The Salisbury football team seems destined to change the direction of the program this season.

In the season opener the Falcons picked up their first regular season win in 23 games.

Last week the team broke an even longer streak. In a 28-0 win over Wilson last Friday night, Salisbury posted its first shut out in nearly a decade.

The Falcons stopped the Warriors on several short-yardage third and fourth downs during the game, but none helped keep the zero on the scoreboard more than two late in the fourth quarter by Jason St. Leger and Griffin Lakics.

Wilson’s final possession started late in the third quarter at its own 30-yard line. The Warriors methodically moved down the field and worked their way into a third-and-1 at Salisbury’s 19-yard line.

But Lakics stuffed Zeandros Johnson for a 2-yard loss. On the next play St. Leger took down J’son Johnson before he could get out of the backfield and his team gave up the ball on downs with 6:11 left in the game, all but sealing the win for the Falcons.

Salisbury’s defense held the Warriors to 99 rushing yards on 44 carries. It made 11 tackles for loss, four tackles for no yardage and a total of 23 of Wilson’s running plays went for two yards or less.

Salisbury’s offense was nearly as good as the defense.

The Falcons first possession spanned 52 yards with Caleb Gonzalez catching a 10-yard pass from Andrew Lucas for a 7-0 lead with 2:57 left in the first quarter.

Gonzalez caught four passes for 32 yards in the game. He also carried the ball four times, all on speed sweeps, for 83 yards.

The Falcons got a short field on their next possession, thanks to a mishandled snap on a Wilson punt.

Salisbury needed just one play to make it 14-0 as Lucas hit Jamanni Cruz with a 16-yard strike with 46 seconds left in the first quarter.

When the Warriors took over for their third possession, they seemed headed for the end zone. They went 65 yards in 13 plays to earn a first-and-goal at the Falcon 6-yard line.

A third-down interception by Dominic Natosi got Salisbury the ball back and kept Wilson scoreless.

Salisbury’s final touchdown drive of the first half started with just under two minutes left in the second quarter. A 30-yard Gonzalez sweep got the Falcons to the Warrior 37. Runs by Lucas and St. Leger got them down to the 3-yard line before St. Leger pounded it in for a 21-0 lead with 25 seconds left in the half.

Salisbury took the second half kickoff and a 30-yard return from freshman Jarod Blunt helped shorten the field before Lucas orchestrated his team’s final touchdown drive.

The senior quarterback ran for 11 yards, then after a 12-yard run by St. Leger, Lucas hit Gonzalez for back-to-back 10-yard gains. Two plays later he found Cruz and pitched him an 11-yard touchdown pass.

Joshua Hudak hit his fourth extra point of the game for the 28-0 lead with 9:31 left in the third quarter. Hudak made five deep kickoffs in the game and a couple long punts, including one from the Falcons’ end zone.

Salisbury’s defense held Wilson scoreless on two second-half possessions to preserve the team’s first shut out since blanking Palmerton 36-0 back on October 30 of 2015.

While St. Leger, Lakics and Natosi made some of the biggest plays for the defense several other players were in on big stops, including Jacob Watson, Tashuwn Claudio, Andrew Nemeh, Jordan Tocci-Wachter, Donovan Hamilton, Natosi and Cruz.

Lucas was an efficient 10-for-12 passing for 117 yards. He made three touchdown throws and had no interceptions.

The Falcons (2-1) now own wins over Panther Valley and Wilson, which are both 0-3. Their only loss came to Notre Dame-Green Pond (2-1).

Salisbury travels to Catasauqua this week. The Rough Riders are 3-0 on the season, but will face their biggest test of this young season on Friday night. So far they have played three winless opponents in Mahanoy Area, Palisades and Wilson, who they beat 34-14.

Friday’s game is slated for 7 p.m. at Alumni Field in Catasauqua.