Playing hard until the game's final whistle is a phrase that is used often in sports.

But for the Salisbury football team, that statement has certainly been true throughout all 10 of the Falcons' games this season.

While Friday's 56-7 loss to Southern Lehigh in the regular season finale put the Falcons at 2-8 on the season, they continued playing until the end, like they have been all season.

"That goes to how we want to set our program collectively," Cerco said. "We want our kids to play hard no matter what the score is. And I think our kids have bought into that, and that's really important moving forward.

"When we started here, we said that our goal is to have our players, whether we're up by 40 or down by 40, they're going to play the same way the entire game."

Southern Lehigh's combination of quarterback Travis Edmond and wide receiver Jacob Del Priore had been one of the best scoring duos in the Colonial League heading into their matchup against the Falcons.

On Friday night, the two continued to showcase their skills.

In building a 28-0 lead after the first quarter, and a 42-0 advantage at halftime, Edmond passed for 175 yards and totaled five touchdowns (three passing and two rushing) in the first half. All three of those passing touchdowns were to Del Priore, who accumulated 148 receiving yards in the first half.

"Anytime a team can score that way and that quickly, that certainly hurts your confidence," Cerco said. "It hurts your overall confidence, but our players gave great effort tonight."

The Spartans scored on six of their seven first-half possessions, and running back Spencer Cobb scored on a two-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter to make it 35-0.

Edmond then found Del Priore for a 14-yard touchdown strike, their third scoring hook up of the game, to make it 42-0 with a little less than four minutes remaining in the half. Edmond took a knee on the team's final possession of the first half.

"They're overall a really good football team," Cerco said. "There's no question about it. They're coaching staff does a great job. Coach Toman does a great job with the kids. Their kids buy into their system, and they do a great job executing their game plan."

The Spartans added two rushing scores in the second half before the Falcons were able to get on the scoreboard midway through the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Tevon Weber found wide receiver Hunter Roth for a 16-yard touchdown with 5:17 remaining to cap off a six-play scoring drive. Weber threw for 83 yards on the drive, as well as 21 more on the Falcons' last drive. His 180 yards through the air put him over 1,000 for the season.

"He's a good quarterback, and we're very fortunate to have a talented player like him," Cerco said. "It's not just him. The guys up front were blocking for him, and giving him some time to get some looks and throw the ball down the field.

"It's a collective effort, and he's a talented player. We look forward to having the opportunity to coach a talented player like him, and the other kids that are around him that are also talented."

Teddy Denver caught three passes for 56 yards, and Mason Donaldson recorded 25 receiving yards on two catches.

The Falcons added one more win to their record than last season, which they finished 1-9. There were also a number of other games that were within reach this season for the Falcons, but the team's success is graded on more that just wins and losses.

"Numbers-wise, we won two games versus one," Cerco said. "We were close in other games. That's a step in the right direction for our program because we're competing in games.

"You look at other games where the score at the end was spread, but there were points in the game where we showed we can compete with the top tier teams in this league."