A high school football season unlike any other ended last week for the Salisbury High School team.

After playing a shortened and difficult schedule because of coronavirus precautions, the Falcons were the only Colonial League team that didn’t qualify for a postseason game.

So after their six-game league season, Salisbury scheduled two nonleague games and won both of them. The Falcons beat Allen a few weeks ago before taking care of Saucon Valley 43-22 Thursday night to end the season.

“We were ecstatic that we had the opportunity,” said Falcon head coach Andy Cerco. “High school football is such a special thing. When these guys are 30 or 40 years old they’re going to look back and say ‘That was a really messed up year. But we’re really glad we got those opportunities.’ And they’re going to cherish that.”

Salisbury jumped out to a 12-0 lead against Saucon Valley before giving up a touchdown in the final minutes of the first half.

The Falcons increased their lead to 18-7 on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Quintin Stephens to Chad Parton midway through the third quarter. They were driving again when Saucon Valley scooped up a Salisbury fumble and took it to the Falcons’ 11-yard line.

The Panthers scored on the next play to get within 18-15 with 3:45 left in the third quarter, seizing momentum back from the visiting Falcons.

But Salisbury, which got one of the best performances of the season from its offensive line, answered with a score. The Falcons drove 62 yards in 10 plays before Parton took a toss from Stephens then lofted a pass to Hunter Bleam in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown and a 24-15 lead with 19 seconds left in the third quarter.

Parton, a record-setting senior receiver, had not thrown a pass before in his high school career and doesn’t remember throwing a touchdown pass at any level of football. The team had practiced the play all season but hadn’t found the right time to run it until late in the third quarter last Thursday at Illick Stadium in Hellertown.

“I was excited,” Parton said about hearing the play call in the huddle. “I never threw a pass before. I had a feeling, because of the way we were running the ball, that it was going to hit and it did.”

Parton was even happier that they play helped turned the tide of the game back in his team’s favor.

“That was huge,” said Parton. “The momentum turned when they got that fumble, but we came back and scored. That was a big momentum changer. From there we just rode it out.”

Saucon Valley got the ball back and fumbled on its first play. Salisbury’s Paul Spann came up with the ball and the Falcons took over at the Panthers’ 46-yard line with a 9-point lead and plenty of clock to use up.

Stephens capped a six-play drive with a 14-yard run to the end zone for a 30-15 lead.

But the home team, which forfeited a playoff game because of COVID-19 issues, wasn’t about to go down easy.

Saucon Valley answered with a touchdown drive to pull within one score of tying the game, 30-22 with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter. But Salisbury responded once again.

The Falcons went 60 yards in eight plays, capped by Stephens 30-yard touchdown run that gave his team a 36-22 lead with 2:27 left on the clock.

The senior quarterback scored one more time in the game when he picked off a Dante Mahaffey pass and took it the distance with 1:32 left in the game.

Saucon got the ball back, but Parton ripped it out of a Panther ball carriers hands to end any chance of a miracle. The Falcons knelt on the ball to finish off the game.

Stephens had 99 rushing yards in the game and 190 passing. He threw three touchdown passes, ran for a score and returned an interception for another. Parton hauled in six passes for 130 yards and a touchdown, while also throwing for a score.

Nick Beck scored the Falcons’ first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard pass from Stephens in the first quarter. Josh Brooks got the Falcons a 12-0 lead when he hauled in a 6-yard pass from Stephens in the second quarter.

Salisbury ran for 172 yards in the game and had 11 runs of 10 yards or longer in the game behind it’s offensive line comprised of right tackle Spann (junior), right guard Matt Butz (senior), center Anthony Scarcia (junior), left guard Ben Krauss (junior) and left tackles Brandon Brotzman (junior) and Gaige Marcks (senior).

“The whole team played well,” said Parton. “The linemen played amazing. And just to go out with a win, it’s the best feeling to go out with a win.”

The win marks the end of a season that was in jeopardy of not getting played just a few months ago. Thanks to the guidance and planning of school administrations and training staffs, and the diligence of the players and coaches to adhere to guidelines, the Falcons got seven games in this fall, more than several other programs.

Because the schedule was shortened and changed, the Falcons (3-5 overall; 1-5 Colonial League) were left with mostly games against the top teams in the league. Four of their six regular season opponents (Northwestern, Notre Dame, Palisades and Northern Lehigh) reached their respective district championship games.

Salisbury’s uphill climb toward a playoff spot wasn’t made any easier by the fact that it’s a Class 3 school.

Only four teams make districts in Class 3A. Notre Dame (Green Pond) and North Schuylkill had the first two spots locked up early. The other two qualifiers, Jim Thorpe and Tamaqua, would have been on Salisbury’s schedule this year if the Colonial and Schuylkill leagues had been able to go through with their cooperative scheduling agreement.

Had a 10-game season been possible this year, it’s no guarantee Salisbury would have made districts in Class 3A. But if they had the opportunity to face more opponents, especially a few more from Class 3A, those questions would have been answered on the field on Friday nights instead of on paper.

Salisbury will graduate just seven players from this year’s roster, but those seven include two of the best playmakers in the program’s history in Stephens and Parton, along with the team’s top running back in Gio Hines, along with two-way starters in Butz and Marcks.

“It didn’t soak in yet but I can already feel I’m going to miss it,” said Parton after the win over Saucon Valley. “All the memories I made out here, I’m going to miss it, bottom line.”