The blueprint of success for the Salisbury football team was on full display during last weekend’s victory over Wilson. The Falcons ran 51 plays from scrimmage in the 31-21 win. Forty-nine of those were running plays.

It’s no secret that’s what Salisbury wants to do on offense. Their opponent on the this Friday night will take a similar approach in the ground game.

Bangor (0-3) is also a team that will rely on its rushing attack for the most part, while they the Slaters will also mix in some spread option schemes with their traditional I formation. Salisbury (2-1) will get its look at the Slaters on Friday night at Paul Farnan Field at Bangor Memorial Park Stadium, as the Falcons look to keep pace with the top teams in the Colonial League West Division and move to 3-1.

“In a sense they are predetermining what they are doing based upon the formations,” Falcon head coach Andy Cerco said. “I think that gives us a little bit of an advantage, but they do some really good things. They have some talented players.”

Handling a majority of the work out of Bangor’s backfield is tailback Saivaughnn Vass. In a high-scoring game last week (a 39-33 loss to Northern Lehigh) Vass carried the ball just eight times, but recorded 107 yards on the ground with one touchdown.

Vass scored the second of three first-quarter touchdowns that helped give the Slaters a commanding 21-7 lead after 12 minutes. But that’s when Northern Lehigh’s running game got on track to eventually dispose of the Slaters.

“We played against his older brother a couple of years ago, and he was a big, big kid,” Cerco said. “I don’t feel like he has that kind of size, but he’s good. He can accelerate and do some things on offense.”

Bangor ran the ball 27 times a week ago compared to eight throws from quarterback John Raub. Raub played a big part in the running game as well, and Salisbury’s defense must account for that dual threat option coming out of the backfield. He turned eight attempts into 65 yards.

Through the air, Raub finished 4-for-8 for 59 yards. The defense had arguably the biggest impact on the game, finishing with three fumble recoveries for touchdowns, hence the unspoken importance of taking care of the football each and every week for the Falcons.

“Offensively and defensively, we’re going to take a similar approach,” Cerco said. “Our kids played hard last week. That was a tough game to be apart of with the heat and everything. It was just a tough environment to play in, and I think our kids handled it really well.”

On defense, the Slaters will throw a five-linemen approach Salisbury’s way on Friday night.

“They basically have three down lineman and two stand-up guys, but they are right at the line of scrimmage,” Cerco said.

Friday’s game will be the first road game under the lights for a number of these Falcons, a unique experience they’ll get to be a part of in roughly 48 hours.

“We obviously have some younger kids in some roles, so that will be a good experience for them to be up there on a Friday night,” Cerco said. “That kind of environment is a little bit different, but I think our kids will handle it well.”