A costly Salisbury turnover late in the fourth quarter proved to be the deciding factor in Friday night's game against Northern Lehigh.

Following a pivotal fourth-and-goal stop by the Falcons' defense, Salisbury had an opportunity with 2:41 remaining to break a 6-6 tie. Instead, those plans were reversed on the ensuing play from scrimmage.

A Falcon fumble deep in their own territory was recovered by the Bulldogs at the 2-yard line. On the Northern Lehigh's first play from scrimmage, Nate Farber plunged in for the go-ahead score, and his team escaped with a 12-6 win at Bulldog Stadium.

"The only two important stats that matter in football are turnovers and final score," Cerco said. "They were crucial turnovers."

The Falcons got a solid return on the subsequent kickoff that stationed them at their own 41-yard line with 2:16 to play. But three incompletions and a two-yard loss on second down kept the Falcons from breaking midfield.

The Bulldogs were able to run out the rest of the clock.

In all, the Falcons committed nine penalties, but none may have been more crucial than a false start call on a third-and-8 on their final drive that turned into a third-and-13.

Despite the loss, which drops the Falcons to 1-4 in the Colonial League after a victory in the season opener, Cerco had words of encouragement in regard to his team's play.

"We were extremely proud of them," Cerco said. "They played a complete game for the first time since we've been here. So in two years, this is the first complete game, and we have made massive, massive, massive progress with these players for them to play a complete game."

Down 6-0 past the midway point of the third quarter, Falcon quarterback Troy Parton orchestrated a nine-play scoring drive that tied the score. He completed both of his pass attempts on the drive and rushed for 25 yards, including a 13-yard option keeper with 4:44 left in the third.

Farber capped a Northern Lehigh eight-play drive on the first series with a 40-yard touchdown scamper. That put the Bulldogs up 6-0 following a missed extra point.

The Bulldogs were held out of the end zone for the remainder of the game until the final minutes.

"We knew going in that they were going to run the ball," Cerco said. "He's a good player. They've got a good offensive line."

Bulldog starting quarterback Chance DeLong left the game in the first quarter with a leg injury, and Farber took over at quarterback out of the shotgun for much of the remainder of the game. Farber led the Bulldogs' offense with 207 rushing yards.

Northern Lehigh threw the ball just once, a fourth-down attempt in the final seconds of the first half.

"We prepared a lot for the option, the midline and veer," Cerco said. "That quarterback does a great job with that play. And he was until he unfortunately got injured."

Parton led the Falcons with 75 rushing yards on 14 carries, and completed 4-of-13 passes for 24 yards. Shane Wittman ran for 45 yards on 11 carries.

The Falcons will host Saucon Valley on Friday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.