You know you’re at a low scoring football game when at halftime, the Phillies have scored almost as many runs (4) as the two teams have combined for points (5). Such was the case as Salisbury went into the locker room at the half up 5-0, but when they returned after the game, it would be following a 19-5 loss to Northwestern.

The Falcons took a 2-0 lead when the Tigers punted from deep in their own territory early in the second quarter and the snap sailed over the head of kicker Trevor Cunningham, going out the back of the end zone for a safety. Both teams failed to muster much offense, with the Tigers (2-0) not even being able to work into Salisbury territory throughout the first half.

Salisbury (1-1) did mount a drive late in the second quarter, but the drive stalled, leaving kicker Oliver Stewart with a 40-yard field goal attempt, which he put on a line drive through the center of the uprights as the buzzer sounded, giving Salisbury the 5-0 halftime edge.

“We had mental errors and that hurt,” said Falcon head coach Tony Cerco. “A couple of times in the first half we should have put the ball in the end zone and we didn’t finish. We’ve got to finish drives. We can’t get our offense moving and then stall out, and together, we’re going to figure that out, the players and coaches. Everyone is in this together.”

Much as they did in the first half, the Falcons looked to fly on the legs of running back CJ Wittman, who carried the ball 26 times for 90 yards. The rest of the team combined for 27 carries and just 32 yards in the game.

Wittman, who left the game for a short time after suffering an apparent injury, has now rushed for 245 yards in two games for Salisbury.

Northwestern looked to get the ball to Cunningham – as a wide receiver, not a punter – more in the second half and the strategy worked. The senior caught five passes for 78 yards and one touchdown as the Tigers went on to score 19 unanswered points in the second half to win the game.

“They made plays and they’re a good football team, that’s the bottom line,” said Cerco of Northwestern. “Everything that they showed, we expected and our kids were prepared for and they made some good plays.”

Northwestern running back Tyler Foster rushed for 119 yards on 13 carries, including a 37-yard touchdown run. Foster also intercepted a pass from junior quarterback Cameron Vaka that ended a promising looking drive for the Falcons.

“The good news is that the problems we had tonight are all fixable,” said Cerco. “We’ve got kids who will pride themselves on fixing those things and learning from the mistakes that we made this week. We got beat by a good team and sometimes, that’s going to happen. You just have to learn from your mistakes and get better than you were the week before.”

Salisbury plays its next two games on the road, at Wilson (0-2) this Saturday afternoon and at Bangor (0-2) the following Friday night.