impressive 16-play, 85-yard drive that stretched from late in the third quarter to well into the fourth quarter. Tevon Weber, who rotated in and out at quarterback with Parton, played a big part in the drive, dashing for 30 yards on a second-and-eight keeper and then hitting Devin Irwin with a 25-yard pass three plays later. Weber struck again with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Hartzell for Salisbury's only score of the night.

"We are using a two-quarterback system," said Cerko. "Both Parton and Weber are capable quarterbacks and offer different skill sets to make our team better, so they will both have an opportunity to help the team win."

The Falcons defense stalled a Northwestern drive and Salisbury took over with time running out. Weber threw one incomplete pass and then launched a hail Mary that was intercepted by Ryan Hippensteel at the Tigers 9-yard line as time ran out.

Salisbury goes up against Palmerton (1-1) at home Friday night. Cerco believes the game against the Blue Bombers will be another good gauge of just where his team stands.

"Palmerton is a quality football team," he said. "The challenge for our team is to do the things that we are coached to do. We need to execute our plan in all three phases of the game and get better with our technique in blocking and tackling."